Ohio Gratings, Inc.

When John and Karen Bartley, the CEO and executive vice president of Ohio Gratings, Inc., in Canton, Ohio, realized that many of their company’s retirement plan participants missed out on the employer matching contribution because they deferred less than the required 4%, the two decided a major plan design change was needed.

Since some of the associates are paying off debt, working to establish a solid financial foundation or just navigating unique events in their lives, the Bartleys recognized the need to ensure that all associates receive a base contribution to their retirement plan account, regardless of the person’s financial situation or ability to contribute.

As a result, the company, a producer of metal traction flooring, scrapped its match formula in the 2023 plan year and moved to an employer nonelective contribution approach. The Bartleys say they were confident that, with a focused educational effort, eliminating the match would not lower participation in the plan.

“We’re paying it forward for them and kind of leaping in front to say, we feel this is the right thing to do, so we’re going to [contribute] on their behalf,” John Bartley says. “It’s not so much a recruitment strategy but certainly a retention [strategy] to show our people we want to be an employer … that’s there for them.” For the 2022 plan year, Ohio Gratings contributed the equivalent of approximately 7% of pay to all the associates, bringing the total contribution in calendar year 2023 to about 13% on average between and both contribution rates.

Michael Chisnell, a partner in and chief investment officer at Bruton Chisnell Advisors, was integral in helping Ohio Gratings update its plan design. Before the switch to a nonelective contribution approach, participants were averaging deferrals of only 3.5%, and the plan included no annual true-up feature, Chisnell says.“Many employers we work with are thinking, ‘Well, I’m doing a 4% match, so let’s just reserve 4% of payroll, and that’s what we expect to spend.’ And whether employees use it all or not, some employers just say, ‘Well, that was a budget pickup, no big deal.’”

But the Bartleys wanted this 4% to go directly to the associates, to help them become more financially healthy and prepared for retirement, Chisnell says. “If employees need to be saving 15% to 20% per year [for retirement], it’s a really bold statement for an employer to say, ‘We’re putting in the first 4% of that 15% to 20% you need to save,” Chisnell says. The “nonelective contribution is a building block for additional company contributions, and it gives the employers a lot of dials on a control panel to make decisions they would not be able to with a match design.”

When BCA became adviser to the plan in late 2022, it spearheaded a comprehensive fiduciary review project. The result was a consolidation of service providers, fee reduction, selection of a new recordkeeper—T. Rowe Price—installation of a new fund menu and an “intentional roadmap” for better associate engagement. T. Rowe helped the plan reduce its total annual fees by nearly 49%.

Ohio Gratings also worked closely with the new recordkeeper and adviser to conduct a full reenrollment campaign, which included mandatory educational sessions and one-on-one meetings for all associates on company-paid time, during all three shifts at all company locations.

Each Ohio Gratings associate has the opportunity to receive one-on-one 401(k) onboarding education when they become eligible for the plan, and Karen Bartley says this is vital for retaining employees and helping them become more financially confident.

“We’ve had many success stories throughout this whole process and how the [mandatory meetings] literally save people money,” Bartley says. “Financial independence is one of the things that drives John and me into what we do and how we do it and why we do it. … Our ultimate goal is to serve people where they are in their current situations.”

—Remy Samuels