Currently, only a third of UK workers are prioritising long term saving, something needs to change.
Furthermore, of those that are saving for their retirement, many are not saving nearly enough. Organisations may come under scrutiny for this knowledge deficit if they fail to provide sufficient guidance and support to staff on pensions. It raises an important question: what can employers be doing to help their staff ensure they save enough, and invest wisely, so they can look forward to an enjoyable retirement? The article will outline some key steps that employers should be taking to improve engagement and understanding in pensions and long term savings amongst the workforce. This will include:
1. Make your pension scheme as user friendly as possible: Ensuring the choices available to members are presented in a way that breaks down the full range and complexity into a series of smaller decisions will avoid overwhelming members and encourage people to step away from the default where it may not be right for them.
2. Keep communication high on the agenda: Creating a two-way dialogue between the employer and employees will help organisations to understand exactly what their employees want from the workplace in terms of savings and enable them to tailor their communications and meet these individual demands.
3. Adjust to changes in industry legislation: With low levels of understanding around the impact of the reforms, our study suggests that Government initiatives, such as Pension Wise, which aim to educate people on the changes, will only get us so far. As a result, people are increasingly likely to turn to employers and pension providers to plug the information gap in the future.