Members in focus

Our client was running a hybrid DB / DC scheme with a diverse membership group spread across multiple locations, roles and life stages. They had a keen eye on their future communication strategy and wanted to do the right thing by their members.

They’d spent time bringing their communications up to speed, with the introduction of a new pension website and wanted to get a feel for their members’ knowledge, behaviours and understanding around their workplace pension scheme. 

With members dotted across roles and locations, including offices and the shop floor, we took a hybrid approach with a mix of in-person and virtual focus groups led by our team.

The sessions included a range of ages, backgrounds and combined both DB and DC members, giving our client the opportunity to hear a representative range of views and experiences. 

They were structured to gather actionable insight on the members’ pension understanding, awareness of the resources available to them, and sentiment around the scheme communications including the new website.

The focus groups highlighted three core opportunities:

• Explain why things matter, simply – members typically said they didn’t understand the “why” behind the pension communications they were receiving. They wanted “why it matters” calling out to help them make decisions with confidence, and they wanted it delivering simply. One member said, “I want pension information written like a children’s book.”

  This was especially important, as the focus groups highlighted both technical misunderstandings amongst members and a tendency to disengage when content felt too complex, with members exhibiting strong “I’ll deal with it later” behaviours.

• Pay attention to signposting – the client had put resources in place to support members, but they weren’t widely known amongst members. The focus groups highlighted an opportunity to better point to the scheme-funded financial adviser service and the company ambassadors on hand to support members.

  There was also confusion around the DB and DC elements of the pension scheme, suggesting a need for clearer messaging and branding for the different pension sections.

• Choose the channel and message wisely – the scheme had a broad membership group with people from a range of ages, backgrounds and locations, who expressed differing behaviours and needs.

  The focus groups uncovered that those working on the shop floor found word of mouth the most helpful channel, while those at different life stages had varying understanding and needs from the scheme communications.

  Overall, it was clear a one-size-fits-all approach was not appropriate for this membership and tailored communication was a necessity.   

We worked with our client to prioritise the opportunities and consider how they could be built into the scheme’s communication strategy.

Soon after the focus groups, the client worked with us to deliver their annual “Why pay more?” communications, which presented an excellent opportunity to share the additional context members need to make decisions about their pension contributions and understand why they should care about it at the point of the communication landing. We also tailored the content for those members under and over 40, addressing the behaviours and needs highlighted in the focus groups. 

We worked with the client to develop clear branding and messaging around their DC admin transition process, providing obvious signposting for DB, DC and DB/DC members, to help them to understand exactly where they should go for administrative support.

And we continue to work with the client to build the findings from the focus groups into their communication plans, developing targeted and meaningful communications that meet the needs of their members.