Is everybody keeping up?
With the introduction of workplace pension reforms – including the introduction of both auto-enrolment and the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) in 2012 millions of employees will have the opportunity to begin saving into a company pension scheme for the first time.
With such a significant number of new entrants to both existing and new schemes the industry is faced with a significant challenge and a detailed communication, engagement and education strategy will be essential to ensure that employees understand what this means for them and how they can expect to benefit from the changes.
Where are we now?
Given the current obsession with all things electronic, the danger for employees is that Schemes may decide that the solution to their dilemma is to set up a website, an approach which quite naturally will be encouraged by the technology providers.
Clearly websites do have a part to play and are often at the core of any successful communications strategy as in most instances they provide secure access to instantly available material 24/7.
The electronic solution is given added kudos, as increasingly, younger employees in particular are very conversant with web functionality having grown up with electronic communication as their favoured medium. As such they would be very comfortable to receive a personalised email with a link to the relevant information on the pension scheme website. There is, however, one significant assumption being made - that the employee is fully conversant with “pension jargon” used in any communication. Given the significant number of potential new members, I think it is quite safe to assume that a large proportion of those individuals will not be fully conversant and will require support from alternative methods.
Research shows that a large proportion of employees still wish to receive information in written form and where the communication is particularly complicated the preferred option is that of face to face discussion either on a 1-2-1 basis or through seminars.
Electronic and written communications will always only ever be a support to face to face interactions. Face to face engagement through seminars is one of the only real ways to gauge the level of understanding from employees. The ideal solution would be 1-2-1 meetings however given the substantial numbers involved this would not be practical.
So, how can success be achieved?
Historically the approach was to send out a pack of information to employees and wait for them to react with questions. If no questions were received then the obvious conclusion was that everyone understood and had decided not to join. Rather than the more realistic assumption which was likely to be this subject is in the “too difficult” box and I don’t understand.
The key to a successful strategy is to adopt a balanced approach combining electronic, written and face-face communications. Any messages should align to the Company’s corporate style and be consistent across the various mediums in a language that the employees will find easy to understand. It is also important to provide a support mechanism where employees can raise questions. This can take the form of Q&A page on the website, nominated people to contact or a helpline number.
Clearly whatever approach is adopted, their will be a cost and that restriction will to a certain degree determine the scope of the strategy. However, regardless of the amount of money spent it will be a false investment if after having set a level of expectation and understanding with staff the strategy is not sustained.
The Collins Oxford Dictionary describes communication as the art of imparting (especially news). It will therefore be very interesting to observe how Schemes and the pensions industry interprets that definition to ensure employees are provided with clear and concise information in order to make an informed choice.
by David Carstairs
Head of Sales and Marketing