Are you a retirement plan sponsor who is beginning to see faces and hear voices? Those could be strong signs that you actually give a rip about your plan participants.
Let’s discuss the five signs that you care passionately about the people in your retirement plan
1. You see faces in the numbers
In your quarterly plan meetings, you get a lot of data.
– Assets under management.
– Asset allocation.
– Average account balances.
– Changes in contribution rates.
– Distributions.
– Engagement activity
Those numbers tell you something about participant behavior in your plan. And – when you give a rip – you can see the faces, imagine the lives, in the full diversity represented by the people in your plan. You see their faces and understand they don’t all look like those sitting around the meeting table.
2. You hear voices in your communication and education
As you review retirement education and communication programs, you hear the voices of your members.
You hear the accents, the dialects your members use in breakroom conversation.
You hear the words they use when asking questions about their retirement plan.
You feel a little uncomfortable with the language used in your communication and education material – because it doesn’t sound like words a retirement plan expert would use. Yet, you put down your red pen and smile. It sounds nothing like the language used with your attorneys and investment advisors. Perfect.
3. You gave up latte talk
Google the words latte and retirement, and you’ll find nearly 32 million results. A typical example is to suggest you stop spending money on lattes to save more for retirement. The idea, give up lattes to save more for retirement.
Real people hear this judgmental indictment loud and clear. An article in The Atlantic calls this coffee shaming.
There is a specific demographic that is more likely to purchase lattes regularly. Suppose your audience includes those outside that demographic who struggle with utility or medical bills. In that case, there’s no better way to scream “I’m out of touch” than to bring lattes into the conversation.
The educational point is to empower people to make the financial choices that help them spend less and save more. Using judgmental language in the education process puts up a wall between you and your participants.
4. You step outside your daily circle
When you give a rip, you make it a priority to meet a diverse cross-section of your plan participants face-to-face regularly: Especially people outside the day-shift administrative floors of your organization.
You don’t have to become a retirement advisor or counselor. But, whether it is through seminars, webinars, benefits fairs, or other events, make sure you talk to the people you serve.
Consider creating opportunities for plan committees and advisors to meet a diverse cross-section of plan participants.
You’ll never see their faces or hear their voices in your decision-making if you don’t.
5. You measure what matters, not just what is convenient
Finally, those who give a rip measure what matters, not just what is convenient. This means looking beyond financial data, and online activity reports to measure financial well-being, decision models, and participant thoughts and perceptions.
Your recordkeeper can provide a wealth of plan-specific data related to participant activity, allocation, and account balances. And they can sometimes provide data on national research.
While less convenient, gathering data on your participants’ diversity, life circumstances, and financial well-being is not overly complex. And, it is not too challenging to benchmark that data against national research.
Retirement plans are about more than financial, investment, and benefits administration. At their core, they’re about people – real people unique to your plan.
You wouldn’t be listening if you didn’t give a rip. Make an appointment with yourself this week to get started on a relationship-building plan.
