A Director of Benefits for a company of approximately 1,200 employees recently attended a Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) program at Merrimack College in North Andover Massachusetts earlier in January 2017. The Director had recently changed their defined contribution (DC) plan provider recently, and she discusses the challenges and benefits of making that change.
In addition to a DC plan the company also offers an employee stock option plan (ESOP) and the company executives were concerned about the complex process of changing their record-keeper. One of the concerns was the issue over whether the new record-keeper would understand and identify the needs of their diverse employee base.
The process took approximately 18 months where the company engaged in many discussions about the corporate culture. The Director noted that there were many one-on-one meetings where the new record-keeper made an effort to get to know the employees and that were a major factor in their choice and in the success of the transition.
The Director noted that it required a serious and committed effort on the part of the company to also educate the new record-keeper.
Another factor under consideration was the fact that the company still handled their payroll manually, and that there was no integration with existing payroll systems being handled by a single administrator.
TPSU is a peer-to-peer educational program conducted at major colleges and universities around the U.S. Over 80 programs are offered each year where retirement professionals and plan sponsors can interact with their peers under the aegis of the industry’s leading experts and educational organization.
