Conducting your annual plan review - DWS Investments

Participant communication and educationYour plan’s communication and education program provides insight into personal investing, andpromotes the plan—so employees understand and participate more fully.KEY TOPICS TO BE COMMUNICATED■■Requirements for plan participation■■Advantages of saving for retirement■■Basic concepts of saving, compoundingand accumulation■■General understanding of investments andthe investment options offered within the plan■■Comprehension of the plan’s termsAs a plan sponsor, you have an interest in doing allthat you can to help enable plan participants to savefor retirement. The more your employees understandabout the importance of saving and investing forretirement, the better informed they will be, andthe higher the likelihood that they will begin to takeaction. Effective communication and education notonly provide an opportunity to build plan enrollmentbut also provide the potential to reduce fiduciaryliability, increase deferral percentages, and improveasset allocation.READY, AIM, TARGETCommunication programs are often most successfulwhen there is a high level of plan sponsor involvement,tailored to your specific employee demographics, andwhen employee responses are measured to evaluatethe effectiveness of the communication efforts.In addition, you should consistently remind planparticipants of their responsibility to prepare for theirfinancial needs in retirement and should clarify specificinformation about investment options.Your plan’s communication program should notlimit itself only to traditional forms of employeecommunications, such as employee meetings offeredduring office hours. A variety of communicationstactics such as the following can be utilized to helpdrive participation:■■Offering promotional materials■■Providing personalized communications■■Encouraging employee feedback, participantcommunication and educationEnhancing your current plan features can also bea beneficial way to encourage participation. Someadditional enhancements to consider are listed below:■■Providing a matching contribution, or increasingthe existing match■■Adding additional investment alternatives■■Implementing automatic enrollment withauto-deferral increases■■Adding a hardship withdrawal provision■■Adding a participant loan provision16 » Conducting your annual plan review