Ongoing introspection key to WageWise programme's success

Continuously researching how participants experience their workshops and determining the best way to reach them with maximum impact, have always been the strength of the ASISA Foundation's?WageWise?programme for workers.

"We always ask, 'What are the problems, why, and how should we address them?' or ‘What is working and how do we leverage off this?’.?We remain committed to innovating and adapting our methodologies and learning channels to best serve our participants," says Janete Nel , WageWise programme manager.

These convictions have paid off in 2022, leading to more funding, a wider footprint, more collaboration, and more programme research.??

More funding extends reach

In September, the?Sanlam Foundation, the primary funder of WageWise, agreed to make an extra contribution enabling the team to reach an additional 2 500 workers this year on top of the 7 645 workers already reached (the target was 7 500), by the end of September.?

Thanks to the Sanlam Foundation's additional funding, WageWise will achieve the second highest workshop reach since its launch in 2015.

"This couldn't have come at a better time," says Janete. "As our participants earn a regular income, they are very susceptible to informal lending and the levels of #debt that they deal with are a real challenge. Debt management is one of the themes that WageWise addresses, and this is sorely needed in these tough economic times."

She says, considering the importance of #financialeducation, #financialinclusion and meeting the needs of the country in the long term, more strategic partnerships like these are crucial. "The Sanlam Foundation’s support of and commitment to WageWise over the years has strengthened our partnership. The power of #collaboration attributes to the success of WageWise."

Broader footprint

Up until September, WageWise's geographic reach has extended to eight of South Africa's nine provinces. However,?with the additional funding from the Sanlam Foundation, a national footprint was achieved.?"The team is very excited to have broken ground in the Northern Cape this year. This was achieved through working with the Department of Public Works through National Education Health & Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) , confirming that we can successfully reach more workers through collaboration with organised labour."

Most of the worksites where WageWise presented workshops were in the public sector and included the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Public Works, South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and various municipalities. Some of the private sector worksites included those in hospitality, private education, recycling, the medical arena, farming, power plant engineering and other industrial sites.?This range of worksites attests to the programme's flexibility and ability to engage workers from a wide range of industries.

In-person and digital learning

This year, WageWise again followed a #blendedlearning approach, with three-hour workshops as the primary learning channel, coupled with digital auxiliary learning channels to reinforce knowledge after the workshops. These included WhatsApp for Business, a very active Facebook page, and the WageWise website.?

"We need these supplementary channels, as we cannot rely on a three-hour workshop alone. We need additional ways to reinforce workshop content and to remind our participants to use their new-found knowledge and actually adopt it to ultimately change their financial behaviour. This is a very important part of the learning journey," says Janete.

Facebook proved to be a successful auxiliary channel, offering advice and support on personal financial management matters. Engagement kept increasing throughout the year. The team started to include informal polls on the #Facebook page, further contributing to their understanding of their audience. With Facebook, WageWise can also reach people with relevant content beyond the workshop participants.??

On the WageWise website, participants frequented the pages about?Planning with money, #Budgeting and #Savings.

Identifying the best auxiliary channels

However, a challenge experienced in 2022 was that WageWise didn't achieve the engagement and completion rates with some of the digital channels that they previously experienced. It was clear that media consumption on digital channels has changed.?

"Various factors in the past three years have changed the way South Africans access and consume information and much of this has been driven by innovations fast-tracked by Covid-19, but there's also a recognised over-subscription to or over-availability of information within people's environments."?

In September the WageWise team agreed that a needs assessment should be conducted to better understand how participants prefer to receive information, both within their workplace and in their own time after the in-person workshops.?

"Research is now in progress to establish what participants prefer as their primary learning platform and supplementary digital channels, and why they have those preferences. We also need to understand the challenges and accessibility factors of the various channels and how best these can be overcome," Janete explains.?

This research exercise will be completed during November and the outcomes will have a direct influence on the 2023 rollout, also on other Foundation programmes.

Three-year impact study

The programme has embarked on a historically significant three-year impact study to better understand?how WageWise has influenced previous participants' longer-term attitudinal and behavioural changes, and financial resilience.?A cohort of?participants from the 2022 implementation who agreed to participate in the study, will be followed over a period of approximately 30 months.

"WageWise wants to make an impact, we want our participants to change their financial attitude and behaviour in the long term. Running over more than two years, this research will help us understand the real impact of the WageWise programme on our participants long after they've completed the initial training."

WageWise's M&E partner is collecting the data from these participants digitally. The baseline report has been completed and outcomes are now being evaluated. A midline report will be due in 2023 and the endline report in 2024. "This will give us invaluable information on how we can improve and adapt the programme to the needs of our future participants."

Trainers at the top of their game

"The WageWise trainers need a special shout out, as the rapport that they establish with their participants in the workshops has always stood out as one of the positives that lead to good engagement and understanding of the content. The WageWise team is also ever-willing to immediately discuss challenges with the rest of the team and adapt accordingly," Janete says.??

·??????For more information on how you can support the WageWise programme, send an email to?[email protected]?or click?here?for more.

·??????WageWise is made possible by the #SanlamFoundation.

Ruth Benjamin-Swales?Janete Nel?Namarsha Singh?Koovi Moodley?Ivor Nkanyiso Msimang?Helena Gavera?Sibusiso Sagoda?Hallid Smith?Francois Adriaan?Grounded Media?Genesis Analytics?John Manyike?Association for Savings & Investment South Africa (ASISA)?ASISA Academy?The Hope Factory?Marana Brand?Smart About Money?Laura du Preez, CFP??Atleha-edu NPC?NBC Holdings? Sanlam Busisa Jiya Ingrid Goodspeed Tebello Radebe Killy Bacela CM (SA) Rodger Walters Seipati Nekhondela Ramostshudi Isaac Ramputa