The Pensions Administration Standards Association (Pasa) has issued guidance aimed at highlighting best practice to administrators as they navigate their way out of lockdown.

Pasa noted that the administrative landscape is likely to change following the coronavirus pandemic, primarily in organisational structures and the technology underpinning them.

Pasa chair, Kim Gubler, stated that although lockdown is easing, some of the changes made during the period could become permanent.

“We are realising we can no longer talk about ‘returning to normal’, but rather how we can adapt and evolve the way high quality administration is delivered in future,” she added.

“All administrators should have learned something new during the last few months, whether about their people, their technology or their members.

“Pasa has pulled together these learnings to shape our guidance, we hope organisations can use this to learn from each other’s experiences as they look to implement their plans for the future.”

The guidance focuses on visibility and accessibility, digital workflow, KPIs and projects, offshoring, and face-to-face meetings.

Additionally, it provides suggestions on identification verification, investment managers and AVCs, homeworking, wellbeing and productivity, and recruitment.

It urged administrators to improve member communications, especially though telephone, post and digital offerings, developing a digital strategy, and automating reporting.

The group also suggested administrators consider how they would deal with a re-imposition of lockdown, implement processes to regulate face-to-face meetings and survey employee attitudes to returning to office-based work.

Pasa had previously issued Covid-19 guidance to administrators as the UK entered lockdown.

Gubler concluded: “In our initial guidance, we stated administrators needed to be resilient in the face of lockdown’s challenge.

“As we move forward this is even more critical. Lockdown was a onetime measure imposed on us all, at the same time.

“However, the rate and way administrators react and respond to the easing of lockdown will be very different, driven by how their own organisations implement their office return plans. Each will have to map their own path according to a huge number of factors.

“As administrators move forward, they need both flexibility to accommodate different ways of working, and the differing needs of members.”

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