Under the Pensions Regulator’s Code of Practice 08, occupational pension schemes must have at least one-third of their board made up of member-nominated trustees (MNTs) or member-nominated directors (MNDs). These trustees play a crucial role in representing scheme members and ensuring the smooth operation of the scheme.
However, securing enough engaged candidates for a contested election can be challenging, particularly in schemes with low member participation. Poor engagement may result in a limited pool of candidates, making it difficult to find individuals with the necessary skills and experience.
To overcome these challenges and encourage more members to step forward, scheme administrators should work with a credible election provider to ensure their election objectives are met.
Potential Barriers to Participation
Despite the importance of MNT/MND elections, some members may hesitate to participate due to various barriers. Identifying and overcoming these challenges is key to increasing engagement.
- Lack of Awareness – Some members may not understand the role or importance of MNT/MNDs. Clear, concise communication can help.
- Perceived Complexity – If the process seems complicated, providing simple guides and digital voting options can improve engagement.
- Low Engagement – Members who feel disconnected from the scheme may need personalised messages and real-world examples to see the value of participation.
- Accessibility Issues – Offering multilingual support, printed materials, and user-friendly digital platforms ensures all members can take part.
Addressing these barriers is just the first step. To maximise participation, careful planning and proactive engagement are essential.
Careful planning of MNT/MND elections
To get the maximum participation from members, engagement is critical before and during the nomination stage. Your election services provider should work with you to meticulously plan your election timeline, suggesting potential engagement opportunities and techniques at each stage of your process.
Communicating with members
Your membership will encompass a diverse range of individuals and is likely to have grown significantly in the past few years due to the introduction of auto-enrolment. Therefore, your election provider may suggest using a variety of communication, nomination and ballot methods, to communicate effectively with all member profiles. After all, following the changes brought about in April 2015 and the requirement to drive up the quality of governance in workplace DC schemes, effective communication is required to reach the widest possible pool of skilled and knowledgeable candidates for your election.
The nomination process
Pension schemes should make the nomination process as simple as possible. To reach all members it is worth considering an online nomination process, alongside a traditional paper application. As outlined earlier, the role of the trustee is such that often MNT/MND candidates have to canvass support from referees as part of their nomination application, which can sometimes delay the process for candidates. However, with more modern online platforms this is achievable online, thus speeding up the process.
The ballot process
Finally, once you have your MNT/MND candidates and your election is contested, the final task your election service provider has to do is to help you achieve a healthy turnout. Choosing a modern, fit-for-purpose e-voting platform can help to reduce costs to increase scheme memberships. It is quick and easy for the scheme member to use. Traditional paper ballots are often an alternative to e-voting to accommodate the needs of the scheme members who prefer a more traditional method.
Another advantage of incorporating e-voting into your ballot process is the functionality to share the news on social media. Election services providers, like UK Engage, have social shares built into the e-voting platform.
Election Support From UK Engage
UK Engage works with many company pension schemes to administer MND/MNT elections and improve engagement, for the best election results possible. Contact us on 0161 209 4808 to discuss your needs.