With the UK population living longer and the cost of living rising, pension savings are having to stretch further. As a result, many people are struggling financially in retirement.
Employers can play a crucial role in helping to change this by helping employees to understand their workplace pension and the importance of early planning for retirement.
Good communication is the key. It’s all about sending the right messages, in the right way, at the right time. It sounds simple, but it’s easier said than done.
The Drewberry™ 2022 Workplace Pension survey of 1,000 working adults found that only 70% of employees know where to find information about their workplace pension.
This is great news. However, despite knowing where to find the information, 28% of employees still said they didn’t understand their workplace pension well. A further 48% also said that they didn’t understand the tax relief associated with it.
This suggests that, although information is available, it:
Whichever it might be, employers may need to rethink their communication strategy.
When asked, ‘Are you satisfied with the level of communication/education provided by your employer on your workplace pension?’ 27% of employees said that they weren’t.
Email (52%) is by far the most common channel that employers use to send out information about their workplace pension. Second to this is the company’s intranet site (34%).
But, is this how employees want to receive information from their employer?
When asked which forms of communication they would actually prefer, there was a definite shift in responses.
Email was still the most preferred form of communication for employees. Interestingly, many respondents said they would like a company-paid meeting with a financial adviser or 1-to-1 sessions to discuss their workplace pension.
Most SME workers in the UK report feeling stressed regularly, and money is the most common cause. By helping employees to better understand their workplace pensions, employers can help to ease some of that stress.
However, our survey shows there is a disconnect in the communication between employers and employees around workplace pensions. As a result, employees are still in the dark when it comes to knowing whether they are saving enough.
While digital channels are still popular, many employees want more hands-on advice, especially with financial advisers. Employers should take this into consideration to keep their employees happy and make sure they stand out to new recruits.
If you want to speak to a financial adviser to make sure you or your employees are planning for your future, email help@drewberry.co.uk or call us today on 02074425880 and speak to one of our friendly experts.
Josh Martin
Pension & Investment Adviser at Drewberry
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