Trends

What's really happening with employees and retirement plans? Here are some trends they're seeing:

What's in it for me? Increasingly more common is a "what's-in-it-for-me" mentality among employees of all ages, said Matthew Gertzog, Deputy Exec. Director of the American Society of Hematology. "Which means we need to figure out what exactly IS in it for them."
The mixing of generations. "We have four generations working at AORN," said Gloria McCamley, Director Human Resources, Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN). "We have to cater to millennials who want games and 70-year-olds who want to pick up the phone and talk. Then we have the sandwich generation with kids going to college and parents who are ailing. We have a broad spectrum of wages too."
Decision-making based on stories. Perhaps because of the rise of the sharing culture on Facebook and other social media, employees are making decisions based on their coworkers' and friends' opinions and stories, rather than accepting experts' advice outright. "The power of word of mouth has just exploded," Gertzog said. "You hear that Steve had a meeting with his advisor and he told a friend over lunch and that friend wants it too now."
How retirement information is presented. The increasing creativity of vendors, as well as the influence of video games and social media, has raised employee expectations about benefits and retirement tools being interactive and fun. And they want their retirement information packaged and presented in a variety of ways, Gertzog added: "Multiple learning formats, one on one, group meetings, online, gamification, employee challenges."
A plethora of plans. The changing merger-and-acquisition scene brings benefits baggage, creating a patchwork of plans to deal with ("we have 3 separate 401(k) plans and 2 pension plans," said Katie Drayo, Director of Benefits, Cott Corporation).

Benefits philosophy

Challenges and trends are similar from organization to organization. But how employers view their retirement "obligation" or philosophy can be very different.

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View from the 401(k) trenches: 3 plan sponsors on trends, financial literacy

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