If you’re a regular reader of this blog you know that a lot of the work we’re doing as a business at the minute is focused on helping employers prepare for auto enrolment.

In our opinion, auto enrolment is a good thing!  It will help millions of people take ownership and save for their financial futures.  Whilst the concept of auto enrolment is new in the UK the technique of quasi compulsory pension contributions has been used in various parts of the world (I wrote recently about it’s impact in Australia over the last 20 years).

I appreciate that the changes will have an impact on employers.  This is always going to be a painful process.

Also we’re starting to see the impact of auto enrolment already.  On the 19th July this year the pensions regulator confirmed that the millionth worker has been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension.

This is great news and is only the start of a fundamental change to how people start to perceive saving for their longer term futures.  Interestingly this article reports that the regulator has opened 89 investigations into firms who have not complied.  Personally this seems like a sure sign of the regulator taking non compliance seriously.

So one million people are in workplace pensions, the regulator seems to be clamping down on companies who don’t comply.

All good right?  erm, I hate to say it…but no.  There’s still some work to do!

Something concerned me in the press release I mentioned above highlighting the good news about the million new people in workplace pensions.  It was a comment from the Minister of Pensions Steve Webb.

Now I’ve never met or spoke to Steve but from what I’ve read and heard he seems like a decent bloke.

He seems to understand most of the key issues around pensions, benefits and auto enrolment, wants to hear a wide range of different opinions and seems to do a lot for his local residents on top of his ministerial role.

However this comment in the press release concerned me….

“Today is a real landmark in this quiet revolution, finally reversing decades of decline in pension saving."

I agree on a couple of aspects of this comment.  1 million individuals being automatically enrolled is a landmark, and auto enrolment is an absolute revolution in UK pensions…

But why are we keeping the revolution quiet?

It seems strange to me. With auto enrolment impacting all employers and all employees it seems that this revolution shouldn’t be quiet….it should be LOUD!  

Surely the more people who know about the impact of auto enrolment as early as possible the greater the potential success of the project?  If we take that as a given…why is Steve Webb talking about ‘the quiet revolution’ when actually we should be metaphorically shouting this stuff from the rooftops?!

The reasons why we don’t are probably numerous….

Auto Enrolment will never be politically popular and in a country of relatively short political cycles it’s tough for politicians to be proud of policies which are painful short term but beneficial longer term.

I was talking to Steve Bee (@Thepensionsguru on twitter) the other day about the reason why the quiet auto enrolment revolution isn’t louder.

His take is an interesting one.  He believes that the monumental changes should be on the front pages of newspapers and he doesn’t know why the mainstream press doesn’t cover it as much as they should.

Regardless of the reasons behind the lack of awareness around auto enrolment I believe that the quiet revolution needs to become louder….and quickly.

Whilst the auto enrolment issue has previously been an issue for large corporate firms to tackle it’s now firmly medium sized firms need to tackle, especially when you consider that in the next eleven months every employer with more than 62 employees (as of April 2012) needs to be fully prepared.

So…who’s responsibility is it to start to ensure that the quiet revolution becomes louder. The government has a responsibility.  Steve Webb has a responsibility.  The mainstream press has a responsibility.  The financial profession has a responsibility.  However what we need is one individual or organisation to take control and turn the volume up from a 3, to at least an 8…but ideally an 11!