We had a guest blog post written recently by Simon Dudley, Reward Director for BP. Working on a global basis, Simon certainly knows the pitfalls and opportunities when it comes to pension communication. In his blog he asked the question:
How do you communicate effectively on a subject that is complex and many people find confusing, is financial in nature and getting it wrong could seriously damage your future level of income?
This is a question at the forefront of many HR and reward people’s minds. It can be crippling really, creating a state of inertia. Better to do nothing than get it wrong. But why should you get it wrong?
As Simon says: "As Companies supporting pension saving, it is vital that we recognise the duty to ensure our employees understand the implications of the changes to the pension world on their future incomes in retirement. Equally important is to ensure that for the costs we incur our employees value the benefit and feel educated as to their options. To get this engagement is possible!"
And he is quite right. There is an obligation / duty dimension, but actually communicating pensions goes much deeper. If you are investing in pensions to support employees’ wellbeing, companies need to see that return on investment in terms of engagement, performance, talent retention & development and productivity. These outcomes only come when your pension programme is communicated.
A message that particularly resonates with Caburn Hope is: "We should also seek to modernise. While many of the decision makers are part of the baby boomer generation we must recognise that the new generations engage in different ways. What do you say to a social networking approach to pension communication?"
So what ways can your pension communication embrace the brave new world of digital and speak to other generations in the workforce? An exciting challenge and very achievable with a bit of thought and planning.
