Oilfield services business Schlumberger has introduced a classroom-based training course and pension modelling tools as part of an initiative to help engage its expatriate employees with its defined benefit (DB) pension plan.
Sarah Moise, global benefits manager at Schlumberger, says: “Although we hire from universities, retirement is typically not our recruits’ key focus. So this is one of our challenges and is why we have put a lot of effort into internal training: to try to get across the message of the value of a long-term career and accumulation.”
The two-day training course covers employees’ pension statements, with modelling tools, provided by financial education provider Clarity, helping staff to monitor and forecast their retirement savings.
Moise says: “They take their statement along and it’s the first time they understand what the numbers mean.”
She adds that the tools provided by Clarity enable staff to factor in benefits they are accruing through voluntary plans, as well as their pension scheme.
The initiative focuses on expatriates with at least eight years’ service. Participation in the DB scheme is mandatory, so all 13,000 expatriate staff are members.
The plan is managed internally with support from external investment managers.
