The CBI/Aegon Guide to Pension Engagement

LONDON, England, March 28 -- The Confederation of British Industry issued the following news release:

Offering high-quality workplace pensions is critical to successful businesses and retirements, but the level of employee engagement with pensions across UK workforces is too low.

To help businesses and employees overcome these challenges, the CBI's new report, Engaging with saving, offers practical insights from business about how employers can unlock the true value of their investment in staff pensions by securing strong employee engagement.

Encouragingly, the report finds that businesses are investing heavily in their employees' pensions. In 2016, firms contributed pound sterling52.1bn through auto-enrolment. Additionally, nearly all the firms (92%) who the participated in the research for the guide contribute above the statutory minimum for auto-enrolment, further demonstrating their commitment to delivering quality pensions for staff.

Read the full CBI/Aegon guide to pension engagement (http://www.cbi.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/engaging-with-saving/)

Firms are going the extra mile because they recognise the importance of helping employees to save for retirement. And yet, not all employers are seeing the return they could on their investment.

The solution is strengthening employees' engagement with pensions. More than half of businesses believe that improving their employees' engagement with their schemes would lead to them being better able to recruit and retain staff, and conduct succession planning, as a result of staff seeing their pension as an important part of their reward package.

This optimism is set against a low starting point, however. Only 12% of firms are happy with the current level of engagement with pensions in their workforce.

Despite the scale of the challenge, businesses are ready to step up with nearly all saying they felt a responsibility for improving pensions engagement.

A strategy for engagement is a crucial first step. Firms with a strategy are 20% more likely to have an engaged workforce as those that don't. Cutting down on jargon and educating staff about the benefits of saving through a workplace pension are further priorities, according to businesses. Government also has a role to play by creating a stable framework for pensions that supports businesses to talk employees about their schemes.