2023 Signature Awards - Emphasizing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Greater focus is being placed on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and in all aspects of life. Companies are highlighting individual differences, providing equal opportunities for growth and development, and treating each other with dignity and respect. This category showcases examples of how retirement plan communications are embracing these individual differences by using more inclusive language, imagery, and other creative methods.

1st Place – ADP TotalSource with Voya Financial

ADP TotalSource is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) offering a 401(k) multiple employer plan (MEP) to more than 6,100 employers with approximately 164,000 participants with a plan balance. When we think of diversity, equity, and inclusion it is somewhat surprising that women are still part of the workforce that employers think of as needing more support. But, Voya’s research found that women are still lacking confidence regarding their finances and continue to have lower account balances and deferral rates than men. Plus, they found that more than 63,000 women in the MEP were not contributing.

The objective for ADP TotalSource communications in 2022 was to educate women with different goals and hurdles about financial literacy, while not making them feel inferior. By doing so they hoped to increase women’s participation and deferral percentages. Four groups were identified and targeted by age and deferral level. The campaign used emails, custom websites for employers and participants, a short video, postcards, and a webinar, all branded for TotalSource with a theme of “Invest in you!”

The campaign got attention and garnered 22-28 percent email open rates and more than 4,400 women enrolled or increased deferral rates. The average deferral rate for those not previously participating was 6.68 percent of pay for those under 30 and 7.86 percent for those over 30. For women already deferring, the average deferral rate increase for the under 30 group was 3.34 percent and 4.24 percent for the over 30 group. The theme, the simple one-minute video, and other communications got the point across resulting in women taking action and making ADP TotalSource a winner.

2nd Place – Fidelity National Financial with Principal Financial Group

Fidelity National Financial is the leading provider of title insurance and settlement services to the real estate and mortgage industries with more than 19,000 employees at 250 locations. The company wanted to increase saving behaviors and engagement of female plan participants, specifically increasing account access with multi-factor authentication, and increasing savings rates, thus closing the gap in account balances between men and women. However, with women outnumbering men two to one at the company and women’s average salaries 33 percent less than men, plus challenging market conditions, getting women to save more might have been a hard sell.

A campaign was developed to focus on female employees with messages of "Women are Doers" and "Do invest in you.” The bold “Doers” text image was used in emails and a printed mailer with a personalized projection of a 2% increase for each recipient. Live and recorded webinars were conducted. A video addressing both the 401(k) plan and HSAs was produced. These efforts resulted in online access by women increasing 9%, the average account balance gap shrinking by 18% and the average deferral rate by women increasing slightly. By using simple but effective images and language Fidelity National Financial proved that women are doers.