PLANADVISER - Winter 2023 - 7

Participant Education Innovators
PLANADVISER spoke to experts about how they provide financial wellness education to meet
the needs of today's participants. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, company leaders have had
to rethink the environment they supply for workers, from managing a workforce with hybrid
schedules to abandoning office space entirely. But the need to educate about the plan and
engage plan participants has only increased. The challenge, then, is for advisers to help their
clients navigate these new workforce norms while, ideally, increasing participant offerings.
Jason Chepnik,
senior vice president of
retirement and wealth,
OneDigital, Orlando, Florida
BEST WAYS TO CONNECT: I think a hybrid
workforce makes it hard to engage with participants
because you can't go into an office and see them. The last
three-and-a-half years have been challenging to find new
tricks and new things to do.
Against the backdrop of economic uncertainty, it has
also been challenging to get people to slow down and
think about decisions they're making. Advisers must
constantly reevaluate their menu of services to ensure
they can meet the ever-changing needs of participants.
STAFFING AND FEES: Providing personalized, and often oneon-one,
education requires commitment and resources,
though. OneDigital is a large and growing advisory firm
and continues to staff sectors dedicated to participant
education. We make sure we have enough resources, by
market or by the region, to handle the traffic coming in.
I think what plan sponsors really enjoy the most is
having access to the one-on-ones, especially as most
people are moving to virtual or hybrid work environments.
My advisory team is getting a lot of positive feedback
from 20-minute, one-on-one meetings with participants.
OneDigital has also found success segmenting the business
by small, midsize and large clients. Depending on
the pricing, we can generate education programs that fit
client needs while also being profitable for us. For our larger
plans and larger-market clients, we'll do custom events-a
wellness event, something fun and engaging. It depends on
market size and the client's budget.
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT: I believe organizations
need a diverse group of educators who are different
ages, different genders, different walks of life. Younger
generations like everything electronic, whereas older
generations like things on paper and in person. We have
to make sure we're constantly thinking about whether we
have enough in our menu of services so we can address
these challenges differently.
Kerry Woods,
vice president of participant
education and engagement,
SageView, Denver, Colorado
BEST WAYS TO CONNECT: SageView Advisory
Group has been providing participant education in
the form of group meetings, one-on-one coaching and
education for many years. The popularity of financial
wellness offerings largely depends on the plan sponsor
and its employees.
We see heavy engagement within group meetings and
webinars, though digital and online tools draw even more
traffic. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to improving
participant education, but SageView tries to offer something
for everyone, be it a new employee entering the
workforce or an employee two months away from retiring.
STAFFING AND FEES: With the growing level of engagement
in digital one-on-one meetings, SageView has also been
growing its team. We've been hiring new employees to
take calls and offer one-on-one coaching.
It truly varies based upon location, but we do have
people that are well versed in providing education located
throughout the U.S. We hire as needed within the field in
order to bridge any of those gaps.
Within the financial wellness suite of solutions, fees
are typically paid for at a plan sponsor level. We recommend
that plan sponsors pay for the service out of a
human resources expense budget. But if a plan has some
type of ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act]
budget, a company can also use that to pay for services.
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT: Participant engagement varies
greatly across client bases. Some sponsors take a very
paternalistic view of their employees, while others take a
more hands-off approach.
Some [plan sponsors] want to offer a financial wellness
solution just to check that box. We see more [participant]
engagement rates from employers who truly take a deep
dive within their employees, and you can feel that they
want to be heavily engaged. We've seen better adoption
rates from those employers.
Plan Management | Winter 2023 | planadviser.com 7

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PLANADVISER - Winter 2023

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