Communications Policy and Communications Plan Introduction RECEIVE AND FILE

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1 7772 N. Palm Ave. Fresno, CA (559) p. (559) f. BOARD AGENDA LETTER DATE: November 2, 2017 TO: FROM: Board of Retirement Donald C. Kendig, CPA, Retirement Administrator Staff Contact: Maria Baker Retirement Communications Officer SUBJECT: Communications Policy and Communications Plan Introduction RECEIVE AND FILE Recommended Action(s) 1. Approve the Communications Policy as presented, or as amended for Board directed changes 2. Receive and file the Communications Plan Fiscal and Financial Impacts There are no additional financial impacts associated with this Communications Policy or Communications Plan. Any costs associated with the strategies listed in the Plan have been or will be included in the full budget. Background and Discussion In early 2016, FCERA created the position of Retirement Communications Officer with the goal of increasing member education and outreach through the website, s, and seminars. The goal of this Communications Policy and Plan is to establish guidelines and goals regarding communication to all stakeholders, including members, staff, plan sponsors, and the public. Attachments 1. Communications Policy 2. Communications Plan Excellence Professionalism Teamwork Integrity Accountability Innovation The County of Fresno is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

2 FRESNO COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION (FCERA) Communications Policy I. Purpose The purpose of this Communications Policy is to establish guidelines and structure for communications between Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA or Association) and its members and outside parties. The policy helps to ensure that members are well informed of their benefits and rights under the Plan and to mitigate the risk of providing inaccurate, insufficient or inappropriate communications to a member or other stakeholder. II. Objectives 1) To provide FCERA Members with accurate, timely and easy-to-understand information that is pertinent to their needs with respect to the Association provisions and benefits; a) Not all members learn and retain information in the same fashion. Therefore, a variety of approaches and media are required to assure the effectiveness of the member communications. Content may be distributed in-person, whether one-onone or in group settings, via distant e-learning applications, through the FCERA s website, mail or . Presentation of material may be made in verbal, written, graphic, illustrations or video formats. 2) To ensure that FCERA s communication material remains up-to-date; 3) To ensure that communication with parties outside of FCERA accurately reflect the provisions of the Government Code, Board Bylaws, and FCERA Policies. III. Policy The Retirement Administrator has ultimate responsibility for the FCERA s Communications Program, as delegated to staff. Communications staff, in conjunction with management, will determine which communications tasks will be undertaken in-house by staff and which will be outsourced to contractors. All communications will occur in a straight-forward, timely, professional and courteous manner. 1) Staff Communications a) Staff will exercise care to avoid the risk of misinterpretation. Staff s role is to inform and not to advise. Communication to members of personal benefit information will be done by Retirement Specialists, the Supervising Retirement Specialist, the Retirement Benefits Manager, the Supervising Account Clerk, or the Assistant Retirement Administrator. The Retirement Communications Officer will communicate to members regarding benefit information in a general manner. 1 P a g e

3 FCERA Communications Policy b) Staff shall direct media inquiries to the Communications Officer or Administration. Staff is not authorized to speak to the media on behalf of FCERA unless prior authorization is granted by the Retirement Administrator. c) Responses to all Public Information Requests will be coordinated through the Communications Officer. 2) Trustee Communications a) Trustees may give general information on the Association and governing laws and should refer the individual or the request for specific information to Communications Officer. b) Trustees will disclose when they are not representing a Board policy or position. c) Trustee communications will be consistent with their fiduciary duty to represent the interest of all Association members and beneficiaries. d) The Retirement Administrator will speak for the Board, when needed and the Administrator will advise the Board of contacts received from the media. 3) Frequency of Communications a) The Summary Plan Description, titled as Active Member Handbook or Retired Member Handbook, shall be updated as necessary and will be reviewed at least annually. The Member Handbooks will be made available to every member of the system upon hire or becoming a member. The handbooks are also available electronically on the FCERA website or by hard copy upon request. b) Active members will receive a Benefit Account Statement annually. The Benefit Statement for County of Fresno employees is coordinated through the County Human Resources Department. c) Pre-retirement counseling will be provided, including periodic information workshops and seminars for members. The Retirement Communications Officer will also be available for departmental seminars upon request. d) FCERA publishes a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and a summary of the CAFR, known as Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR), annually. This information is available to all members, active and retired, through or direct mail and is available to the public on the FCERA website. e) Pertinent changes and information regarding the plan will be promptly distributed to affected members and posted to the website when appropriate. 4) Guidelines for materials for general distribution 2 P a g e

4 FCERA Communications Policy a) Materials will be reviewed for technical accuracy and legality by qualified persons including staff and/or legal counsel. b) Trustees will be provided a copy of communication pieces when such pieces are distributed to members. c) All communications material will meet the Policy Objectives. 5) Evaluation of Effectiveness Members will be asked to evaluate the clarity and usefulness of the information received at orientation, workshops, seminars, counseling sessions or through FCERA s e-learning application. There evaluations will be used by management to improve the quality to programs. IV. Policy Review 1) This policy will be reviewed at least every three years. V. Policy History 1) This policy was adopted on. 2) The Board of Retirement reviewed this policy on. VI. Secretary s Certificate I, Donald Kendig, the duly appointed Secretary of the Fresno County Employees Retirement Association, hereby certify the adoption of this Policy. [Date] Date of Action: [insert signature] By: Retirement Administrator 3 P a g e

5 Communications Plan

6 1. Background Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) is a cost-sharing, multiple employer public retirement system that provides retirement, disability, death and survivor benefits for its members. We serve five employer plan sponsors: County of Fresno (County), Superior Courts of Fresno County (Courts), the Fresno-Madera Area Agency on Aging (FMAAA), Clovis Veterans Memorial District (CVMD) and the Fresno Mosquito Vector Control District (FMVCD). FCERA hired a Retirement Communications Officer on February 15, 2016 to handle the design and distribution of internal and external communication, plan education and outreach to active, deferred, and retired members of FCERA, and respond to inquiries from the general community. As the tasks and responsibilities for this position have grown and evolved, this communications plan serves as a foundation moving forward for the goals and objectives of the position/unit. 2. Overall Objectives FCERA s Mission Statement: Our mission is to administer the retirement benefits for the members and beneficiaries in a courteous, accurate, prompt and professional manner, while administering fund assets in a manner that achieves investment and funding objectives within prudent levels of risk. FCERA Values: Excellence Teamwork Integrity Professionalism Accountability Innovation While our mission and values do not explicitly mention communication or education, it is an important priority of FCERA. The more that we educate members regarding their benefits, the easier job we will have of retiring members. 3. Communications Objectives Goal 1: Build and improve E-Learning Program Objectives Completion Audience Method Status Engage subject matter experts for Ongoing FCERA staff In person content creation Work with supervisors and managers Re-evaluate FCERA staff In person for suggested course list Aug Create courses for staff training Ongoing FCERA staff Intranet Create courses for members Ongoing Members Internet Use tools such as Survey Monkey to evaluate feedback and create new courses Ongoing FCERA staff & Members Internet 2

7 Goal 2: Launch new website and enhance information available Objectives Completion Audience Method Status Launch website Jan Members Internet & Stakehol ders Engage subject matter experts for content creation Ongoing FCERA staff In person Explore website visitor statistics to Jan N/A N/A enhance relevant learning areas Use tools such as Survey Monkey to evaluate feedback and create new content Ongoing N/A Internet Goal 3: Improve and expand methods of contact with members Objectives Completion Audience Method Status Research and consider launching web chat Jan Members Website feature Begin on line appointment scheduling and Jan Members Website seminar sign-ups Increase number of outreach programs (lobby days, specialized or departmental Ongoing/ Current Members/ Employers In Person seminars, mid-career seminar, new employee orientations for Courts and Districts) 4. Target Audience Generally, our audience can be split into 4 major groups, with important distinctions between subgroups: 1. Members a. Active Members b. Deferred Members c. Retired Members 2. FCERA Staff 3. Employer Plan Sponsors a. County of Fresno b. Superior Courts of Fresno c. Districts (CVMD, FMAAA, FMVCD) 4. Public a. Colleagues or peers (State Association of County Retirement Systems (SACRS), 1937 Act Counties, other retirement agencies) b. Vendors (auditors, actuary, investment consultant) c. Taxpayers d. Media 3

8 This communication plan will focus on improving communication to our members, as well as increasing communication to our employer plan sponsors. We respond to inquiries from taxpayers and the media as they come in, however, we do not need to craft a cohesive message for those audiences at this time. Active Members The current focus for improving our communication is with our Active Member group. This group can be further subdivided into demographics, which can help FCERA to generate targeted messages and opportunities to teach based on the needs of each group. - Newly Hired Employees o These employees need an orientation regarding the benefit for which they are eligible. For County of Fresno employees, we have a regularly scheduled 45- minute session to inform them of their benefit, provide the Member Handbook and other information, and have them fill out the Enrollment Card. We are invited to speak to our Courts employees on an as needed basis, although we typically are speaking to part-time non-permanent employees. This provides its own difficulty as these employees are not yet members of FCERA (although they often become FCERA members when they are hired on full-time permanent at a later date). District employees are onboarded by their respective personnel or human resources office and this is an area where we have great room for improvement. - Mid-Career Members o These members are at least familiar with the deduction that they see on their paystub every two weeks. Some in this cohort may be well-informed, while others may be uniformed, or worse, misinformed. We currently do not have any offerings for this group, except for our recently advertised specialized departmental seminars. It has long been a goal of this office to offer a midcareer seminar. Most members will need to learn about their benefit at least 3-5 times before they fully understand all that they need to know. It is the goal of this Communications Unit to interact with Mid-Career Members at least 2 times between their New Employee Orientation and the 5 years before they retire. This can be through a mid-career seminar, departmental seminar, or other outreach such as health fairs and lobby days. - 5 year plan Members o At this stage, most members are starting to formulate a plan, utilize the benefit calculator, and contacting our office. This is the group of members with whom we currently have the best communication. However, we still have room for improvement. We have contact with approximately 200 members per year at our biannual Retirement Seminars, and 70 members per year at our Retirement Workshops. For this Communications Plan, we will exclude individual counseling sessions as those are handled by the Retirement Services Unit. Deferred Members We should strive to make available to our deferred members the same materials, education, and outreach available to our active members, especially those who are vested or have the eligibility to retire. With this group, we don t have the luxury of being able to utilize the employer in order to advertise educational opportunities; however, all of our e-learning 4

9 content and Member Portal access is a great resource to these members and we can leverage and regular mail communication. Retired Members Retired members will need to interact with us mainly only in instances of change: Direct Deposit, Tax Withholding, Name, Address, or Beneficiary, and when the annual Cost of Living announcement is made. For the most part, as long as their check is being deposited or delivered, retirees don t require much communication or education. However, this member group tends to visit our office more often, participates in Board meetings more often, and we still value our relationship with them. As there is already a vibrant community in the Retired Employees of Fresno County (REFCO) group, we can make it our practice to attend their events where we can listen to member concerns, collect forms and documents, and answer any questions. FCERA Staff As a smaller department, we sometimes lack the resources to develop comprehensive training and communication programs. With our new E-Learning system, we will be able to create and disseminate modules that directly relate to day-to-day operations. In addition, through our strategic planning session, staff has expressed an interest in increased internal training and team building. This is a goal that is supported by Administration and may also be included in an overarching Strategic Plan. Employer Plan Sponsors The County is our largest employer plan sponsors, and typically much of our communication, education and outreach methods are directed to those members. We also have regular communication with the Courts, our second largest group. Through this plan and with the support of Administration, the Board, and our management group, it is our goal to increase outreach and education to the Districts in a similar manner to our outreach to Departments within the County. We will make a greater effort to offer seminars that cover new hire, midcareer, and retirement topics for these members, as well as an effort to include all employer plan sponsors in our greater communication efforts like the website and e-learning programs. General Public FCERA does not hold an opinion that we should be advocates for pension plans or proactively attract media attention. While we do strive to be transparent and will answer all inquiries from media or the public as best we can, we feel that our time is better spent on our membership. There are a number of advocacy groups already in existence for California public employees. We will continue to respond to all other inquiries from general public groups as needed. 5

10 5. Member Communication Methods 6

11 6. Evaluating Success Each of the goals and objectives listed in this plan will be evaluated and the status updated with the Retirement Communications Officer and Assistant Retirement Administrator during regular quarterly meetings. The criteria used for this evaluation will be specific to each objective and may evolve based on the opinion of Administration. However, we will begin the evaluation with 3 basic questions: Is the program being created or implemented according to the timeline? Does the program, module, or webpage include correct, easy to understand, and comprehensive information? Does the Survey Monkey or other feedback reflect a positive experience from the audience? On a biannual basis, the Retirement Communications Officer and Administration will evaluate the entire plan, reflect on the progress, and craft new goals and objectives for the next two years. This Communications Plan may overlap or include goals or objectives that are listed in the overall Strategic Plan for FCERA. 7