CONTRACT CLEANING NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND REWARDED FOR EXCELLENCE IN MEMBER COMMUNICATION
The Contract Cleaning National Provident Fund was rewarded for excellence in member communication at the Institute for Retirement Funds Africa’s (IRFA) 2017 Best Practices Industry Awards (BPIA) and recognition programme held recently in Durban.
The Fund won the Best Practice in-class Trophy for Communication Project for umbrella funds. To win this award on the first entry to this competition is quite an achievement especially considering that the Fund beat many other large industry umbrella funds to win this category.
The Fund was rewarded for its unique approach to member communication and for its persistence in engaging with members on a face to face basis. The Fund’s administrator, NBC, spend many hours planning and talking to members at these road shows. The road show member engagement “Ask Pule Campaign” was also rewarded with a Special Merit Certificate, as can be seen below.
The Fund’s use of large colourful posters and interactive scribble videos to educate members was also commended.
The Fund introduced a regular member newsletter, a benefits flyer and annual Calendar where the benefits of the Fund are explained.
The IRFA instituted an annual communication competition to recognise and reward excellence in retirement fund communication. The competition was started in the 1980s and since then the emphasis has moved from recognition of communication to rewarding funds for world-class communication efforts that empower members to truly understand the workings of their retirement fund.
Funds compete in Large, Medium, Small and Umbrella categories. The judges consider many factors when judging entries including:
- Effectiveness in general – the appropriateness at each level must be justified and relevant to the particular membership base;
- Cost effectiveness;
- Innovation and the use of technology;
- Clarity of message;
- Transfer of knowledge;
- Communication above minimum required by PF86;
- Ease of updating content into the future; and
- Measurement of success.
The judges comprise a mixture of industry experts, academics and communication specialists.