PLANSPONSOR - May - June 2023 - 40

PLAN PROFILE | A 2018 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR
In Food With Love
H
arris Teeter is a supermarket
chain and wholly owned
subsidiary of The Kroger
Company. With " In Food With Love "
as its new slogan, it operates in seven
Southeastern states and is committed
to enriching the lives of its shoppers,
its associates and their families,
and the local communities.
" Enriching lives is our purpose,
and it's the driving reason why our
benefits and compensation teams
are continually looking for how the
company can improve the benefits
offered to our associates, " says Ted
Harrington, director of compensation,
benefits and human resource
administration.
That commitment is demonstrated
by Harris Teeter's 401(k)
plan and the company's desire to
ensure that associates benefit from
the compensation package offered to
them.
Since 2018, when the company was a Plan Sponsor of the
Ted Harrington, director of compensation, benefits and
human resource administration
Year, it has increased its 401(k) match to 100% of up to 5% of
annual income. Previously, the plan had matched 50% of up to
4% of annual income. Harris Teeter also raised the automatic
enrollment default rate from 2% to 6%.
To improve associates' participation in the plan, and to
improve the participant experience overall, the company introduced
streamlined systematic distributions and 401(k) rollovers.
" To make retirement plans more understandable and
accessible to Harris Teeter's plan participants, the company
rebranded all retirement plan communications late last year, "
PLAN SNAPSHOT
PLAN SPONSOR: Harris Teeter, LLC, Matthews, North Carolina
PLAN ASSETS: $1.13b
PARTICIPANTS: 38,650
PARTICIPATION RATE: 81.4%
AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 7.9%
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 100% of up to 5%
Harris Teeter, 2018 Plan Sponsor of the Year, Corporate 401(k) >$800mm
says Director of Corporate Affairs
Deena Robinson. " This change
is already influencing associates'
participation, and the company has
received good feedback thus far. "
In a further effort to bring the
best value to the associates, the retailer
has become more regular at holding
recordkeeping expense reviews, in
partnership with T. Rowe Price and
adviser/consultant Aon; this led to
cost reductions, this year and in 2021.
The company also expanded partialdistribution
and installment options
for terminated participants.
In 2018,
on
investment
the company focused
diversification.
It
distributed messaging in targeted
educational campaigns for those
with over 10% of their assets in
Kroger
stock. This represented a
modest yet important opportunity,
as Kroger assets represented
less than 1% of plan assets-$7.7
million as of that December 31. Similar campaigns have been
conducted annually, resulting in a modest increase in Kroger
stock assets as of December 31, 2022, to $12.1 million. " This
number still represents less than 1% of plan assets, but consistent
messaging helps ensure that Harris Teeter participants
thoughtfully utilize company stock as part of their retirement
savings strategy, " Harrington says.
Just as important, the percentage of participants with 100%
of their assets in age-appropriate T. Rowe Price Retirement
Date Trusts had increased from 85.6% in 2018 to 89.2% at the
end of last year.
Harris Teeter is proud to have several efficient ways to
connect with its associates, including via portal communication,
on an easy-to-use platform where all benefit information is
stored. The company also sends the internal " HT Daily, " to let
associates know of updates to its policies and benefits. Besides
these messaging tools, the company frequently uses emails blasts,
letters and mailers to reach its associates.
According to Harrington, Harris Teeter strives to be better
every day and continues to ask for feedback from its associates,
to find more efficient ways to reach them. -Judy Faust Hartnett
40 PLANSPONSOR.COM May - June 2023
Art by Chris Buzelli
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - May - June 2023

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