As pension schemes continue to prepare for pensions dashboards, top of the agenda to date has been data-readiness and a secure, compliant connection to the dashboards’ central digital architecture – typically via an ISP, though some have built their own.
The focus on accurate member and benefits data, and ensuring a reliable connection is an essential component of dashboards success, but as connections dates near and preparation moves into testing and ensuring matching rules are effective, thoughts turn to further ahead.
There are two aspects of pensions dashboards that very few have addressed yet, even those who are further ahead of the pack in their data readiness.
Are we ready to talk to our members about dashboards yet?
Ongoing maintenance – once you’re on, you’re always on.
It might all still seem a long way off for some, though not for others, but to put your scheme’s annual exercises in dashboard perspective, most schemes have already missed the chance to add any communications about dashboards coming before they have to start connecting the scheme to the dashboards architecture, and you may have only one more opportunity to do so with your benefits statements before the Dashboards Availability Point.
Therefore, you might already be needing to think about other ways to communicate dashboards to your members. Maybe you will start to think about your current communications. Your current letter or email templates. Should you say something in those documents about dashboards coming?
There is so much help and guidance available for the whats, whens and hows. Maybe we have overlooked the whys.
Let’s start with why we are even doing this at all. It’s because we all needed to do a better job for our members and make it easier for them to find their pensions, then understand, then help, then act (or not act, as appropriate).
So WHY tell our members about dashboards coming? Well, it’s quite simple. Clear communication will help manage member expectations and reduce enquiries. We should be telling them, rather than letting Martin Lewis announce it to them.
The presence of dashboards will inevitably change the demand for our services. It will raise pensions in the collective consciousness and make pensions discoverable and administration teams findable.
Dashboards will inevitably lead to a rise in member queries as pensions become more visible and accessible. Schemes should prepare by equipping administration teams with tools, training, and resources to handle these questions effectively. Anticipating common queries—like differences between DB and DC valuations or transfer value requests—will allow schemes to create tailored FAQs and proactive communication strategies. Monitoring early feedback post-launch will also be key to adapting processes and maintaining service quality in this new era of member interaction.
They will also give members all of their pensions in one place, alongside other pension information. That is going to change how members think about pensions and maybe change the questions they ask you next. None of us really have a lot of experience in showing members DB and DC benefits together, side by side. As an industry we have tended to show them slightly apart, or completely apart.
You might also be interested in: Pensions Dashboards: Planning for possible matches
The key questions that dashboards set out to answer are: What have I got now and what is it worth at retirement? In answering those, we are presenting numbers that seek to avoid teaching members the difference between DB and DC by showing comparable income. But what we have to ready ourselves for is what questions that might lead to. As an example, a DC pension will also possibly show the pot of savings it was calculated from. But a DB pension will not have an equivalent value. Do you think that might lead to a rise in queries about “why not”? Or a rise in requests for a transfer value?
In assessing the need to elevate our comms game, we touch upon another pertinent point: that of “maintenance”. But we need to broaden our preparation from a compliance exercise for connection, to a more holistic readiness for a new world of administration. So rather than think about maintaining data or systems, we can think about how we maintain service quality in the new world. We can be more prepared for the compliance aspects if we set out to remember the WHYs. Why are we doing it? Why will my members expect more? Why will that change what I do?