2021 Signature Awards - Events

Some think that “if you build it, they will come” – but plan sponsors know it takes more. Entries in this category described actions to maximize participation/attendance at a live meeting, event, webinar, benefit fair, etc. along with results of the event in retirement plan metrics, participant behaviors, or any other measurement used to evaluate the impact and success of the program.

1^st Place – University of Texas at Dallas with Lincoln Financial Group
The University of Texas at Dallas, with more than 6,500 employees, typically holds a live benefits fair each year to educate employees on all their wellness resources and provide information about the multiple vendor options for the retirement plan. However, 2020 made a live event impossible and most employees were working from home. After the event planning started, UT Dallas pivoted, and with Lincoln Financial Group, created a virtual fair with the goal of maintaining the attendance numbers of the previous year’s live event. A virtual shopping mall featuring all the benefits resources and vendors, not just retirement, delivered information to attendees. Promotional materials included emails, postcards, a mobile event app, interactive agenda, QR codes, a welcome video, and event t-shirts. A theme of “Smart Benefits Shopping: Find it. Use it. Love it.” with a shopping cart image was created. The virtual fair more than met its goal with attendance up 220 percent from the previous year! The judges chose this as a winner because the website was very easy to use and participants quickly found areas of interest to them. The virtual mall was a creative way to get employees involved and garnered impressive results.

2^nd Place – New-York Presbyterian with Prudential Retirement
NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic health care delivery systems, with 41,000 employees. NewYork-Presbyterian was receiving feedback from late-career employees who wished to retire but were very concerned about the cost of medical coverage after retirement. To respond to these concerns a Voluntary Retirement Option with an enhanced retiree medical benefit was offered to more than 5,500 employees. The goal was to conduct a multimedia campaign addressing retirement readiness and overall financial wellness so that eligible employees could make an informed decision about their ability to retire. In order to deliver the information during the pandemic when in-person meetings were not able to take place, a virtual, digital approach to communications was created. Virtual one-on-one consultations consisted of completing a financial wellness assessment and using a retirement income calculator to determine the amount of retirement income they would have. It included not only their retirement accounts with Prudential, but also outside retirement savings, pensions, and cash balance plans. More than a third (35.0 percent) of the targeted population had a consultation and almost 1,100 employees retired using the new option. Judges were impressed with the guides that were developed for each specific targeted group. They noted that the use of incentives to reassure those considering the retirement option that their health care was going to be supported was helpful in getting a good take-up rate.

3^rd Place – Norton Healthcare with Principal®
Norton Healthcare is one of the largest employers, and providers of health care, in the greater Louisville area and southern Indiana with more than 250 locations and more than 17,000 employees. They have full-time, dedicated on-site Retirement Education Specialists from Principal. In 2020, Norton set a goal of increasing the number of employees taking advantage of one-on-one meetings focusing on new hires, employees with stagnant deferral percentages, and employees who were turning 50 and getting closer to retirement. Initial emails were sent to the three targeted groups. An automated, “always on,” daily email campaign was developed using Salesforce Marketing Cloud and machine learning. Each morning, the system analyzed which employees met certain criteria for an email and then sent it. Text reminders were used to decrease the meeting no-show rate. The employee e-newsletter promoted the meetings and the internal wellness program was used to provide incentives. This campaign generated an increase in meetings held, enrollments, and deferral rates in 2020. In the two weeks after the launch there was a 274 percent increase in meetings scheduled. The drip email automatic campaign and customized, targeted daily communications going to very targeted groups helped to make this company a winner. Using emails that were short, to the point, and very clear as to what action employees should take, along with text reminders, helped generate the positive changes.