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Golden opportunity for employee engagement

News
June 12 2013
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RSM Tenon New Logo Nov 2012

David Hodgson RSM Tenon May 2013

David Hodgson, Head of Group Pensions, RSM Tenon

 

NEW pension requirements, involving automatic enrolment, offer a golden opportunity to engage your employees with their total reward package. David Hodgson of RSM Tenon explains how to get the most out of your communication strategy.

Introduction
If you’ve ever wondered why so many of your employees don’t even look at their benefits options, let alone make selections, automatic enrolment could be the answer to your prayers. This is one of the best opportunities you are ever likely to get to change the way your employees think about benefits.

While the administration and compliance challenges around automatic enrolment are considerable, companies that focus on simply ticking the right boxes are missing a trick. You can add real value by starting a meaningful conversation with your employees about the total value of the reward package you offer.

Valuing reward
The Pensions Regulator has said that it expects to see at least 75% of employees enrol into a pension scheme as a result of automatic enrolment. Any organisation that has implemented a benefits package will know what a challenge that represents. Getting it wrong is likely to result in in your payroll and HR teams being inundated with queries when people see their take-home pay reduce by the amount of their contributions.

It is advisable to plan a creative and engaging communications programme to ensure your employees understand and value their new pension in the context of their total reward package.

Targeted, individual messages
Build your strategy around the needs of your individual employees. If you already have a benefits programme, you will know which of your employees are actively engaged with benefits and which are not. These two groups will need different communications plans.

Think about what your employees need. Do they all have access to computers; do they like to use them? Would some prefer a face-to-face approach? Do they all have sufficient understanding to discuss complex benefits?

Having answered these questions, you will understand your starting point, be able to set appropriate and realistic objectives. We recommend a three stage process:

Stage 1) Raise awareness

Start raising awareness at least six months before the intended start date. Your strategy should focus on alerting your employees that you need their attention for something important. The aim should be to catch their eye and generate excitement and interest about what comes next, so try to avoid too much detail in the early stages.

Stage 2) Take responsibility

Your communications need to get across the detail of the options available to employees and the implications of their choices. For automatic enrolment, they need to take responsibility for their retirement plans. Depending on the make-up of your wider reward programme, you could also look to include details of any health and wellbeing initiatives and any insurance options for employees and their dependants.

Stage 3) Take action

Allow around one month for your employees to take action. Early take up is a good indicator for engagement, as employees who value their benefits feel able to make the time to select their options.

Research suggests that employees who prioritise their benefits selections feel more valued by their employer. This has a direct impact on motivation and productivity; generating a return for what will be a significant pensions investment.

For more information please contact David Hodgson, Head of Group Pensions ,RSM Tenon on T: +44(0) 7921 840 023 or david.hodgson@rsmtenon.com  

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