PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020 - 28

2020 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR WINNERS
Corporate 401(k) >$100mm - $250mm
Phifer Inc.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
P
hifer Inc. values having a tightknit community,
and what the company does to
foster that makes employees tend to stay. The
average worker tenure is 17 years, notes Russell
Dubose, human resources (HR) director at the
woven fabrics manufacturer.
" We're one of those privately owned
employers where our owners work here every
day, and they're out on the floor, meeting, seeing
and talking with our employees, " he says. " We
call it the Phifer family. Once you become an
employee, you become a 'Phifer-lifer.' That's the
culture we have from an employee's perspective. "
Phifer's 401(k) plan has achieved a 97%
participation rate, with an average deferral rate
of 7.8%, despite never having implemented
automatic enrollment. The sponsor contributes
a stretch match of 25% up to an employee's
10% deferral and additionally contributes 5%
through 7% based on the person's earnings.
" We've been told by some in the industry
that these kinds of results for a manufacturer
without automatic enrollment are unheard of, "
notes Dubose. " For us, it's just the Phifer way. "
According to Lexa Turner, human
resources benefit and compensation manager,
the company's focus on one-on-one engagement,
along with tailored education, contributes
to the plan's success. " I'd rather teach them
about it and encourage them as to how being
enrolled in the plan could help them throughout
their life, no matter how old they are, " she says.
What Auto-Enrolling Doesn't Do
Dan Nahorney, a director of strategic communications
at John Hancock Retirement in
Farmington, Connecticut, has worked with
Phifer since 2011. " Lexa, Russell and the whole
staff meet with their employees [regularly], to
make sure they're not just 'in the plan' but are
saving at a rate that can get them to retirement,
that they have a beneficiary set up, and those
other things auto-enrollment doesn't do. "
Phifer's proactive approach distances itself
28 PLANSPONSOR.COM August - September 2020
from other educational practices in today's hightech
working world. Turner argues that practices
such as mailing or e-delivering disclosures do not
elicit in-depth and personalized conversations or
follow-ups. " With mail, they don't get the whole
'holistic conversation' that helps them choose
how much they want to defer, for instance, " and
pre-plan what options they will choose in open
enrollment, Turner says.
Last year, Phifer partnered with local
community college Shelton State to add " Ready
to Work " -a financial literacy education class
with a FICA [Federal Insurance Contributions
Act]-approved curriculum-to its pre-employment
training program. This gives new hires
the foundational knowledge of retirement planning
before they take on their Phifer role.
In addition, Phifer expanded its onboarding
experience to include personalized meetings
between the employee and a member of the
company's benefits team. It also added snackand-learns
and lunch-and-learns, plus focus
sessions on topics such as investment products,
Social Security and Medicare. " We sliced and
diced in any way we could think of to make sure
we reached our audience and got them the information
they need to be successful, " says Dubose.
Staying Healthy to Save More
Phifer employees and their families are encouraged
to use the Phifer Cares Wellness Program, a
platform initiated to combat the effects of rising
health care costs. " It's the convergence of wellness,
health and wealth. It makes our employees
healthier, so they could have a better quality of
life, " observes Dubose. When employees save
money on medical costs, this lets them put more
toward their retirement plan, he says.
Phifer regularly checks in with employees
on their investment choices, to see whether they
are allocating correctly based on their circumstances.
" I always tell them that I want them to
retire when they want to, not when they have
to, " Dubose says. -Amanda Umpierrez
Lexa Turner, human resources,
benefit and compensation
manager, Phifer Inc.
" We sliced and
diced in any
way we could
think of to make
sure we reached
our audience
and got them
the information
they need to be
successful. "
Finalists
Tree Top Inc.
Selah, Washington
Webcor Builders, Inc.
San Francisco, California
Yancey Bros. Co.
Austell, Georgia
More on PLANSPONSOR.com/
awards/2020-plan-sponsor-year
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PLANSPONSOR - August/September 2020

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