At a TPSU program held at Queens University in Charlotte, NC, the VP of HR at AAA of the Carolinas explained how her group leverages employees participating in the 401k plan to speak with others becoming what she calls “401k Champions.”
Selecting from a cross section of their employee base, these 401k Champions are educated by the company’s provider to go out and talk about the benefits and features of the 401k plan but obviously not providing investment advice. They go out on shop floors traveling to branch offices pairing Champions with employees like them and participating in all group meetings.
AAA’s 401k Champions also speak with senior management about the company’s retirement plan becoming the voice of the 401k plan.
The program was started two years ago when target date funds were rolled out as a way to educate and alert people to the change and the benefits of these new investments lending the Champion’s voice and support. The Champions are fully engaged in the plan deferring to the match and are able to describe firsthand the benefits of the plan not only to them but also to their families.
At TRAU (The Retirement Advisor University), a collaboration with UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Education, we learned how business school professors and experts in adult learning effectively teach people already in the workforce like financial advisors. Adults don’t learn by listening and they often don’t trust experts getting more from peer to peer interaction.
We brought these lessons to TPSU (The Plan Sponsor University), half-day training programs for plan sponsors held all over the country. While providing good, stimulating speakers covering relevant and topical subjects is key to getting the discussion going, the most valuable part of these programs is the small group breakout session where people get to hear from peers what’s working and not working in their plan.
AAA of the Carolina’s has brilliantly brought this wisdom to plan participants by using peer to peer training. These 401k Champions are just like all the other participants and lessons of success and struggle resonate more than research or experts telling them what they should do. Simple, easy and inexpensive.
