Communication and a willingness to consider diverse groups have been key as Goodyear Canada has embarked on changes to its retirement offerings.
Goodyear, which employs approximately 1,290 people in Canada, closed its defined benefit pension plan to new entrants in 2014, but about 90 per cent of employees are still in it. New employees have the opportunity to join the defined contribution plan when they first join the company. The group registered retirement savings plan is voluntary, but 75 per cent of staff are currently enrolled in it.
Read: How to get more from your boomer employees
Goodyear implemented a new communications strategy in 2015 in which it aimed to connect with all plan members while accommodating generational and cultural gaps. “We geared it towards individual communication preferences,” says Thak Bhola, the company’s pension manager.
The organization provided an information document to all employees that was available in print for baby boomers used to more traditional communication methods and was sent electronically with embedded links to appeal to younger staff.
Read: How to support Generation Z employees
Bhola says the biggest lesson he learned as a plan sponsor through the communications exercise was the importance of getting support from other departments, especially upper management.
“If you have very strong support from your management, and I’ve been blessed with that, I think you’re on the right road, you’ll get things done, and you’ll do what’s best for your [employees],” he adds.
Video: Interview with Thak Bhola