5 Reasons PEOs Should Consider Upgrading Their Retirement Plan

Robust, flexible retirement plans are one of the most critical benefits that a professional employer organization (PEO) offers its clients. But they can also be one of the most challenging PEO services. Among all the human resources and benefit functionalities that small- to medium-sized businesses outsource to PEOs, retirement plans tend to be among the most scrutinized. This is why it’s critical for PEOs to get them right, explains Chris Miller, director of multiple employer plans for PEOs and associations, Ameritas retirement plans.

“From an employee’s perspective, 401(k) plans are often perceived as a prime benefit offered through their employer. It’s a very visible component of a benefits package,” Chris says. “If there are any challenges or frustrations with a retirement plan, and the PEO can’t solve those challenges quickly, they risk losing their adopter to another PEO. Conversely, if adopters are happy with their 401(k) plan through their PEO, they generally use a multitude of other services offered by the PEO, which contributes to a high lifetime value of the relationship. That’s why it’s so important that you have a proven retirement provider who’s very knowledgeable in this space, and who has the experience to serve you and your adopters well.”

How do you know if it’s time to consider upgrading your PEO’s retirement plan? Consider if any of the following scenarios applies to your current retirement plan experience.

1. Lack of payroll integration

Are you tired of dealing with manual payroll integrations and unnecessary administrative tasks? If your retirement plan isn’t seamlessly integrated with your payroll system, you’re simply playing a waiting game until a major problem occurs.

“Perhaps the most common question I get when talking with prospective PEOs is are you integrated with this payroll system? Meaning, will payroll integration be an automated process? It’s that important for long-term success,” says Chris.

With a state-of-the-art technology solution, you can streamline your operations and focus on what matters most—providing excellent service to your clients.

2. Poor support with adopter sales

Are you struggling to educate your adopters about retirement plans? A reliable partner should provide comprehensive support and resources to help you succeed in this critical area.

Trae Marchant is the Ameritas expert on adopter sales, and just one example of how Ameritas is committed to PEO service. “My role is to provide essentially anything that’s needed by the PEO to educate potential adopters about our plan,” he explains.

Each member company of the PEO gets their own onboarding experience, has their own plan design, and their own implementation specialist—but the work doesn’t stop there. “We tailor the entire process, offering custom-built microsites, experienced account managers and marketing materials to help PEOs promote the benefits of the retirement plan,” said Trae. “And we’re here to provide analysis and presentations to their adopter employers every step of the way.”

3. Lack of communication/plan administration

If your current retirement plan provider isn’t communicating effectively with your adopters, or if problems aren’t getting resolved in a timely manner, that’s another sign that it may be time for an upgrade.

“There’s a great deal of data that moves back and forth between the retirement plan, the PEO and adopters,” explains Chris. “You may be with a provider that really doesn’t understand PEOs or multiple employer plans (MEPs) if the data is incorrect or the benefit administrator of the PEO is not getting the answers they need and they’re not getting timely responses.”

“Ameritas has been working with MEPs for more than 20 years, so we understand how critical it is for PEOs to have a personal account manager who’s able to provide answers quickly,” says Chris. “When one of your adopters is looking to you to help solve a problem, you don’t want to wait several days to solve it. You want a provider with the expertise and commitment to customer service who will work with you and your adopters until the issue is fully resolved.”

4. Lackluster technology

Without sufficiently robust technology support, you could be missing out on opportunities to truly serve your adopters. How? Because systems that provide aggregate information on your PEO as a whole aren’t nearly as useful as technology that mines data down to the adopter level.

“If you’re a PEO with over 200 adopters, it’s simply not good enough to roll up their results into overall numbers,” Chris explains. “As a recordkeeper that specialize in MEPs, we not only look at the data and mine the data at the PEO level as an aggregate, but we also have the technology to break down results per adopting employer. We are very good at it, so you can see which adopters are fully engaged, and which need more support. It’s a critical difference, and it’s why we stay at the forefront of technology to serve our PEO partners better.”

5. Low adoption rates

Once again, a lack of robust technology can doom a PEO with insufficient reporting at the adopter level—and you can’t fix what you can’t see.

“With the ability to review data on an adopter-by-adopter basis, we can see who’s eligible among their employee base but not participating, or who is participating but not meeting the adopter’s matching percentage,” says Chris. “Once we identify those opportunities, we can provide both the PEO and the adopter with a full suite of communications and training materials that not only educate their employees about the plan, but about financial literacy as a whole. We can target down to a very specific level, and we take pride in creating a custom solution for an adopter. We understand the incredible difference a solid retirement plan can make in the lives of their employees. We’re committed to helping our partners, their adopters and the adopters’ employees fulfill life.”

Still not sure if it’s time to upgrade your retirement plan? We’re here to help. Contact us to learn more: peo@ameritas.com