Grant’s Best Practices: Listening to Stakeholders

Effective stakeholder engagement requires two-way communication.  Listening to and understanding the views and perspectives of stakeholders can help to shape and improve the overall design of your state-facilitated retirement savings proposal or program. 

Legislative hearings, public board meetings and the process for developing regulations generally include built-in opportunities for the public to comment and make their voices heard.  Those opportunities, however, tend to be formal and rather limiting.  A bit of creativity can be helpful when considering how to create opportunities for a real dialogue and meaningful public input.

Officials working to develop OregonSaves and CalSavers held public meetings around their states to seek input on issues related to program design and administration.  In 2015, then-California State Treasurer John Chiang traveled throughout the state on a “listening tour” to meet with advocates, local business groups and other community members to discuss the program and listen to their ideas and concerns. 

In 2017 two stakeholder working groups were convened in California.  One consisted of organizations representing employers and employer-serving groups.  The other consisted of organizations representing employees and likely CalSavers participants.  The working groups advised the board and staff on constituent interests related to the design of the program that were instrumental in drafting the regulations.

If the effort and costs of organizing such events are a concern, it might be worthwhile to explore opportunities to partner with stakeholder organizations.  In California, a group of employer representatives organized by the statewide chamber of commerce and an association of manufacturing and technology employers met regularly with CalSavers staff to share their ideas and concerns.

For states with established programs, feedback from the public was invaluable during the development stage.  Lisa Massena recalled in a recent conversation how employers in Oregon said, “Don’t market to me.  Just tell me exactly what I need to do.  Keep it simple and factual.”  In the early days of CalSavers we learned from stakeholder groups that potential participants might be comfortable with higher default contributions than we had anticipated.  We also learned hardship withdrawal options would be an important selling point for the target population. 

No matter what opportunities you create to receive stakeholder input, the time and effort devoted to soliciting meaningful feedback will pay dividends.  Just remember to listen without judgment and keep an open mind. 

 This piece was featured in the November 19, 2020 edition of Retirement Security Matters. Check out the newsletter here.