Talking head: The Pension Protection Fund's Sue Rivas says the organisation is on track to meet its target of providing three-quarters of scheme assessments within two years, and explains how it has sped up the process.
Crucial to this is providing certainty to members at the earliest opportunity by driving schemes through the assessment period as quickly as possible and to the highest standards.
This year we are on track to reach our long-held target of completing 75 per cent of scheme assessments within two years.
One area where we still need to improve is consistency
Those in the world of wind-ups will recognise this is no mean feat; remember when wind-ups took an average of seven years to conclude?
Getting to this position has been a long journey and has required the support and engagement of trustees, administrators and advisers – for which we are grateful.
I strongly believe that effective communication has been key to achieving our desired outcomes, be it strategic or scheme-specific.
In 2011, we began establishing the five specialist panels, with the aim of transitioning schemes through the assessment period more effectively.
Until then we had been dealing with a large number of different stakeholders all with varying degrees of knowledge and experience of PPF and our processes, which hindered the speedy transition of schemes.
The panels have allowed us to work with a core group of specialists who share the same ethos and values, follow a common set of processes and speak the same language.
They have engendered a way of working that sees competing organisations collaborate around a shared mission to do the right thing by our members.
We chose panellists who bought into our vision, who wanted to innovate and be part of helping the PPF move forward. We worked hard to communicate our expectations and what we hoped to achieve together.
We made use of the panels forums to share best practice, debate process improvements and resolve problems; and on a more practical level,we created standardised documents, flexible templates and tools for obtaining and ensuring consistent data quality.
We try to have an open, honest and transparent approach to communicating, and in particular we encourage early escalation of scheme-specific issues. This is vital, ensuring all parties understand the complex nature of the tasks and gives us a much better chance of avoiding complications which lead to delays.
One area where we still need to improve is consistency. We have made vast improvements in this area but work continues to ensure we all get better at delivering consistent outputs and outcomes.
Assessment periods are now around 20 months on average. This has been achieved through close collaboration with our panellists, and underpinned by a style of communication that is open, honest, challenging and forward thinking.
Sue Rivas is deputy director of scheme and member services at the Pension Protection Fund
