What’s love got to do, got to do with pensions?

“This was supposed to be forever. Partners till the end. But then the communication broke down and I wondered if my pension ever even loved me...” 

How do your employees feel about their workplace pension? Is it a trusting and committed relationship, or one that’s kept at arm’s length?  

The answer matters. After all you do to set up, run, and pay into their pensions, you surely want employees to see the benefits. But like all relationships, it takes work. Silence creates distance, and if employees rarely hear about their pension (or only encounter it in dense annual statements), it’s easy for them to lose interest. So what’s the solution? 

The three ingredients of a healthy pension relationship 

If you want employees to be happily hand-in-hand with their pensions as they waltz off into the sunset, their partnership should be built to last. And that requires three essential elements: 

• Simplicity 

• Engagement 

• Long-term commitment 

As it happens, these are the principles that underpin everything we do at Cushon, from how we support employers to how we invest for the future. Here’s how to put them to work…  

Simplicity: at the heart of any beloved pension 

When someone tells you “it’s complicated”, it’s not a good sign! But it’s pretty common for pensions. Complexity – or at least perceived complexity – is one of the biggest barriers employees face, leading many of them to switch off completely. 

That’s why simplicity is so important. If you can explain things simply, speak in your employees’ language, and break the topic of saving into bitesize pieces, then pensions can become a lot less intimidating and a lot more rewarding. Add to that an intuitive digital experience, and pension management will be well on the way to becoming second nature. 

And it’s not just employees who benefit from simplicity. The employer experience needs to be just as efficient, with clear tools and insights, and ongoing support from the provider. 

Engagement: people want meaningful connections 

If simplicity is what opens the doors, engagement is what makes your people come back again and again. It’s the connection part of the relationship, which shows up in pensions as a sense of ownership, regular interaction, and potentially better long-term planning. 

To engage employees, you need to show them why their pension is relevant to them, why it’s valuable both now and in the future, and how to make the most effective use of it.  

Financial education can help a lot with the practical side. Stories can go a long way too – for instance, telling employees about a sustainable investment they own which is having a positive impact here and now. It makes it real. It might even make them proud! 

Long-term commitment: investing in a better future 

Ultimately, a pension’s main job is to grow your employees’ savings over many years. But like any decades-spanning relationship, it’s important to know you want the same things. 

For example, our investment approach, for the Cushon Sustainable Investment Strategy, cares for employees’ futures in more ways than one. 

Like all pensions, we invest with the aim of growing your employees’ savings – which we do responsibly and transparently. But we also consider how these investments shape the world your employees will retire into. Will they want that world to be polluted, exploited or rife with inequality? No. Then how can we invest to build the world they do want? (Read about our climate-focused pension for the answer!) 

Has the passion gone in your pension relationship? 

If you don’t get roses from your pension this Valentine’s Day, maybe it’s time to pause and reflect. Are they really the full package? Or do you and your workforce deserve more? 

Ask yourself...  

• Is our pension as simple as it could be – both for employees and our admin? 

• Are our people engaged – interacting with and confident in their savings? 

• Do we believe in the strategy – and agree with how it’s invested?  

If you’re not sure, a fresh perspective could help 

Our team offers a straightforward workplace pension health check, designed to highlight opportunities, improve engagement and make managing your scheme simpler.  

We can be agony aunt, matchmaker, or just a friendly face with pension knowhow. Get in touch. And have a happy Valentine’s Day! 

Article by

NatWest Cushon