As a 401k specialist, you’re probably considering, or you’re already broadening, your services to extend well beyond traditional retirement plans.
You might be helping employers to manage their health care costs, add an HSA, or implement a financial wellness program.
These are all very positive developments, but only if they’re part of a defined strategy that has been intentionally designed to provide employees a sense of fiduciary well-being.
The timing couldn’t be better for rolling out integrated benefits and services. For the first time in more than a decade, there is evidence that employees are beginning to put more trust in their employer.
To be clear, we’re not going so far as to suggest that the average worker is now inspired by their work or their employer. Most still don’t trust the man, but we’re seeing an improvement. (See “Trust at Work,” Richard Edelman, January 21, 2019)
So, as an advisor what should you look for to help gauge whether an organization is trusted, or not, by its employees?
There are three essential, active ingredients to establishing trust. This is true whether we’re talking about putting trust into an individual, team, or organization:
- Benevolence
- Integrity
- Credibility
Benevolence
Employees must believe that the organization is acting in their best interests. Trusted organizations are passionate about protecting the long-term interests of its employees. They achieve higher levels of trust by sharing visions and strategies with workers in order to gain commitment and to ensure alignment.
Integrity
Trusted organizations exhibit a greater capacity to enact fair, just, and transparent processes to resolve moral conflicts. They have a well-defined ethos and can demonstrate a balanced continuum between the organization’s core values, behavior, and governance.
Credibility
Employees must have confidence that their organization is capable, reliable, and dependable. The organization must demonstrate the ability to adjust and adapt to an ill-defined, ever-changing, and increasingly complex world.
As a 401k specialist, you might want to think about the level of involvement you want to have with your clients. Do you want to be the advisor who shows up twice a year to remind key decision-makers of their fiduciary liability – and, of course, the difference between 3(38) and 3(21)?
Or, do you want to take on a more expansive leadership and stewardship role and help clients to provide their employees with a sense of fiduciary well-being?
Don Trone is regarded as the ‘Father of Fiduciary’. He is the CEO and co-founder of 3ethos and the CEO and one of the co-founders of the Center for Board Certified Fiduciaries which is affiliated with the Wake Forest University School of Professional Studies. CBCF is the only organization offering graduate-level training in the leadership and stewardship roles of fiduciaries.
