Though the Ideal Plan using auto-enrollment is a sure fire way to boost participation in a company’s defined contribution plan, some employers are not comfortable using it fearing that they are forcing people to join the plan and which will appear to be paternalistic. Also, employees are less engaged when everything is done for them sometimes without their knowledge. A benefits manager for a healthcare company attending a TPSU program held at LIU shares how she almost doubled participation through simple and short video communications.
Leveraging their plan advisor and providers, the LI based company shot a series of one minute videos about aspects of the plan like what is a 401k plan, target date funds and how to prepare for retirement. The videos provided a brief overview of each subject with links to more information.
The results were stunning. The healthcare company went from 1000 participants to over 1800 in a relatively short period by sending these videos out via email every week. Why video?
- One-third of all online activity is spent watching video.
- 59% of all executives would rather watch video that receive text.
- 90% of people indicate that video is helpful in their decision making process.
- There’s a 200-300% increase in click-throughs when video is embedded in emails.
Ardian Hasko, a budding plan advisor in NYC with Dominick & and Dominick, was frustrated with the level of education when he was the administrator at his former company’s 401k plan which inspired him to become a plan advisor. His secret sauce to engaging employees in education is the use of videos along with testing afterwards. He creates 12 five minute videos unique to each client in tandem with the HR person which employees are required to watch with a test at the end and results recorded. Not only does Ardian know which subjects each employee needs help with, there is a fiduciary record that employees have received all required DOL notifications and have been properly educated on plan investment options.
So if you’re having trouble engaging or even reaching your employees about their retirement plan, perhaps the problem is the medium, not the message. (For more information about how you can use videos to boost your participation, go to 401kTV Studios.)
