One does not have to look far to find articles about how tough the labor market is these days. Recruiting and retaining qualified and talented workers take total focus. Though the unemployment rate has fallen to pre-pandemic levels, an estimated 11 million jobs are unfilled and only 6.9 million people are seeking work.
If we have yet to experience an outright war for talent, there are at least many pitched battles being waged.
In this environment, how can retirement plan advisors help their plan sponsor clients?
Consider taking a proactive approach and talk about recruitment challenges in plan review meetings. Now is the time to ask, “How are your recruitment and retention efforts going?” Employers struggling in this area are probably eager to talk about it. In fact, for these employers, most other topics will fall on deaf ears until their daunting recruitment and retention challenges are addressed.
After listening to the challenges faced by their clients, retirement plan advisors can spark a discussion that offers some help. Here’s the key question: “How are you using the success of your retirement plan to help with your recruitment and retention efforts?”
After all, access to a workplace savings plan is an important benefit for most job seekers. It’s too critical to ignore.
Steer the conversation this way, and help for today’s labor market challenge is only a few steps away:
1. Help sponsors measure the success of their plan using PlanVisualizer®.
- With this tool, you can provide strategies to help the sponsor improve their “success score” as necessary.
2. Suggest that the plan sponsor proactively discuss their “success score” in every retention and recruitment situation.
- Challenge employees and potential employees to ask other employers, “What is your retirement plan’s success score?”
Measuring, monitoring, and discussing their plan’s success score will demonstrate to employees that the employer is serious about helping them meet their retirement savings goals. Employers who demonstrate focus on retirement readiness will likely win more of the recruiting conversations than those who don’t.
For employers struggling with finding and retaining labor, the idea above will help solve a major problem. By offering empathy, concern, and help, retirement plan advisors can deepen relationships with clients and prospects while helping put employees on a path toward better outcomes.
Use PlanVisualizer® as a part of as many plan reviews as necessary. Also, add it to your prospecting process. Be proactive in having a recruitment/retention conversation with your clients and prospects. Based on today’s headlines, now is the time.
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For informational purposes only. Not an investment recommendation.
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