During Financial Literacy Month, Arc’teryx Equipment is hosting a series of information sessions on the company’s savings plans, geared toward the outerwear company’s diverse employee population.
An in-person session will be held at the company’s Vancouver headquarters, while virtual and pre-recorded sessions will be available for employees based across Canada, covering the group registered retirement savings plan and various features including an employer match.
The in-person session will also be translated from English into other languages including Cantonese, Farsi, Mandarin, Ukrainian and Vietnamese, says Keyanna Russell, benefits specialist.
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The company includes several different employee groups, including salaried workers at its head office, as well as retail and manufacturing employees. The latter two groups skew younger and older, respectively, says Breanna Yee, benefits lead and total rewards for people and culture.
“We know one size doesn’t fit all with our company. We know they all like different types of communications and different ways of learning and we really work hard to make sure we have very tailored, specific communications and strategies for each segment.”
This year, Arc’teryx is updating its fund lineup and offering two investment strategies — a target-date fund and an a-la-carte option for employees who want to make their own investment decisions. Yee notes the sessions will also cover these two strategies and their associated risks and advantages.
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The company also sends out reminders about the group RRSP to employees who aren’t yet participating, as well as notifications on plan member contributions, says Mikkaela Fernandez, manager of benefits, wellness, leaves and retirement. These campaigns tie into Arc’teryx’s wider financial wellness strategy.
“A big thing for us is recognizing flexibility by providing access to competitive funds and also recognizing that people may have short-term and long-term financial goals.
“More people are participating [in the group RRSP] every year and asking good questions, such as, ‘How much is coming off of my pay?’ or, ‘How much would come off my bonus?’ The [benefits] team has done a really great job providing tools like estimators or bonus calculators to help employees figure that out and also think about what they’re contributing outside of the workplace to personal savings accounts.”
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