Judging criteria

The UK Pensions Awards are rightly regarded as the industry's most prestigious accolades, which recognise continuous and ongoing improvement.

Judges measure final submissions against four set criteria in addition to looking at the submission overviews.

The judging panel can be viewed here.

The overall aim of the awards remains the same: to recognise providers that offer the highest level of service to occupational pension schemes and their members.

Judges award up to 75 marks on four set criteria – with up to 30 marks for innovation and up to 15 marks each on the communication, performance/benefit to clients and service standards. A further 25 marks are awarded for the general overview.

The total submission – answering the four set criteria and the overview – is no more than 1,500 words. All parts of the submission must refer to specific developments during the past 12 months.

The set criteria for the main submission are:

Innovation:

What is available in addition to the basic core and value added services that are provided? How do you liaise with clients to ensure developments continue to meet their needs? Which new services have been introduced and how successful have they proved? How quickly can products and processes be adapted to meet market changes or to meet an individual client's needs?

Communication:

How do you report to clients and how do you ensure they receive up-to-date and meaningful information in a format that meets their requirements? Are reports available online and in hard copy formats? Can clients dictate the frequency and style of the reports they receive? If applicable, do users have the means to build their own custom reports?

Performance and/or benefits to clients:

What performance measurement systems do you use and how do you compare with your peers? What procedures are in place to monitor performance and examine the results?

How frequently do account managers discuss performance and operational and service levels with clients on a face-to-face basis? How frequently are factual/statistical reports produced?

Service standards:

What external quality accreditations have you achieved and are these processes ongoing? Do you carry out formal research with clients to measure how effectively you meet or exceed their expectations?

How often do senior managers review operational standards against the service standards agreed with each client?

Do you cross-train personnel to ensure that knowledgeable staff members are always available to support ongoing relationships? Do you benchmark your service standards?

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