PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2019 - 26

" People are more willing to open up about their financial
struggles in a one-on-one setting, " Johnson notes.
Because GHS is a 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year operation, it
has to be resourceful to communicate with all of its employees.
For one way, it often turns to written correspondence, and the
direct mail and email provided by Prudential is simply expressed
and easy to read and understand, Johnson says.
According to Perry, when they decided, a few years ago, to
search for a new vendor, the quality of employee education was
a critical factor. It is hard in a hospital environment to reach out
and touch people. Prudential recognized that and has used as
many touchpoints as possible to connect with employees, he says.
ready. " If they won't do it themselves, we'll do it for them, " he says.
" It's rewarding to me to watch this plan grow and mature, "
says Perry. " The team actually listens to the advice of their
adviser, " says Perry. " They don't always make changes immediately,
but they have, over the past few years, taken positive steps
with the retirement plan, which will materially affect the quality
of life employees will enjoy in retirement. "
GHS has incrementally increased the plan's automatic
" We found that employee
retention has been better due
to the student loan repayment
program than it was from
offering sign-on bonuses. "
Johnson also encourages leaders to speak to employees about
financial wellness and retirement. " Even if an employee works 11
p.m. to 7 a.m., there are still team meetings during which leaders
can talk about financial wellness, " he says. He tells them, if
employees have questions the leader cannot answer, to direct those
people to the retirement team, Prudential or the plan adviser.
Perry commends Johnson's team, calling it outstanding. For
example, Alicia Allement, benefits supervisor, human resources
(HR) and development, handles the plan's day-to-day operations
and the interaction with Prudential. " I can't say enough good
things about Alicia, " Perry says. " She meets with all key stakeholders,
including doctors and department heads, annually in an
attempt to train the trainer. If she can get department heads to
talk about the plan, they'll bring it up in their meetings. "
Johnson once worked for Ernst & Young, and one of the partners
there would regularly ask if he was saving enough for retirement.
" He cared about my financial future; that has always stuck
with me, and I've carried it forward at General Health, " Johnson
says. " When presenting to the leadership team, I talk about being
ready for retirement, and I do so with other departments that
don't report to me. When we have these conversations, it improves
employees' engagement and shows we care about them as people. "
Overcoming Unawareness
Johnson says it shocks him how little understanding people have
of what is needed to plan for retirement. That unawareness is one
reason GHS uses plan design to help employees get retirement
26 PLANSPONSOR.com April - May 2019
enrollment default rate to its current 4%, with the intent of
continuing to increase it to 6%; that way, employees will get the
maximum match of 50% on up to 6% of salary deferred. The
organization automatically escalates employee deferrals 1% each
year-coordinated with merit increases-up to 10%.
GHS also automatically re-enrolls nonparticipants
into the 401(k) plan annually. Employees have
to make a conscious decision to opt out.
According to Perry, GHS provides an annual
compensation statement that shows quantitatively
what employees are missing when they fail to
contribute up to the employer match.
He says the team at GHS works to learn about
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA) and administration and compliance of
retirement plans. " Kendall is brilliant; you only have
to tell him something once and he remembers. Because of his
background, he understands he has to dot all i's and cross all t's, "
Perry says.
" Alicia didn't have the same experience, but she reads articles
and asks questions and soaks up knowledge like a sponge, "
he continues. " She came up with the idea to make a modest
qualified nonelective contribution to help the plan pass nondiscrimination
testing. She is proactive, rather than reactive, always
asking, 'How can we make the plan better?' "
Johnson says he is proud that 93% of employees now participate
in the plan, when three or four years ago it was half that
number. " I won't be happy until the participation rate is closer
to 100%, so we're going to keep trying, " he says. " The next
thing I want to see us do is invest more dollars in employees'
retirement. "
Perry agrees. " General is the poster child of a company that
does everything right within its budget to help employees have
financial wellness and be ready for retirement. " -Rebecca Moore
Nonprofit DC Plan <$250mm Finalists
BioBridge Global San Antonio, Texas
Cobleskill Regional Hospital Cobleskill, New York
Kokua Kalihi Valley Honolulu, Hawaii
Read the full finalist profiles on plansponsor.com/PSOY2019.
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