This is the view of Winterthur communication consultant Helen Gilchrist in addressing the Employee Benefits Exhibition and Conference 2006 at the Business Design Centre in London.

Ms Gilchrist noted that statistics had shown that “effective employee communications programmes” can result in uptake growing from below 40 per cent to nearly 90 per cent in some instances.

“If you create bespoke educational programmes that reflect the specific needs of the organisation and its workforce, you can change the perception of saving for retirement dramatically,” she observed, saying it could increase employee contribution levels as well.

Ms Gilchrist added that helping employees to make an informed choice about their retirement plans could also encourage more people to become more heavily involved in making decisions.

As a result, she encouraged the HR delegates who were present at the exhibition to work closely with employees to find out the best way to get across the message of how important saving for retirement is, even for new, younger workers.

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