Inside Diageo's world-leading global financial wellbeing program

When we sat down with Anna Carter, Head of Benefit Programs at Diageo, the conversation quickly moved past theory and into reality: what does it actually take to build a global financial health program that works across different markets?

Because this isn't a simple balancing act.

Your people in London, Lagos and Los Angeles aren't starting from the same place. Different financial systems. Different pressures. Different priorities. But they share something important: a need to feel more confident about their money and the decisions they make.

So the challenge isn't choosing between global consistency and local relevance. It's designing a financial health program that delivers both, without losing impact along the way.

Anna shared how Diageo approached that challenge and what separates global programs that scale from those that stall.

Start with a strong global foundation

The best programs don't try to reinvent the wheel in every market. They start with a clear, shared foundation; something the whole organization can stand behind.

Not one-size-fits-all. Not fragmented. A consistent global strategy, with clear goals and a way to measure success across every region.

At Diageo, that foundation was built around three pillars: literacy, security, and confidence. Those pillars didn't change. What changed was how they showed up locally.

Make financial health relevant locally

A global framework only works if it reflects employees' real lives.

Anna described how the same strategy came to life differently across markets: in India, the focus was investing and aspiration; in the UK, cost of living and day-to-day budgeting; and in South Africa, building financial resilience.

The foundation stayed the same. The experience reflected what employees actually needed.

That's where real impact happens; when people can see themselves in the support they're given. It's also something fragmented, market-by-market programs can struggle to achieve. Without a shared view, it's harder to understand what's working, compare progress across markets or know where to focus next.

Measure impact, not just engagement

Five years ago, engagement might have been enough. It isn't now.

The strongest global financial health programs are built to demonstrate their value clearly and consistently across the organization. That means defining success early and measuring more than whether employees simply showed up or clicked.

Diageo reached its engagement and financial health targets within four months of launching across three markets. Within a year, those results had grown, even through internal change.

That's important. When a program has a strong foundation, clear measures of success and the flexibility to respond to employees' needs, it doesn't rely on perfect conditions to deliver impact.

What makes a global financial health program work?

From Anna's perspective, and from what we see across global programs, it comes down to three things: a strong global foundation, local relevance that reflects real lives, and clear, measurable impact across every market.

Get those right, and you're no longer managing a collection of disconnected local initiatives. You're running one global financial health program, with the insight and consistency to understand what's working and demonstrate what it's delivering.

Want to see what that looks like in practice? Diageo’s webinar on-demand.