PLANSPONSOR - November - December 2023 - 12

Closing the Gender Savings Gap
UPFRONT
findings from the Pension Research
Council say 43% of women reported having
a retirement account, vs. 48% of men.
Why Equitable Access
Makes Sense
A diverse workforce and greater equability,
including more access to retirement,
health/wellness and mental health benefits,
improves the long-term viability of
businesses, says Mark Smrecek, financial
well-being market leader at WTW.
" Apart from benevolence, there's a
very strong tie to business in several key
areas, the first of which is from a talent
point of view. Having equitable access to
benefits means you're able to attract and
retain the right employees, regardless of
their cohort, " he says.
Greater workforce diversity, equity and
inclusion can benefit the entire employee
population and company overall, concurs
Thea Ammon, a senior benefits administrator
at OneAZ Credit Union. " The more
different backgrounds [in the workplace] ...
it's better for everyone, " she says.
PLANSPONSOR recently talked to four
progressive plan sponsors, each in a
different type of business, that each have a
goal of equability, regularly reviewing their
benefits offerings and implementing plan
design changes to ensure their plans meet
it. Recognizing that women have historically
lived longer and saved less due to
lower earnings and career interruptions
for caregiving responsibilities than men,
these sponsors have used analysis of their
plan demographics to grasp their workforce's
needs.
" The whole idea is to help [workers]
feel more financially ready, and, when they
feel more secure in their finances and what
they're doing, they can feel more secure in
setting money aside [for] retirement, " says
Angela Garcia, a senior manager of retirement
at Baylor College of Medicine.
Mining plan data has helped sponsors
discern that every employee benefit offered
will affect another, because retirement
contributions, medical bills, credit card
debt, student loan repayments and wellness
all, ultimately, are financial concerns.
" If an employer provides a financial
wellness solution that includes some
kind of data loop that brings back to the
employer
[and] the vendor anonymized
information about their population that
[indicates what the workers deem] most
important, ... that [enables] the employer
to be much more specific and targeted in
its solutions, " says Jonathan Price, national
retirement practice leader at benefits and
human resources consultant Segal.
While some plan sponsors, like those
interviewed for this piece, are working
to equalize their benefits between the
genders, disparities
typically
remain in
retirement plan access and savings. Recent
12 PLANSPONSOR.COM November - December 2023 Art by Mar Hernández
Boosting Pay
Progressive plan sponsors have a greater
understanding
that,
developing optimal
for
participants,
financial behaviors
to prepare them for retirement requires
solid financial behaviors now. Retirement
is a financial issue, and financial concerns
affect retirement planning and employees'
future retirement security.
In 2022, " OneAZ made a proactive
decision to adjust all wages to salary
midpoints, " Ammon says. " All like positions
would be paid the same, regardless of
tenure. Of course, anyone above midpoint
remained at this wage status. "
The change was intended to drive
equitable access to retirement and additional
benefits.
" While this provided different
positive outcomes[-reducing turnover,
aiding in talent acquisition and
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - November - December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - November - December 2023
