Brainstorming for Better Outcomes
Erin Hall was proud of the metrics produced by a plan on which she recently worked, yet one area of focus fueled her excitement—financial wellness—and how it turned into a “usable tool” for participants.
The client had 194 active plan participants, and Hall, Managing Director at Strategic Retirement Partners, noted their generosity. They instituted a match, paid all fees, and constantly asked about how they could be more competitive and even more generous with their employees.
“We brought them a financial wellness solution that engages with participants across multiple mediums” she explained. “Their crown jewel is a one-on-one financial coaching solution. Participants can call in if they have an immediate need for help with a financial problem or the other extreme if they want to plan for buying a house or getting out of debt.”
Financial wellness is typically promoted as a push to the employees, she added, but employees need to take action in order to register for the service. Plan sponsors are reluctant to auto-register their participants for several reasons, so they send push emails for them to instead do it themselves.
“We implemented this program for just shy of 200 folks, but after almost a year, we only had 26 go online to register,” Hall lamented. “Of those, 19 had specifically taken the next step to say then needed help with something. Of those that registered, we had tremendous usage, so the organization really wanted to improve that engagement.”
Hall and her team met with the organization’s leadership to get more of an idea of what would resonate with their particular employee population—maybe a contest, offering a carrot, or holding a raffle. They had multiple locations, all of whom were extremely competitive with each other.
“We ended up with a two-week registration campaign tracked by location,” she said. “We helped to get a personalized video produced to get the word out and the plan sponsor was really engaged. When the message is personalized and tailored to the organization, it makes a big difference.”
At the end of the two-week campaign, there were 184 financial wellness registrations out of 194 total participants. Of those, 31 people took the next step to get help with their financial situation, which Hall said speaks to the power of having an engaged and committed plan sponsor. The plan itself went from a 52% participation rate to a 95% participation rate from 2018 to 2020 and financial wellness was the next goal to accomplish.
“It was a perfect mix of the resources from our financial wellness partner, combined with our input and brainstorming with the client about what motivated their employees,” Hall concluded. “It’s a template to use with other clients and proof that folks want and need this assistance. It’s a huge success story about which we’re really proud.”
Erin Hall, MBA, AIF®, C(k)P®, CPFA is Managing Director with Strategic Retirement Partners.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
