Tempting pension scheme members to engage with your communications has always been difficult – and Auto-Enrolment has made it harder still as it affects the majority of the working population. In our experience, going back to basics helps.
Not all pension scheme members will engage fully with your communications, but it's essential if they're to make informed, active decisions – and value the benefit they're receiving.
Automatic Enrolment has made that task harder still. The reason is simple: when you hear you're automatically part of your work's pension scheme, it's only natural to assume everything is taken care of. People stop paying attention, and statutory communications aren't enough.
For any kind of pension scheme, we find it works to take a step back, think about your members, then give them just what they need – at every stage of their journey:
- Face-to-face meetings for new joiners. When people join your scheme, it's worth taking the time to explain things clearly, and ensure they get into the best habits. We help with group induction sessions, and even one-to-one support where it's appropriate.
- Providing an open door for your workforce. People can carry a nagging question for some time, looking for the right moment to seek an answer. Our webinars, booklets and an easy-to-use website make it easy for colleagues to dip in and get the information they need.
- Saving needs to start early. The earlier your employees start saving, the more comfortable their retirement can be. Even at age 25, they'll need to save on average 17% of their salary – and that's a big ask. So we'll work with you to get everyone engaged.
- Seminars - In-person guidance for all. Face-to-face sessions are an effective way to drive engagement, because they're so interactive. Our pre-retirement sessions are ideal for anyone aged 50 or over – helping them to start shaping their investments to suit their retirement plans. And for under-50s, we have seminars explaining why it's so important to save for the future, now.
- Not just letters, emails and meetings. We're always developing new ways to make it easy for people to plan for their financial future – like our financial wellbeing app 'Well One money' Module.
- A comprehensive At Retirement service. Your members now have a bewildering number of choices when they reach retirement. Our At Retirement support gives them a clear view of their options, and enables them to compare potential outcomes, quickly and easily.
We learned all this by experience. We have hundreds of communications specialists worldwide, focused on helping employers talk with their people.
We've been working hard to develop new, exciting ways to get your employees thinking about their pensions, and give them the best possible chance of a good retirement outcome. We're really proud of the results – and we'd like to show you.
Take the next step.
- Get your scheme’s strategic goals and objectives right – click here
- Learn from your peers – read our latest DC scheme survey report – click here
- Look at your pension investment design strategy – is it fit for purpose? – click here
- See what support you can provide your employees at retirement – click here
Drop us a line at [email protected], or call us on 0344 573 0033.