47% of us place travel and holidays as top of the retirement bucket list according to Vitality Invest, and yet 44% don’t think they are saving enough for the lifestyle they want. There are many reasons why as a society we don’t save enough for the future but we all want to retire at some point and not planning for it could mean our dreams and aspirations are in jeopardy.
With an ageing population, the Government are having to respond by increasingly pushing back on the retirement age for state pensions. So, quite simply, people in the UK are just not saving enough given many won’t be able to rely sufficiently on NIC contributions.
Auto-enrolment is helping the cause for employees, but with a shift in workplace structure and an increasing gig economy (15% of the UK labour force were classed as self-employed in 2017), what else can we do to help?
With it being Pension Awareness Day (#PAD18) on Saturday, we thought we’d reflect on this by offering up a few communications tips that may help:
Complexity
One of the key challenges people face when they look into pensions is their complexity. The rules and regulations can be such a minefield and documentation often fails to break through this and make it approachable. If you’re a pension expert, just remember there’s a time and place for the heavy stuff and it’s not at the start of the communications journey. Start with a hook, a simple message to peak interest and then build on this. Consider breaking it up so people can learn in micro sections – avoid big paragraphs and jargon, otherwise people are going to give up pretty quickly.
Creativity
Find your creative side – think about the copywriting but also how the information is presented. Make sure any key points are prominent – people are unlikely to read any amount of text in real depth, so consider the likes of infographics or animated video tell convey your message to help increase engagement levels.
Communication
Put yourself in the shoes of your audience and be strategic about planning out your course of action, the timing of each piece of communication, pick communication channels that are fit for your specific audience and be sure to set a way of measuring awareness and understanding, not just take-up levels. We need to move away from purely functional communication towards something more organic and on-going.
These are just some minor points, but if we want to alter perceptions of pensions, these should help towards making pension awareness an ongoing conversation, that builds the picture and re-emphasises on a regular basis the importance of having a pension.
Money worries are one of the main causes of stress for people in the UK so supporting people in navigating the pensions world is a step towards supporting their financial wellbeing and thus productivity at work.
There are ways to promote financial awareness creatively and engage all of the organisation through targeted and considered campaigns. Our psychology towards digesting messages has changed, so our approach to what and how we deliver them must similarly change and become more creative to accommodate this.
I founded EXIMIA to do just that – to help organisations bridge the gap between technical subject matters like pensions and translate them into a creative, relatable communication campaign that makes a difference.
Having experienced the challenges of communicating technical topics first-hand myself, I understand the challenges pension teams face – often time and/or resource deprived to reach out for help and look for new ways of doing things.
I’m passionate about working closely with clients to help them tell their story in ways that connect these subjects to company purpose, values and strategy for greater impact and context. In turn, together we help people become more financially aware, thinking and planning beyond the next week or month so they can enjoy financial stability.
Want to communicate your pensions better?
Feeling inspired but need some help? Happy to have a chat and see if we can help – EXIMIA is a communications agency consisting of a team who combines first-hand corporate experience with creativity and marketing nous to ensure communicating to your people is easy, efficient and effective. Helping convey your pension story in the best possible way
