This approach also enables financial wellness providers to segment the audience to make sure the workshops and materials they provide to employees are relevant. After all, you wouldn’t want to present in-depth information on asset allocation when much of the audience is still struggling with basic budgeting.
2) Knowledgeable, Accessible Assistance From A Live Support Team
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the human element in helping employees seize control of their financial situation. All too often, though, employees’ only option when they have a question about their financial wellness plan is an online tutorial or sifting through a huge library of esoteric presentations.
If they are able to speak with a live person, it’s frequently an HR rep who is bandwidth-constrained and unable to articulate all of their options.
When employees cannot find answers to their questions quickly and concisely, they are far more likely to tune out financial wellness programs altogether, disengage with their personal plans—and even reduce their contributions to the company retirement plan.
An effective remedy here is to offer consistent access to an experienced team of financial problem-solvers that are tuned in to employees’ needs and can quickly point them in the right direction when problems arise. By connecting them with such support teams, employers can shift employees’ perception of them from simply providing a paycheck to providing valuable financial solutions—all while seeking to drive stronger retirement plan engagement.
3) Phased Education Process That Offers Multiple Entry Points To Get Engaged
Plan sponsors and plan advisors frequently make the mistake of thinking that a single “silver bullet” can boost employee involvement with retirement plans, whether it’s sending out the right communications materials or expanding a plan’s menu of investment options.
The reality is that changing employee behavior is a long and involved process. Plan sponsors, plan advisors and their financial wellness partners should factor this into their programs by offering phased educational curricula that give employees multiple opportunities to find the answers that “click” for them, whether that is simple budgeting concepts, managing debt or, for more experienced investors, how to adjust their portfolios as they get closer to retirement.
These programs can be further reinforced and personalized through regular in-person or over-the-phone consultation sessions to check on employees’ progress and answer any questions they may have.