Vitality

NOMINATOR COMMENTS

I have worked with Vitality for more than 25 years, and the committee is extremely committed to doing everything possible to help its people.

Vitality’s employee base is young and it’s a progressive organization, and it uses many unique ways to help its employees. Working with my son, we schedule full days of meeting people on a one-on-one basis to help with any financial questions they may have. The company provides Morgan Stanley’s financial wellness program, parts of which are live webinars, many unrelated to retirement, and the firm’s monthly retirement newsletter. Besides invites to both live and on-demand webinars, the newsletter email includes a link the employee can click to notify my son and me, so that we can connect with this person.

The committee is extremely diligent at keeping cost down and reviewing the investments quarterly.

Vitality believes helping its people goes way beyond just offering a match and education; it wants its staff to have the best employment experience possible and provide a wide array of supplemental benefits—many free—with that goal in mind.

Kyle Lin (left) and Patti Ruh (right)
Photograph by Matt Kalinowski

PLANSPONSOR: How would you describe your company? Is there anything unique about its demographics?

Vitality: Vitality is a global leader in engagement and behavior change, operating the world’s largest well-being platform and supporting over 40 million members across 42 markets. Built on behavioral and actuarial science, our platform delivers hyper-personalized, data-driven engagement that improves health outcomes, reduces health care costs and enhances member experiences. In the U.S., Vitality partners with employers and health plans to deliver science-backed solutions that span digital engagement, integrated coaching, condition management and an accredited diabetes prevention program.

At the heart of our work is a core purpose: to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. This purpose drives not only what we deliver externally—it also shapes how we support our own people. In the U.S., 59% of our workforce is women. Of the C-suite leadership, 50% of roles are held by women. We believe that supporting our employees’ long-term well-being is essential to fulfilling our mission. That’s why we’ve built a strong, inclusive and flexible retirement plan—designed to help every team member thrive now and into the future.

PLANSPONSOR: What are you most proud of as it relates to your retirement plan offering?

Vitality: What I’m most proud of is how intentionally the plan is designed to support long-term financial well-being for our employees. We don’t just provide a plan—we’ve built a comprehensive experience that includes personalized education, easy-to-use digital tools, proactive engagement strategies and direct access to financial advisers.

Our goal is to empower our employees, regardless of their financial background, to feel confident about their retirement journey. The plan has a 94.4% participation rate with an 8.1% average deferral, while the average participation rate for plans in our industry is 52.3%. Seeing increased participation and improved saving behaviors across our workforce is a sign that we’re making a meaningful impact.

PLANSPONSOR: Please cite any noteworthy initiatives you have taken in the past 24 to 36 months that have produced results to improve your plan, and describe the results.

Vitality: Vitality is a dynamic and forward-thinking organization that works to liberate the best in our people with an environment that allows everyone to bring their whole self to work.

To help our employees attain financial wellness and adequate savings for retirement, we supply them with services through Morgan Stanley at Work. This program offers educational tools and resources, such as weekly webinars relating to the retirement plan and investments, financial wellness or other benefits. Participants receive points for attending those webinars and for attending lunch-and-learns on topics related to health, financial wellness and life skills. The points are awarded in our wellness program and may be used to buy gift cards, etc. Employees have full-time access to financial wellness coaching and financial advice. Our recordkeeper, Principal Financial Group, offers additional financial wellness education, plus legal document services and a scholarship search.

We also have a range of non-retirement benefits, which enhance our employees’ well-being—financial and otherwise. A few are: semi-annual bonuses; a gym rebate and discounts on medical and dental premiums; catered lunch twice per week; quarterly happy hours and summer and holiday parties; study halls, in which employees meet to collaborate on work; no-meeting Fridays, to get more work done and prepare for the next week; monthly Fuel Fridays, where the focus is on continued learning via webinars, studying, podcasts, etc.; unlimited paid time off for exempt staff upon manager approval; biometric screenings; parental leave; summer hours; and pet insurance.

We received a Crain’s 2023 Best Place to Work in Chicago award.

PLANSPONSOR: What does winning Plan Sponsor of the Year mean to you and your employer?

Vitality: Winning Plan Sponsor of the Year is an incredible honor that reflects the dedication and collaboration of our entire team. It further motivates, and validates, Vitality’s work in creating a retirement plan that supports our employees’ financial future. For Vitality, it’s a proud moment that highlights our commitment to being a people-first employer.

PLANSPONSOR: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Vitality: We believe our diverse backgrounds and distinctive personal experiences enhance our ability to deliver innovative products. We’re committed to cultivating a high-performing culture through our inclusion and diversity strategies. Our commitment to diversity encompasses the creation of an inclusive, productive and respectful culture in which every employee is fully valued, participates and contributes to Vitality’s success.

This year, for our Plan Sponsor of the Year profiles, we are publishing Q&As based on the finalists’ applications and nominator comments. Responses are edited and may be paraphrased. In cases where the finalist self-nominated or, on its application, referred judges to the nomination for the answer, we have attributed those nominator answers to the plan sponsor.