OneAZ Credit Union

Many of the employees at OneAZ Credit Union, being in the financial industry, enjoy doing math, according to Thea Ammon, its senior benefits administrator. That’s why, when she speaks to them about the benefits of contributing to the company’s 401(k) plan, she asks them to open the calculator on their phone.

“I find that numbers don’t lie,” Ammon says. “I walk them through what it would be to put in $100, or just $20 into the plan, and how that would translate from their net pay. … I say, ‘Can you miss going out to dinner just one time per pay period?’”

Ammon, who is well-versed in the retirement plan space, notes that she is not a financial adviser and reiterates that fact numerous times with her collegues. But she is charged by company leadership with making sure employees are aware of the benefits OneAZ Credit Union makes available. She has worked with her team toward keeping participation rates between roughly 92% and and 96% since the company started tracking figures in 2007.

“Our mission is to improve the lives of our members, associates and the communities we serve,” Ammon says. “With that in mind, we always look at our associates as a whole person, and we take a whole-person approach to health and wellness, which includes financial wellness.”

That method has meant an average deferral rate among employees of 7.9%, as well as a company that decided, amid the strains of COVID-19 and the Great Resignation, to boost employee pay across the board by 10%, an average of $4,000 to $5,000 per year. Although the move was not triggered by inflation, Ammon says the decision helped get ahead of rising costs for its employee base.

“It was a very proactive approach instead of a reactive approach,” Ammon says. “It showed our associates that we care, that we weren’t reacting to situations, but we were leading situations. Can we fulfill everything? No, but we try.”

Last year, Phoenix-based OneAZ Credit Union went through a significant change to its retirement plan setup by freezing and terminating its defined benefit plan. With only 74 active participants, the firm felt it was time to move on. But, according to Ammons, leadership from the board of directors and others wanted to ensure these employees were taken care of. To help ease the transition out of the plan, the company decided to provide about $500,000 in annual contribution toward those employees’ 401(k) plans going forward, in addition to the company matching program available to all employees.

“It was important for us to ensure our associates had all the funds they had been planning for to achieve their retirement goals,” Ammon says.

Meanwhile, Ammons and her team will continue the personalized approach to employee benefit services they’ve been taking for years.

Whether that’s picking up the phone to speak with an employee, discussing the benefits of the retirement plan match with a new recruit or telling someone to do some math before going ahead with a hardship withdrawal, Ammons has one driving philosophy for getting people to continue participating in the plan: “Communicate, communicate, communicate, communicate,” she says. “It’s about looking at the bigger picture, not just the 401(k), because when you look at the bigger picture, that’s what allows people to contribute more to their 401(k).”

—Alex Ortolani