The NHS Pension Scheme will tailor its communication to different employer types to provide them with more support in fulfilling their obligations, after a survey revealed substantial criticism of its approach.
Only 59 per cent of participating employers within the NHS scheme agree that the scheme communicates well with them, with slightly more than a fifth saying they feel unable to answer pensions questions raised by employees, according to a 2013 employer satisfaction survey seen by Pensions Expert.
Planned comms improvements
The scheme's intention is to segment employers to provide more targeted support for distinct groups with similar characteristics.
"The findings of the research suggest a number of improvements, such as revamping our monthly newsletter and reconfiguring our website," said Davenport.
The scheme is currently working through these suggestions and will move quickly to implement them.
The health service received responses from 1,155 participating employers.
“We recognise that we need to improve our communications approach with employers, in particular the 18 per cent that stated they were unhappy,” said James Davenport, senior communications manager at NHS Business Services Authority, which administers the scheme.
While 65 per cent of employers said they were clear about local administration duties, 22 per cent said they did not feel able to answer most members’ pensions-related questions.
The scheme provides a range of factsheets or FAQs to enable employers to answer the majority of questions raised by employees. It also encourages employers and members to contact the administrator for anything that is not covered or sufficiently understood.
“Alongside this we recognise that a number of employees seek financial advice from their employers and are frustrated when they are unable to obtain answers,” Davenport added.
Large organisations often have structures in place to deliver pensions information to staff, which is not always the case in smaller companies, said Karen Partridge, chief business development officer at communications consultancy AHC.
“You may want to make different media available if you have very different employer groups,” said Partridge. “You might want to give them alternatives to deliver ideas.”
Overall satisfaction was highest among GPs and lowest among direction bodies and local authorities, according to the research.
At the time of the survey local authorities had just started to receive NHS scheme members as part of reforms to the service.
“Local authorities were therefore new employers who were still getting to grips with the scheme and their respective role and responsibilities within it,” said Davenport. “We have run a number of engagement activities with these employers and we believe this group’s level of satisfaction has already risen.”
Employer satisfaction regarding information exchange with the scheme dropped in 2013, when compared with the previous year.
Almost a third of employers (32 per cent) felt requests for data by the scheme were not made in a clear and understandable way, compared with 14 per cent the previous year.
The NHS scheme will shortly introduce information for employers and members about its actual average response times, rather than its stated service level agreement targets, to manage expectations more effectively.
Since 2012 the scheme has improved its data management processes to ensure it has increased compliance against the standards that will be required by the Pensions Regulator from April 1 next year.
A quarter of employers (27 per cent) said requests for data did not have realistic and achievable timescales, up from 10 per cent in 2012.
The switch in public sector schemes from final salary to career average pensions makes it even more important scheme administrators receive completely accurate member data from participating employers, said Mark Packham, partner at consultancy PwC.
If employers do not hold accurate data, schemes will not be able to administer the scheme correctly and may have some difficult disputes, he said.
“The scheme administrator has got to issue exact instructions and has to ensure employers are following them properly,” said Packham.
