PLANSPONSOR - September/October 2024 - 40

PLAN PROFILE | A 2023 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR
Managing Stress in HR
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2023 winner Nonprofit DC <$300mm
A
s director total rewards at
the Alaska Native Tribal
Health Consortium, in
Anchorage, Alaska, Rachel Huber
Christman wears multiple hats:
She oversees the nonprofit's compensation,
human resources technology,
and benefits functions,
the latter of which includes the
403(b) plan.
A key part of her role, she
suggests, is managing the benefits
team. While her staff has
grown over the years, Christman
says, the number in benefits is
still relatively small given the
size of the nonprofit. Being on
that team requires particular diligence,
she says.
Team members must
be
proactive, she says. They must take
the time to meet with employees
and explain what the organization
has to offer them-not just
wait for them to come to HR with
questions. In addition, Christman
says, team members need to be
detail-oriented and stay attentive
while doing their job. " If you enter a Social Security number
wrong or if you don't understand all the nuances of plan design,
it can get us into trouble quickly. "
To keep her staff from burning out, if she notices that
someone has failed to take time off for a while, Christman
encourages the person to do so to recharge.
" I try to make sure my team isn't pushing work/life balance
in the way of PTO [paid time off] time, " she says. " Obviously, if
you can plan for it, that's even better. ... When you're at home,
PLAN SNAPSHOT
PLAN SPONSOR: ANTHC, Anchorage, Alaska
PLAN TYPE: 403(b)
PLAN ASSETS: $204mm
AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 7.8%
be at home; don't be thinking
about work. One of my senior
[colleagues] on compensation
often says,
'Yes, what we do is
important-we have an impact
on people's paychecks and their
lives with retirement and [other]
benefits-but we're not brain
surgeons.' "
As a plan sponsor,
Christman says, she is careful
not to blur the line of fiduciary
responsibility with her team
members.
" I
don't
want
fiduciary
liability to fall on any of my
people, " Christman says. " If
you're considered a fiduciary,
you can be personally held liable,
... and I wouldn't want my lowerlevel
[staff] to shoulder any of
that burden. "
Since the nonprofit won its
Rachel Christman, director total rewards, Alaska Native Tribal
Health Consortium
Plan Sponsor of the Year Award,
a year ago June, Christman says
she has been concentrating on
increasing
employee
engagement
with the plan and understanding
why certain age cohorts participate less than others do.
Currently, the nonprofit automatically enrolls new
employees at 3%, and Christman says her team is looking to
raise that to 4%-also, potentially, to expand on auto-enrollment
by re-enrolling nonparticipants and participants who
have stopped contributing.
Participation in the plan is at 79%, and, for Generation Z
employees-those under age 29-the rate is lower. Christman
says she is exploring ways to connect with this demographic to
encourage participation and to stress the importance of early
retirement saving.
ANTHC offers one-on-one financial coaching sessions
PARTICIPANTS: 3,749
PARTICIPATION RATE: 79%
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 100% of 5% + 3% profit sharing
through Principal Financial Group, and Christman says she is
noting who attends, and who does not attend, these sessions
to determine which demographic groups need more targeted
communications.
" We're also looking at plan design changes for 2025 that
continue to remove barriers for [employees], to ensure our plan
is 'at market' with vesting schedules [and] matches to make
sure it's attractive, " she says. -Remy Samuels
40 PLANSPONSOR.COM September - October 2024
Art by Chris Buzelli
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - September/October 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - September/October 2024
