Are We Saving Enough Into Our Pension? 58% Of UK Employees Are Unsure

Employees Want Support To Achieve Their Retirement Goals

For employees to know if they are saving enough for retirement, firstly, they need to have a goal. They need to ask themselves, ‘What do I want from retirement?’

Without knowing what they want, there is no way of knowing if what they are saving is enough to reach the goals they have set out.

Employers can help employees achieve their pension goals in two main ways:

• Increasing their contributions
• Educating their employees about the importance of a strong pension.

Employers Need To Improve Their Workplace Pension Communications

Currently, employees don’t know enough about their workplace pension or the tax benefits that come with it.

• 28% said they didn’t have a good understanding of their employees’ workplace pension
• 48% said they didn’t understand tax relief or salary sacrifice

Part of the reason for this lack of understanding is the communications provided by employers aren’t getting the message across. Understandably, employees are unsatisfied with not receiving important information about their pension.

Employees dissatisfaction suggests that the communication from their employer about their workplace pension isn’t engaging.

It either doesn’t contain the correct information or isn’t being delivered in a way that employees find easy to take in. In some cases, pension information might not be provided at all.

Communication Is Key To Helping Employees Understand Their Workplace Pension

It’s in an employer’s best interest to get their communications right, especially if their workplace pension provision is good.

Additional employer contributions are among the top 3 most sought after employee benefits. This means they can be a powerful tool to improve employee morale and productivity.

41% of the workforce being unclear about how much their employer pays into their pension is a missed opportunity.

It’s also important for employers to understand which communication channels employees find most engaging. For example, 28% of employees said they would like a company-paid meeting with a final adviser. Only 7% are currently offered this option.

Employees Would Increase Workplace Pension Contributions if Their Employers Did

Employers can also help ensure employees are saving enough by increasing the contributions they make.

Doing this will improve the health of employees’ pension pots and might influence them to increase their own contributions to improve it further.

Making Workplace Pensions More Than Just A Legal Obligation

Workplace pensions are a legal obligation for employers, but they can also be so much more. If implemented and communicated in the right way, employees and employers stand to gain an awful lot.

Employees can rest easy knowing that they are on track to living out the retirement they’ve always wanted, and employers can benefit from a workforce that feels valued and appreciated.

If you need pension advice or want to discuss how to find the right group scheme for your employees, email help@drewberry.co.uk or call us today on 02074425880 and speak to one of our friendly expert advisers.

Martyn Coates
Employee Benefits Consultant at Drewberry