Improving member engagement and knowledge through clearer communication

We project-managed an extremely complex member consultation for a scheme with over sixty Participating Employers.

The scheme was seeking a compromise on pension increases following a historic amendment to benefit accrual in 1988 which had been incorrectly actioned by announcement and booklets, which were not enough to effectively amend the legal provisions of the Scheme. Prior to any communication to members, the Principal Employer held a number of joint briefing sessions with all Participating Employers, with the Trustee and their advisers providing the briefings resulting in a consensus of how best to proceed.  Given the complexity of the issue, the Trustees worked collaboratively with an expert communications company that was able to translate the complicated history in a clear and concise way.

Communications were agreed by both the Trustees and the Principal Employer’s legal advisers.  There were seven different versions to cover all categories of member. We worked with an external website provider and our communications agency to create a site dedicated to the issue, regularly updating FAQs as member questions were received and in turn using those FAQs to create a script for a dedicated telephone helpline.

The Trustees and Principal Employer worked closely together to agree the structure of an offer to members.  The response was overwhelming:  84% of the members responded; and around 80% of those responding accepted the compromise. This outcome represented a significant reduction in potential exposure.