HCBeck Ltd.

Rebecca Moore (left), Elizabeth Haynie (right); Photo by Matt Kalinowski

A plan sponsor cannot help employees save for retirement if they are ineligible for the company plan. HCBeck Ltd.—doing business as The Beck Group—addresses that conundrum by enrolling employees in the company’s 401(k) plan as quickly as possible. The Beck Group, headquartered in Dallas, has approximately 700 employees across the U.S. It provides architectural and construction services on projects ranging from commercial and academic buildings to health care facilities and religious centers.

According to Elizabeth Haynie, The Beck Group’s health and wellness benefits manager, the company stresses participation in the retirement plan, right down to the summer interns and nonunion weekly employees.

The latter are primarily on-site craft and trade workers such as carpenters and laborers and can have unique needs, Haynie says. “Many of these employees haven’t begun saving for the future, and, for many, English is their second language.” With the help of materials in Spanish from T. Rowe Price and a bilingual financial consultant from Beck’s adviser, Creative Planning, “we’re focusing on helping this population feel confident managing their money and [helping them] begin saving for retirement.”

Creative Planning has worked with the plan for 20 years and witnessed its evolution, according to David Altimont, managing director, and Meredith Moore, senior consultant with the adviser firm. In 2004, the Beck plan was one of T. Rowe Price’s first to conduct a re-enrollment. It adopted automatic enrollment in 2007 and, in 2017, upped its default deferral rate to 6%. The plan committee has always spent significant time in its quarterly meetings discussing how to improve the plan for the employees, the two note, and, Moore says, has “historically [provided for] a full range of both written and in-person communications explaining the value of the plan’s benefits.”

Beck’s benefits program takes a holistic approach, says Haynie. “Our goal is to help our employees thrive, not only in their careers but in their personal lives. We want to support them for all of their milestones, from understanding and managing their money, paying down debt, and saving for emergencies and large purchases, to preparing for retirement.”

So the group provides resources such as Waysaver™, a savings app from T. Rowe Price, SmartDollars from Ramsey Solutions and a financial wellness program from Creative Planning’s Lockton Retirement Services and promotes the resources through multiple channels. “We also tie financial wellness into our efforts for mental health education and support,” Haynie says. “Finances can be stressful, and by providing our people with tools to help them manage their finances, we hope to also help promote a healthier mental well-being.

“People are our most important asset, and we want to make their lives better, … at work but also … at home. It’s that simple.”

—Ed McCarthy