Boosting Employee Engagement in 401(k) Plans
Maintaining employee engagement for 401k plans is crucial for a fiduciary, as it directly impacts the success and effectiveness of the plan. As a fiduciary, it is the responsibility of the plan sponsor to ensure that employees are engaged and invested in their 401k plan, as this promotes a better retirement outcome for the employees. Low engagement levels could lead to employees making poor investment decisions or not contributing enough to their plans, which ultimately impacts their retirement savings and their financial well-being in the future.
Therefore, it is essential for fiduciaries to take an active role in promoting employee engagement through communication, education, and access to tools and resources that can help employees make informed decisions and stay on track with their retirement savings goals. A well-engaged workforce can result in a more successful 401k plan, better retirement outcomes for employees, and greater satisfaction among the workforce.
At the conclusion of a Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) Fiduciary Education Program held at Virgina Tech University in Arlington, Virgina, TPSU Founder, and CEO, Fred Barstein spoke with Alicia, a TPSU Program attendee. As a the Chief People Officer and Fiduciary for a non-profit of about 600 employees, Alicia explains she worked with both her financial advisor and third party administrator to devise a creative approach to a communications plan that would encourage better communication between the employee and the financial advisor. The outcome? A virtual scavenger hunt lead by their financial advisor embarked on by employees — ultimately helping to encourage trust building between advisor and employee.
Read the Full Transcript Here:
Fred Barstein :
This is Fred Barstein founder and CEO of TPSU. We just completed a program at Virginia Tech in Arlington, Virginia, here with Alicia. Welcome, Alicia.
Alicia:
Thank you. Thank you.
Fred Barstein :
Okay if we ask you a few questions?
Alicia:
Absolutely.
Fred Barstein :
Great. Thank you. So before we do, tell us a little bit about yourself and the size of your organization.
Alicia:
Absolutely. So I am the Chief People Officer for a nonprofit, and right now we have approximately 600 employees with 80 who are eligible for a retirement plan.
Fred Barstein :
Great. So today the topic that came up a lot and I thought you had a great answer was, how do you get engagement? How do you get your people to engage and what’s the role of the advisor in that?
Alicia:
Absolutely. So at our organization, we did have an issue with the employee engagement with the financial advisor and with the platform and interest in the retirement as a whole. So I worked with my financial advisor and my TPA to come up with a communications plan so they can get to know the financial advisor. We know from experience that employees talk to individuals that they know and that they’re comfortable with, and so we had to get our financial advisor out in front. So we devised a scavenger hunt for the employees to make it fun and make it more engaging as a whole. So the scavenger hunt was geared around the financial platform and the advisor and things that employees would have to look up. And the idea of strategically developing the scavenger hunt was to leave breadcrumbs so employees would be more interested in-
Fred Barstein :
Is this online or actually physical?
Alicia:
It was online. So we did it completely online because in today’s world we’re all online, and I had it led by our financial advisor and we had prizes. But it made them understand and learn who is the financial advisor, what can they do, what do we offer as an organization. And we monitored the web traffic to the platform. We monitored how many engagements we had with our financial advisors, how many one-on-ones did it trigger. So yeah, it was really interesting and the employees loved it.
Fred Barstein :
And they liked it, and you had more, right, you got great feedback on that?
Alicia:
Absolutely, we got great feedback and we ended up setting up a annual plan. So not just saying, “Okay, what are we going to do? How long has it been?” It’s like, “No, let’s set an annual plan of how we’re going to keep employees engaged and make it become part of their habits.” So once employees get engaged in something and it becomes their routine and their habit, they’re more likely to stay engaged.
Fred Barstein :
Right, they’re doing it well. Great, congratulations on that.
Alicia:
Thank you.
Fred Barstein :
Great title, Chief People Officer. And just final question, a couple of things you learned. How was this program for you?
Alicia:
It was great. It was great. I have actually been fiduciary for different organizations for the last 15 years, and I continue to learn new things, which is why I come to these things. There are many great points, but one of the absolute great points that I’m really going to go back and think about now and take back is the idea of bringing in the annuity options into my retirement plan. I think that is actually just brilliant. So, yeah.
Fred Barstein :
Right, it’s coming. There are more and more coming, so great. Well thank you for your time and thank you for watching 401KTV. Stay tuned.
