2018 Leadership Award Nomination

Transcription

1 2018 Leadership Award Nomination Category: Entity: Plan Design & Administration Virginia Retirement System Title of system/program/service/campaign: Optional Retirement Plan Online Election Please enter the project implementation date 12/7/2017 Please enter a 3-5 sentence description of the The Virginia Retirement System s (VRS) Defined Contribution project. If project is awarded, this paragraph will Plans department worked in partnership with VRS Technology, be used in the awards booklet. Training, Customer Relations and Public Relations departments to develop, communicate and educate select employers and newly hired eligible employees on a new online tool for choosing between a defined contribution 401(a) optional retirement plan and the applicable VRS defined benefit plan, including the Hybrid Retirement. The goal of the ORP online election enhancement is to create a secure and robust online experience that provides a newly hired employee with appropriate tools and resources needed to assist in making an informed decision about their retirement plan options. Launched in December 2017, the secure online election feature was designed for newly hired political appointees of Commonwealth of Virginia state agencies offering the defined contribution Optional Retirement Plan for Political Appointees (ORPPA) and faculty employees of institutions of higher education offering the defined contribution Optional Retirement Plan for Higher Education (ORPHE). The successful launch of the ORP online election process had a positive impact on plan administration for the employer and VRS, as Plan Sponsor. The online election process also significantly benefits eligible employees as the enhancement provides online tools and resources that can be accessed 24 hours/7 days a week, including a plan comparison calculator to view projected retirement income based on choice of retirement plan options, a provider comparison tool, a compare plan feature based on answers to key questions and select plan functionality that automatically interfaces with other VRS enterprise systems and third-party provider platforms. Contact Person Kelly Hiers Title DC Plans Administrator Department Address Phone Fax khiers@varetire.org Please list the names and titles of the government staff that played a significant role in developing the program, project, or activity Defined Contribution Plans 1200 East Main Street <br/>richmond, VA <br/>united States Patricia Bishop, Director Robert Irving, Customer Services Director Denise Rasmussen, Deputy Chief Technology Officer Jeanne Chenault, Public Relations Director Kelly Hiers, DC Plans Administrator Deardrian Carver, Chief Customer Relations Officer Krishna Dandamudi, Program Manager Valerie DiSanto, Senior Solutions Analyst

2 2018 Leadership Award Nomination Michael Barock, Technology Solutions Analyst Nimy Paul, Senior Software Tester Christina Jay, Training Manager Rita Beardsley, Training Design Project Lead Peter Wrampelmeier, Senior Trainer Julie Norris, E-Learning Instructional Designer Conor Shapiro, Business Documentation Project Lead Mary Ann Hawkins, Business Technical Support Manager Keith King, Senior Business Technical Support Analyst Virginia Sowers, Communications Strategy Manager John Hewitt, Web Strategist Ty Bowers, Digital Communications Strategist Brian Lackey, Member Counseling Supervisor Rebecca Nicholas, DC Plans Operations Officer Peter Thompson, DC Plans Administration and Services Supervisor Rachel Webb, DC Plans Business Analyst Steve Cerreto, DC Plans Officer Kelvin Allen, DC Plans Officer Jackie Gilliam, DC Plans Officer Ciara Lawson, DC Plans Analyst Joyce Monroe, DC Plans Analyst Please list the industry partner(s) who played a significant role in this project; be sure to list the company with which they are affiliated Review Checkbox I have reviewed this nomination and endorse it for consideration NAGDCA Government Member Peter Thompson File Upload VRS ORP Online Enrollment NAGDCA Award Submission_Final- I agree that I have submitted all of the following and understand that my submission will be returned if this format isn t met Would you be willing to write a blog or assist in a case study writeup of your award application program? 01.pdf A completed nomination form One document that contains a summary of the project, a written justification, and supporting documents (not exceeding five pages total) that contains the items mentioned above No

3 SUBMISSION CATEGORY: PLAN DESIGN & ADMINISTRATION Summary The Virginia Retirement System's (VRS) Defined Contributions Plans department worked in partnership with VRS' Technology, Training, Customer Relations and Public Relations departments to develop, communicate and educate select employers and newly hired eligible employees on a new online tool for choosing among retirement plan options. The enhancement to the myvrs secure online retirement planning system allows new hires to compare key plan features, view projected retirement income and make an irrevocable retirement plan election online based on their employment hire date. Launched December 2017, the secure online election feature was designed for newly hired political appointees of Commonwealth of Virginia state agencies offering a defined contribution 401(a) Optional Retirement Plan for Political Appointees (ORPPA) and faculty employees of institutions of higher education offering a defined contribution 401(a) Optional Retirement Plan for Higher Education (ORPHE). The goal of the ORP online election enhancement is to create a secure and robust online experience that provides the newly hired employee with appropriate tools and resources needed to assist in making an informed decision about their retirement plan options. Eligible new hires, upon logging in or registering their myvrs accounts, are presented with the following features to assist in their decision making as part of the ORP online election process: Pop-up modal that welcomes new hire, displays eligible retirement plan options and number of days remaining to make plan election Banner display at top of home landing page that displays number of days remaining and call to action A select your plan video that highlights plan features differences between the optional retirement plan and VRS hybrid plan Hyperlinks to plan specific publications with important information related to eligible retirement and benefits A compare plan feature based on answers to key questions Plan comparison calculator to view monthly or annualized projected retirement income based on certain assumptions Select plan functionality that automatically interfaces with other VRS enterprise systems and third-party provider platforms If ORPHE election, prompts employee to select from one of three investment options (DCP, Fidelity and TIAA) Welcome letter and confirmation automatically generated to employee confirming retirement plan election, and notification provided to employer

4 SUBMISSION CATEGORY: PLAN DESIGN & ADMINISTRATION / TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA Brief Background: Perspective for Change In June 2017, VRS launched online features that allowed eligible ORP new hires to compare plan features and view projected retirement income by logging in or registering their secure myvrs account. Prior to this, the information shared with eligible new hires regarding their choice of retirement plans and associated benefits was provided as part of the onboarding process at the individual employer level. In addition, new hires were required to indicate their choice of retirement plans via a paper election form within the prescribed election window that would be submitted to VRS for processing. If the form was not submitted within the election window, eligibles employee would forfeit their choice of the optional retirement plan and default to the applicable VRS defined benefit plan. The ORP online election feature released in December 2017 was developed as an enhancement to the overall online experience and generally eliminated the paper election form for those eligible employees participating in the VRS-administered optional retirement plans. COMMUNICATIONS The launch of the ORP online election feature included a multi-channel communications campaign to educate and engage both employers and eligible employees. Communication materials included: Choose the Plan and Provider That s Right for You Flyer a two-page flyer highlighting key features of the online election process Letters and mailings eligibility letter content material updated to reflect change in election process Publications employee publications updated to highlight the new online election process, including handbooks and plan feature brochures Brown bag sessions interactive lunch and learn brown bag sessions hosted to engage employers on key factors to consider as part of feature launch, including onboarding process, reporting and information data exchange Online training and resource library - training presentations were delivered and stored in online resource library as reference material Website updates - website content and imagery was updated to reflect changes in online election process

5 SUBMISSION CATEGORY: PLAN DESIGN & ADMINISTRATION / TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA Significance to Plan Operation The successful launch of the ORP online election process had a positive impact on plan administration for the employer and VRS, as Plan Sponsor. The online election process also significantly benefits eligible employees as the enhancement provides online tools and resources that can be accessed 24 hours/7 days a week, including the following features: A comprehensive overview of other supplemental retirement plans and benefits available to the employee, Embedded resource materials to assist in the decision making process, Plan comparison calculator to view projected retirement income based on the choice of retirement plan options, A provider comparison tool, where applicable, which ensures that employees are provided the same level of information for each provider available in the plan and able to make a more informed decision, Assurance that the election process was completed in a secure environment and provided real-time confirmation of plan/provider election choice. Measurable Results and Benefits The ORP online election feature was launched in December As of March 31, 2018 there have been: 143 Total number of faculty new hires enrolled in VRS ORPHE 103 Number of faculty new hires making myvrs online election 72% Percentage of faculty new hires making myvrs online election 89 Total number of political appointee new hires eligible for election 54 Number of political appointees making myvrs online election 61% Percentage of political appointees making myvrs online election