The Importance of Engagement

February 26, 2016 Susan Atkeisson Uncategorized

Employee engagement is a critical aspect of the success of any retirement program. Unfortunately, employees in our country continue to under-prepare for retirement. For younger employees, retirement may seem so far off that putting money aside doesn’t register as an important concept. For employees still living paycheck to paycheck, saving for retirement may not seem like a possibility. As employees grow closer to retirement, they often become more interested in building a healthy retirement portfolio, but the sooner your employees begin participating in a retirement plan, the better prepared they will be when the time for retirement comes. How can you better engage your employees?

Messages Your Employees Can Hear

Getting employees to engage in a retirement plan requires sending a message that your employees can hear. According to a 2015 survey, 85 percent of employees trust the advice from their employers concerning retirement savings. (Source: https://www.tiaa-ref.org/public/pdf/retirement_readiness_employee_engagement.pdf) Although not all of these employees will take your advice, providing financial education that your employees see as relevant for their current situation is likely to help improve your company’s employee engagement. Here are some examples of ways to help your employees hear the message about retirement savings:

1. Companies with a young workforce can begin to engage employees who perceive themselves as far away from retirement by offering education on budgeting and debt management.
2. Companies seeking to engage women in retirement planning can provide education on issues specific to women such as planning for longer retirement based on life expectancy and how to manage income loss due to career breaks for childcare.
3. Companies with employees who tend to live paycheck to paycheck can provide workshops on budgeting and saving.
4. Companies who have several employees nearing retirement may wish to offer education and resources for transitioning to retirement.

 

Communicating the Message to Employees

Once you’ve identified the message or messages your employees need to hear concerning retirement planning, you need to find an effective way to deliver the information. Your employees may not get the message if it comes in a pile of emails that get pushed aside or ignored entirely. Providing mobile options for both communication and plan participation may go a long way toward improving your employee plan engagement.

You can enhance this engagement by providing tablets or company-owned cellphones for employees to use to access plan information. Some employers purchase and maintain iPads that are available for use during enrollment periods and at orientation meetings. Another way to incorporate mobile communication is to schedule plan meetings using social media or text messaging for communication.

Retirement planning as well as retirement plan management can be intimidating and time-consuming. As a plan sponsor, your job is to make engagement as attractive and simple as possible for your employees. As a retirement plan management firm, Heartland Consulting Group can help you manage a plan that works for your employees. Call today to learn more about how we support companies like yours as you work to engage your employees.