However, vested interests will cloud the implementation of the Guidance Guarantee and it must stay on course to provide the best it can.
What six attributes must it have to be a success?
- It must be independent of Government and providers. Both are tainted by a lack of trust amongst the general public and so Guidance must stand alone to be trusted. This means the provision and branding are separate and recognisable.
- There must be a recognition that individuals will not have the knowledge to fully understand the information they will be given and, therefore, the process must include a period of education via the employer if necessary.
- Where there is no employer to act as a conduit per se, for example people who are self-employed or no longer in employment, the scope of the required learning must be made available to them. Equally those without a paternalistic or engaged employer.
- What must be clear is what the Guidance is and what it isn’t. Guidance is a provision of information and an opportunity to take stock of where one is. Clarity of what it can and cannot do will help manage expectations with the eventual outcomes.
- This may not be the final step during the decision making process and next steps must be clear and if professional advice is needed then this must be included (albeit at a cost to the individual).
- It must proactive and forthcoming with information and not rely heavily on individual initiative. As shown with the success of auto enrolment in increasing scheme membership, inertia will grip many and confusion should not be allowed to paralyse individuals into non-action or the wrong product.
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