We tend to assume that HR professionals inherently care about their DC plan — but is that really true?
At the Mile High SHRM 2016 conference I recently attended, I spoke at a breakout session about trends in the corporate retirement market. It was the only session of the day on retirement. My breakout attracted 10 people. (A few were lost.) I might have taken the paltry attendance personally — but then again, no one there knew me.
I realized that most HR professionals don’t like dealing with benefits, especially retirement, because it will not cause as many headaches as health care if it's ignored. They care about recruiting, developing and retaining human capital. In a fight for relevance with divisions that make and sell products or services, HR will get recognition if senior management sees HR as an important way to manage their most important resource in a knowledge-based economy. Benefits are what the HR person has to do, not what they want to do.
So how do we engage HR and benefits professionals in their retirement plan? This question haunted me on the long plane ride home. The only answer I could come up with was financial wellness. DC plans are and will continue to be the central savings and retirement vehicle for workers, especially younger ones who don’t believe that Social Security will be around when they retire. Engaging people in financial literacy education and holistic financial planning through the DC plan and the plan’s advisor could be a key benefit to recruit and retain talent. HR professionals are more likely than their counterparts in Finance to believe that people who are comfortable and confident about their financial situation are less stressed and more productive. If the company helps in these endeavors, workers might even be more loyal and less likely to leave.
So is financial wellness the key to engaging HR professionals? I’ll let you know after my next presentation to an HR group — which will certainly change as a result of the surprising showing at my last one.
Opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NAPA or its members.
