The last question I would ever have expected when I attended my careers days all of those years ago, is “why not try a job in pensions?”

Not because I wasn’t any good at maths; in fact I was really quite good. Not because I was poor at delivering on administration type activities; I could do that as well (we didn’t have computers or word processors ‘back in the day). It’s becaue I never even knew that they existed and, if I had, what on earth could have attracted me to want to do it?

The attraction was the the bright lights and big city!

 The wisdom of age can only ever suggest to me now that those types of activity would never last for long, were not sustainable as a career, and as soon as responsibility set in then the idea of the ’24 hour party people person’ I had become had to go. And so did my life at the Hacienda.

Those were the days when it started to seem like the only way to get your foot in the door to get that ‘respected’ job or career was by having a string of letters after your name, or a degree, and it was not always possible to reach that point for a lot of people.

Whilst it is true to suggest that a degree does not prepare you for working life, it is also fair to suggest that it does provide a good start, and the theoretical knowledge and analytical skill to show ‘why something does not work’. What is also true though, is that experience is now increasingly as opportunities for development of the person whilst in employment, and teaches them that ‘doing it that way does not work’. In the ‘modern’ workplace there is a need for both.

With the cost of education now making some think twice about pursuing higher learning, plus grumblings from some quarters that university graduates aren’t prepared for the workplace, then this is the time that work experience and learning ‘on the job’ has to become the preferred option for employers, and the qualifications they gain provide for a better employee.

There is plenty of empirical evidence around the sector that suggests if employers invest in their employees, then they are more likely to want to stay with that organisation.

Similarly, if they start them early enough then the same outcome applies, as loyalty and a career path are the two most important factors when looking at retention.

What is often the case is that employees wait until they have a new job in hand before talking about career development or career planning with their managers. Once an employee gets too far down the path of finding new employment, it becomes hard to maintain a positive relationship with the employer. At that point, the talented employee is going to quit, even if that person never really wanted to leave in the first place. We should be in a position of nipping that in the bud and giving the employee what it is they are asking for.

If an employee decides they want to explore other career options, there should be career planning in place so that the company, if it so desires, has the opportunity to offer a more appealing job or role. A sort of policy that suggests the ‘right of first conversation.’

The PMI, over the whole of its existence, has been providing qualifications so that people working in the sector can not only gain experience through the job, but can gain education through the qualifications we offer. This enhances the retention of experienced professionals and helps guide them throughout their careers.

At the start of 2020, we introduced a competency framework for people coming into the sector, and those already there, to see where their educational profile was in relation to the role they were performing. We have also introduced new qualifications to enhance the role profiles, and we are restructuring qualifications to make the process of lifelong learning a reality. The recent launch of trustee qualifications, starting with the Certificate in Pension Trusteeship, and now the Diploma in Pension Trusteeship, are examples of that ‘career’ approach.

Our commitment does not stop there. We also recognise the value that being a member of the PMI brings to peoples’ careers in the sector. Not everyone, after years of working in pensions, feels the need to take qualifications to substantiate their role. This is why we introduced Membership by Experience; to allow more people to be recognised for the work they have done. This level of membership recognises professional capability and previous qualifications, and is proof of a commitment to enhancing sector knowledge by engaging with the people who have it. In the same understanding, we have launched accreditation routes, initially for professional trustees, but also now for lay, and member-nominated trustees, in order for them to demonstrate a high degree of competence in driving best practice decision-making.

The PMI, and PMI education and qualifications, are evolving, as much as the pensions workplace and sector is evolving. You have asked and we have listened; now we are delivering.

Next year will see changes that we have been working on for the last two years. Our exams will not only be more relevant, but more accessible and more focussed on the needs of individuals and organisations as we move forward together as a sector.