Every single day, I work with people in HR and finance. I talk to CEOs and their benefits advisers. And every single day, I find new ways to appreciate the responsibilities, challenges, and art behind creating a place where employees are happy and appreciated. For all the HR, finance, and leadership teams out there wondering how to crack the code to keeping employees happy: this is for you.
When I talk to executives at small businesses about their company’s retirement benefits, do you know what their number one concern is? 401(k) participation – employees are not contributing to their retirement plans. All that effort that the finance and HR teams (and often the CEOs) put into getting this awesome benefit set up, and a large percentage of eligible participants do not use the benefit.
I can feel the frustration everyday.
I can’t profess to having the answer (I wish I did!). But after many, many conversations with people administering cutting edge participation techniques, I’ve been able to identify some common themes I’ve seen among the best of the best.
Let’s face it – planning for retirement is hard. But if you’ve got a retirement plan set up for your company, you’ve already taken the right first step. The next step is knowing how to get your employees to engage with the benefit and start putting away savings.
Give your employees more than just a 401(k), join the movement.