Like many professionals, doctors are busy working long hours so it can be a challenge to get them to focus on their retirement plan. At a TPSU program held at Bentley University, the HR professional for a company that manages the benefits for a number of doctor’s groups discusses how she successfully deals with those challenges.
While helping the groups to select and monitor their provider is not a challenge, getting doctors to focus and make investment selections or change deferral rates never mind enroll in the 401k plan can be difficult. They are not likely to attend group meetings.
So to entice these doctors to meet, the outsourced HR group offers doctors free financial planning meetings with an advisor. Though many have their own advisor, most are open to taking the meetings sometimes with their accountant in attendance either in person or by phone. It’s also important to make sure that these busy professionals have 24/7 access to their 401k accounts whether online or by phone as they work difficult schedules. What does not work is forcing these people to fill out paperwork, also true with Millennials.
Providing professionals with access to a financial advisor, even if they might have their own, seems to be the key according to the outsourced HR manager which makes sense since these people are providing personal services to their clients. And advisors are more than happy to meet with them because, even if they are just starting out, they are attractive wealth management prospects.
The good news for HR managers at professional service organizations is that these executives might be more than willing to delegate so HR is more likely to be empowered to make decisions about the plan design that can benefit everyone along with making advisors willing to meet personally with all employees, not just doctors.
