Dashboard ready isn't the same as member ready
An opportunity to improve outcomes – but only if schemes understand what members need after log in.
Everyone's talking about getting members connected to dashboards. Few are talking about the thirty seconds after they arrive.
And while it may still be some way off, soon enough many members from across the country will log in and there it'll be: a scheme name they half recognise, attached to a number they may not have been expecting.
That moment is an opportunity, and it's also a risk.
Our independent No Member Left Behind™ research reveals visibility and knowledge alone fail to create pension confidence, understanding and action.
While 80% of DB members say they understand their pension, 38% feel unsure or off track for retirement and 33% say they’ll need to change their lifestyle when they reach it.
And to add to this, women are more likely to find pension language overwhelming, mid-life members least likely to feel prepared, and members with conditions and disabilities affecting their communication needs are three times more likely to say current communications don’t meet their needs. The message is clear:
A member knowing their pension exists, and knowing what it means for them, their future and the steps they need to get there, are very different things.
A dashboard closes the first gap, the second is yours to own.
So, if you’re running a DB scheme, here are five things to know that will help you make the most of the opportunity dashboards offers.
1. Terminology counts
Our No Member Left Behind™ research shows DB and DC members arrive with different assumptions and want different things, yet they'll see the exact same screen, with varying terms for their DB and DC pensions.
For example, they may see £9,000 of annual income from their DB pension next to a £40,000 DC pot, which could invite exactly the wrong conclusions.
Add to this that dashboard figures can't account for everything between now and retirement - taking benefits early or late, transfer penalties, pension sharing orders, annual allowance charges. There’s a risk that a routine adjustment looks like a broken promise.
Michelin's focus groups confirmed this, with members reporting a lack of clarity around which section was which, and where to go for help.
Supporting members to build an understanding of terminology, and providing clear branding and signposting across sections, is crucial to enabling them to move and act with confidence. Read the Case Study.
2. For the first time, you're in a line-up
Within their dashboard, your scheme will appear next to every other pension a member holds. Side by side, they'll form fast impressions - which one do they recognise, which do they recall receiving communications from, which makes their pension easiest to navigate.
That's why data quality and the members' digital experience are worth attention now. Not because a regulator says so, but because the experience gaps that were once invisible are about to be exposed.
Where members are weighing consolidation or transfers, the impression a member forms rewards the schemes that get it right.
3. The broken journey
A dashboard often prompts questions before it answers them. When a member sees a forgotten pension, clicks through and lands on your login screen, they'll expect a smooth experience with confident signposting.
Yet when we surveyed our client’s membership, 45% couldn't access their portal at all - they'd lost their registration details. Our "Your Place" campaign got them back online, more than doubling portal use. Read the Case Study.
So, ask yourself: can a member who hasn't logged in since 2016 get back in? Is anything useful waiting for them when they do? Schemes are bracing themselves for the impact of dashboards on administrators, yet troubleshooting predictable issues before they arise is the fastest way to reduce it.
4. A brewing scam window
Dashboards will show millions of people money they'd forgotten about, and in turn, lead to a host of confident strangers offering them help - a familiar pattern in our industry that's about to scale.
The schemes protecting members best aren't just adding anti-scam messaging to dashboard communications. They're making their own pension communications more regular and recognisable, so members know exactly what a genuine communication looks like. It’s far more convincing if it arrives from you before a scammer gets in touch.
5. “You don't have to wait”
That's the advice from our consulting team. Dashboards may be delayed again, but the impact won't change, and the preparation window will only continue to shrink. Left unaddressed, this stops being a member problem and becomes a governance one - and for sponsors, reputational.
Positively, this is also the largest change to how members see their pensions in a generation, and it hands schemes something they've never had: members arriving voluntarily and with genuine curiosity.
The changes worth considering now:
Clarity on what dashboards show, what they don't, and why things change
Anti-scam guidance built in to your existing communications
Clear signposting to scheme-specific support
Member insight to find out who'll struggle, before they do
Encouragement without pressure
That's exactly what our dashboard readiness package is built to do - emails, letters, FAQs, articles and videos that tell members what to expect, what to do and where to turn, long ahead of launch day.
Visibility creates opportunity, but what you do with it is up to you.
