Ninety-seven percent of plan sponsors who adopted automatic enrollment, automatic escalation and QDIA say the advantages outweigh any perceived disadvantages reinforcing the value of the full bundle rather than a single feature approach.

"Our Lincoln Retirement Power survey confirms what we intuitively believe. Automatic features are highly effective," said Chuck Cornelio, president of Retirement Plan Services for Lincoln Financial Group. "Employers who offer these features in their plans will help Americans take charge of their retirement. But just like any other plan design innovation, auto solutions do not mean you can simply set it and forget it. Employees need personalized and outcomes-based communication and education to meet their goals and boost their retirement readiness."

The study also found that less than half of plans sponsors have adopted auto escalation and enrollment to date, and while new communication channels have emerged since the advent of these new plan features, they have not kept pace with cultural and generational shifts or the evolution of plan design. Only 51 percent of plan sponsors said they offer customized communication and only 50 percent have revamped communication materials since the introduction of auto features.

According to the report, plan sponsors need to get away from jargon when discussing plan options with participants, making the information less technical and just having a more meaningful conversation about individual savings behaviors and strategies.

The survey was conducted by phone in February and March of 201 executives who are responsible for managing 401(k) and 403(b) plans with more than $10 million in assets and respondents had to have instituted at least one automatic retirement plan feature in their plan.