PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2020 - 36

AWARDS 2020 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Carrie Oman, Director, Benefits,
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
Ryan Whitehead, Senior Benefits
Manager, Lenovo
Pascale Thomas, Vice President,
Global Benefits, Thermo Fisher
Scientific
Jenny Low, Accounting Manager
and Primary Plan Administrator,
Anvil Corporation
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
McLean, Virginia
PLAN: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $5.4b. PARTICIPANTS: 45,488. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 92%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 9%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 100% of 6%. RECORDKEEPER: Voya Financial.
ADVISER: Rocaton Investment Advisors.
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. is a global consulting firm that
competes intensely for top talent. " With that drive for talent, we
like to look at creative ways to increase the value of our offering to
employees, " Director, Benefits, Carrie Oman says. That includes
its PTO [Paid Time Off] Sell program, which lets an employee
sell up to 80 hours of unused PTO back to the company annually;
employees may receive cash or put the money toward their health
savings account or student loan. In 2018, the company launched
an annual " Wellness Challenge. " The first year, employees were
challenged to take online wellness classes and given an incentive
to complete a session. Last year's challenge was to schedule
a one-on-one meeting with a financial adviser; about 48% of
employees participated. -JW
Lenovo
Morrisville, North Carolina
PLAN: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $2b. PARTICIPANTS: 9,475. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 98%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 11%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 100% of 6%. RECORDKEEPER: Fidelity Investments.
ADVISER: Compass Financial Partners.
Plan design choices, plus a 100% of 6% match, are helping
employees at Lenovo reach 20% annual contributions to their
401(k) within four years of enrolling. Lenovo produces laptop
computers, tablets and smartphones. After acquiring Motorola
Mobility, it launched a " harmonization project " for its benefits
plans, enabling the sponsor to look at each feature of the 401(k) and
ask how well it contributed, says Senior Benefits Manager Ryan
Whitehead. Effective 2016, the plan doubled its default deferral
rate, and, in 2017, it re-enrolled nonparticipating employees at
6%. To make its benefits messaging more engaging, Lenovo
brought together all of its benefits providers for a summit, in
2018 and again last year. They now align communication on
different themes, each month, across the benefits. -JW
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Waltham, Massachusetts
PLAN: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $5.7b. PARTICIPANTS: 43,142. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 92.2%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 8.3%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 100% of 6%. RECORDKEEPER: T. Rowe Price.
ADVISER: NEPC.
Thermo Fisher Scientific is a manufacturer of scientific
equipment for industries such as patient diagnostics and life
sciences research. As acquisitions have played a key part in the
company's growth, Thermo Fisher has had to integrate many
retirement plans into its 401(k). To aid this process, it developed
a " mergers and acquisitions tool kit. " Included are a fiduciary
checklist, compliance protocol and benchmarking guidelines,
etc. " I joined the company two years ago, and I wanted to make
sure we have a repeatable model for integrations and that we
leverage the experience we have, " says Vice President, Global
Benefits, Pascale Thomas. " In the past 15 years, we've done 45
integrations into our plan. " -JW
Total Retirement Offering Finalists
Anvil Corporation
Bellingham, Washington
PLANS: 401(k); ESOP. PLAN ASSETS: $83.2mm in 401(k); $36.4mm in
ESOP. PARTICIPANTS: 617 in 401(k); 439 in ESOP. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 85.28% in 401(k). AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 10.57%. RECORDKEEPER:
Principal Financial Group. ADVISER: The Hampson Group
of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.
Anvil Corporation's goal to see employees save at least 10%
annually for their retirement is a threshold the company
regularly exceeds. As a midsize engineering firm, Anvil has
intense competition for talent. It matches 100% of 5% deferred
and makes a discretionary " performance contribution " to the
401(k), plus an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) contribution.
Every year, each employee receives a contribution of
shares-the amount, which is variable, is partially pro rata
and partially based on the person's wage level. Anvil gives
new workers " starter shares " to help them gain a sense of
ownership in the company. -JW
36 PLANSPONSOR.COM April - May 2020
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PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2020

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