When building a retirement plan committee, it’s important to include a diverse mix of people from across the organization—not just leaders or finance professionals. While experts from HR, finance, or legal are essential, it’s equally valuable to include employees who understand the everyday needs of their peers. Team members outside of management can offer helpful feedback and bring fresh perspectives, ensuring the plan reflects the broader workforce.
It also helps to include individuals who are trusted and well-connected—those “go-to” people colleagues naturally turn to. These influencers can play a key role in spreading information and encouraging participation. When updates come from someone employees relate to and trust, engagement tends to increase. A committee with a blend of expertise and influence leads to better decisions, clearer communication, and stronger plan participation.
Following a recent TPSU program on the scenic campus of the University of San Diego, Fred Barstein, Founder and CEO of TPSU and 401kTV, spoke with Ashleigh, the Director of Human Resources at a 200-person company, about her approach to committee-building. Ashleigh shared that she intentionally selected non-management employees with strong informal influence—such as a well-liked “social butterfly” who understood the team’s needs and could help spread key messages in a relatable way.
By tapping into these peer influencers, Ashleigh saw improved communication and trust. More employees began asking questions, enrolling in the plan, and better understanding HR’s role. As she pointed out, employees often trust their coworkers more than they trust HR or leadership—making these informal leaders a vital part of any effective plan communication strategy.
Read the Full Transcript Here:
Fred Barstein:
Greetings. This is Fred Barstein, founder and CEO of TPSU and 401kTV. Just completed a program here on the beautiful campus of the University of San Diego, and I am here with Ashleigh. Welcome, Ashleigh.
Ashleigh:
Thank you.
Fred Barstein:
Okay if we ask you a few questions?
Ashleigh:
Absolutely.
Fred Barstein:
Very good. So before we get started, tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at your organization.
Ashleigh:
Right. I am the Director of Human Resources at a company with approximately 200 employees. It can be a little bit seasonal. And I do all things within the realm of HR.
Fred Barstein:
Very good. So one of the things you talked about was how you form committees and who you put on your committee, which I thought was a little bit unique. So tell us what you did.
Ashleigh:
So in a couple of the cases, what I did is I wanted to make sure I was meeting with somebody that wasn’t necessarily in management or didn’t necessarily already have a hand in that plan. Somebody who is a rank and file employee, has a lot of influence, knows the staff, knows the team, can give me great information about how to put a good plan together that works for them, and then also help me disseminate that information out.
And in this case, this was a social butterfly. This person knew a lot about what was going on, knew about the needs of the team, and they were going from place to place and keeping the morale high. A really great employee. But do you know what? If you have a social butterfly, that’s not always a bad thing. Tap into that. Utilize them and have them learn and participate, get information from you, but then also go out there and share the information that they got.
Fred Barstein:
Because they trust their peers.
Ashleigh:
They trust their peers.
Fred Barstein:
More than they trust anyone else.
Ashleigh:
In HR.
Fred Barstein:
Especially HR and senior management. That’s great. And how is that working?
Ashleigh:
It’s working pretty well. So what it actually has also done is it has increased employees’ comfort coming to me with questions, concerns, wanting to know how to enroll, what does that mean? Because again, a trusted peer was articulating that information to them. So not only did it help get the information out, it also brought more people to me and helped them better understand my role as HR.
Fred Barstein:
Very good. Final question, one or two things you learned today, and would you recommend TPSU to other plan sponsors?
Ashleigh:
Okay. So a couple things that I learned today was don’t allow the plan to get stale and don’t assume everything is working the way that it needs to, just because it’s working the way bare bones that it should. You have advisors. Reach out to those advisors and tap out into them and make sure you’re actually getting what you need. If not, maybe find a different one. But first, leverage that relationship and see what you can get.
I would absolutely recommend this. I still don’t know as much as I want to, but I know a lot more at the end of the day than I did at the beginning, and I’m asking and thinking about much higher level, more intelligent questions now than I did this morning.
Fred Barstein:
Great. Well, thanks for your time.
Ashleigh:
Absolutely. Thank you.
Fred Barstein:
And thank you for watching 401kTV. Please stay tuned.
