I. Study Background. A. Purpose of Study. B. General Methodology

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2 I. Study Background A. Purpose of Study The North Carolina Retirement Systems Division Communication Survey was conducted by the communications staff members of the Retirement Systems Division (RSD) during the month of April RSD administers retirement and benefit plans, as authorized by the General Assembly of North Carolina. The Retirement Systems Division of North Carolina serves more than 700,000 individuals employed or formerly employed in the public sector. The Division is comprised of four major retirement systems and one Pension Fund: Teachers and State Employees Retirement System (TSERS) Local Governmental Employees Retirement System (LGERS) Consolidated Judicial Retirement System (CJERS) Legislative Retirement System (LRS) Firemen s and Rescue Squad Workers Pension Fund The study described in this report includes a member survey of those aged 49 and younger (Figure 2), and was designed to collect information on member knowledge of and communication experiences with the Retirement System. Findings of the study will be used by RSD to improve services provided to members and to determine member preferences for additional services. B. General Methodology RSD members were surveyed in April 2010 over a two week period. The survey was conducted electronically through the NC Office of State Treasurer survey tool, Empliant. Members were notified of the availability of the survey via s to members who utilize RSD s online features and have registered online. A follow-up reminder was sent one week prior to closing the survey to solicit participation from non-respondents. The total number of RSD members at the time of the survey was 1,259 (Figure 1). The Teachers and State Employee s Retirement System (TSERS) comprised 876 of responses and 346 responses from Local Governmental Employees Retirement System (LGERS). 20 respondents did not know which system they belonged to and 14 responses represented the Firemen s and Rescue Squad Workers Pension Fund. The Legislative Retirement System (LRS) and Consolidated Judicial Retirement System (CJRS) compromised less than one percent of the total responses. North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 2

3 C. Respondent Characteristics Figure 1 contains information on system membership for the sample of members who responded to the survey. The numbers shown in this figure are based on a sample representative of those who responded. Figure 1: Sample Composition.2%.1% 1.1% 1.6% 27.5% 69.6% Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System Consolidated Judicial Retirement System Legislative Retirement System Firemen's and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund I don't know Figure 2 represents information regarding respondent s age. The majority of respondents were between the ages of thirty and thirty nine at the time of the survey. North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 3

4 Figure 2: Respondent's Age (years).7%.1% 34.2% 65.1% II. Communication with RSD Figure 3 presents information on the preferred delivery method for receiving retirement planning, benefits, or financial planning information. The preferred method for receiving this information was direct , cited by seventy-nine percent of respondents. Receiving information via telephone was the least preferred delivery method cited by sixty-six percent of respondents. Figure 3 Under % 66.1% 58.1% 29.3% 39.1% 42.6% 37.2% 32.2% 37.9% North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 4

5 Figure 4 and 5 display participant s satisfaction with RSD communication effectiveness and timeliness. Majority agreed that NC Retirement Systems communicates all retirement information effectively and in a timely manner. Figure 4: NC Retirement Systems communicates all retirement information to me effectively. 14.8% 4.2% 7.6% 28.9% 44.5% Strongly Agree Agree I don't know Disagree Strongly Disagree Figure 5: NC Retirement Systems communicates all retirement information to me in a timely manner. 11.2% 2.9% 7.6% 36.4% 41.9% Strongly Agree Agree I don't know Disagree Strongly Disagree North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 5

6 Figures 6 through 9 illustrate the effectiveness members felt toward various communication methods RSD utilizes such as newsletters, Web site and various retirement planning tools. Figure 6: I find the Retirement Systems Web site effective. 6.6% 2.2% 6.2% 39.6% 45.5% Strongly Agree Agree I don't know Disagree Strongly Disagree Figure 7: I find NC Retirement Systems' newsletters effective. 8.3% 2.5% 6.3% 35.1% 47.8% Strongly Agree Agree I don't know Disagree Strongly Disagree North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 6

7 Figure 8: Retirement-planning workshops and other meetings have been effective. 3.5% 2.1% 8.6% 12.3% 73.5% Strongly Agree Agree I don't know Disagree Strongly Disagree Figure 9: NC Retirement Systems' online retirement planning tools have been effective. 7.2% 2.3% 5.4% 33.7% 51.5% Strongly Agree Agree I don't know Disagree Strongly Disagree North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 7

8 III. Knowledge of RSD Figures 10 and 11 display the frequency members visit the Retirement Systems online systems such as ORBIT and the Web site. Figure 10: How often to you visit the Retirement Systems Web page, %.7% 2.3% 11.8% 20.6% Daily Once a week Once a month A few times per year Never Figure 11: How often do you access ORBIT for your personal retirement account information? 56.3% 25.2% 11.5% 6.9% Once a month Once a year A few times per year Never The majority of respondents noted as visiting both the Retirement Systems Web site and ORBIT online system a few times per year. North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 8

9 IV. Financial Planning Experience Figure 12 illustrates the method in which members have learned about financial planning for their retirement. The majority of members have taught themselves about financial planning for their retirement. Figure 12: How have you learned about financial planning for retirement? 15.2% 16.1% 18.5% 11.1% 4% 9.6% 4.7% 11.5% 6.9% 2.5% North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 9

10 V. Social Media and Retirement Figures 13, 14 and 15 depict member interest and involvement in various social networking communities. Figure 13: Do you use online social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and YouTube? 21.8% 1.4% 76.8% Yes No, I'm not interested No, I don't know how to use it Figure 14: What social media group are you subscribed to? (Select all that apply) None 12% MySpace 11% Digg.60% Facebook 45.70% YouTube 13.10% LinkedIn 9.20% Twitter 8.30% North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 10

11 Figure 15: Would you be interested in reading a blog about how other state employees are using their retirement benefits? 2.9% 44.3% 52.8% Yes No, I'm not interested No, I don't know how a blog works North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 11

12 VI. Future Initiatives and Technology Figure 16 shows members willingness to access more retirement information online rather than receiving printed communication materials in the future. Figure 16: I would be willing to access more retirement benefits information online and receive fewer printed communication materials in the future. 17.9% 6.1% 4% 34.6% 37.5% Strongly Agree Agree I don't know Disagree Strongly Disagree Figure 17 shows members unwillingness to participate in focus groups to provide feedback on new or revised communication initiatives (n=1057). North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 12

13 Figure 17: Would you be interested in participating in focus group to provide feedback on new or revised communication initiatives? 15.2% 84.8% Yes No Figure 18 represents the various web browsers members currently utilize. Majority (n=817) use Microsoft Internet Explorer to access the internet. This information will prove useful when RSD experiences the Website Internet upgrade to the Microsoft Sharepoint platform. Figure 18: What web browser do you currently use? 65.4% 23.1% 6.9%.2% 2.2%.2%.2%.10%.8%.8% North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 13

14 VII. Recommendations Social media strategies are typically headed by marketing or PR professionals. Before doing so, it is essential to set goals, define prospects and RSD s target audience, because without a clear understanding of what we want to achieve social media campaigns can become weak. The great thing about integrating social media into our communication plan is its ability to build on RSD s recent development of metrics for the processes at RSD as well as benchmarking with other Retirement Systems. Social media will allow us to set goals and benchmarks that are easily measurable for a desired time variable (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.) Besides this, the benefits of social media are endless: Transparency Awareness Build trust Promote website Inexpensive Extend conferences, workshops, webinars Build relationships Be part of an ongoing conversation To effectively participate in the benefits that social media can offer we must first establish short and long term goals. A. Short-term 1) Monitoring and Buzz-tracking: Listen and understand what is currently being discussed online and in social media about Retirement Systems market and customers. This includes benchmarking and following other Retirement Systems that are currently partaking in various social media outlets, this will help us to understand the media and what is currently trending. 2) Business aims: After RSD establishes its business aims for social media related to existing aims we will need to decide how to measure these aims. Develop metrics for how we will measure these aims. 3) Explore: Social media tools available to us and experiment. Try new tools and develop a mix that will coincide with our business aims and our target audience. 4) Plan: Begin to develop a social media plan tailored to RSD. B. Long-term 1) Set policies: Corporate guidelines/principles for employees when communicating in social networks. North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 14

15 2) Channels: Integrate with the right social media channels that will suit the RSD image, goals and target audience. Decide whether to build own site (blog, forum, etc.) or use existing site(s). 3) Team: Choose a team that will execute the RSD social media plan. Rememberquality will be key when developing a team. Experienced and already established online PR agents or staff members will be of value. 4) Strategize: Finalize the development of social media plan and strategize with team how to effectively execute. 5) Implementation: With the chosen s team expertise begin to execute and implement RSD social media plan. 6) Reappraisal: Metrics and benchmarks change over time therefore it is important to regularly evaluate RSD social media metrics. North Carolina Retirement Systems Communication Survey 15