Lessons Learned from the 2018 PRISM Conference

While every public pension agency has their unique differences, a common purpose unites them: to maintain the financial security of the trust fund and provide exceptional service to external stakeholders. In terms of protecting pension funds, there are numerous investment strategies to close the funding gap: using asset monetization and dedicated revenue sources, issuing well-designed pension obligation bonds, closing tax loopholes, among other tactics. Investment strategies aren’t the only way to maintain the sustainability of the plans, however. By updating the technology that is used to administer pension benefits, pension agencies can ensure financial security while simultaneously achieving customer service excellence.

The National Pension Education Association (NPEA) annual conference concluded last week and as always, it is said to have been an invaluable forum to stay informed and up to date on retirement education, communication trends, and important issues facing the public retirement community.

The main purpose of theft and robbery is to take prime assets away to make money or become rich. In today’s world, data thieves operate on the same principle – to take personal and financial data in exchange for money or recognition. Data is the main asset of consumers today. The retail industry is a target for payment card data, the finance industry for financial assets and investment data and even the media industry is not spared and prime-time shows like HBO's Game of Thrones’ episodes were hacked and leaked. Even the recent Equifax data breach only shows that personal data can be as valuable as any financial asset.

Looking introspectively at knowledge and learning management results in putting blinders on and doesn’t allow organizations to fully realize the benefits of their knowledge and learning management initiatives and solutions.

On July 1, 2017, Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) will go into effect at a majority of pension agencies across the country. COLAs protect members’ annuity from inflation erosion, but without a modern benefits administration solution, COLAs can erode the patience of the staff trying to administer them.

Less than 30 years ago, defined contribution (DC) retirement plans were a rather novel retirement savings vehicle. Now, DC plans are the most popular employer-sponsored retirement plan in the United States, according to the American Benefits Counsel.  Within the public sector, DC plans are playing an ever more increasing role in state and local retirement programs.

It’s estimated that American businesses lose $31.5 billion each year simply because information is not shared effectively. This staggering loss of revenue is the result of employees and customers not having information to make the best decisions; wasted time in trying to find information; wasted time and effort in reinventing something that’s already been created; and simply being misinformed. 

At its very essence, knowledge and learning management is simple. It is about giving internal and external stakeholders the information and resources that they need to be successful in their relationship with the organization that they work for or buy from. But, knowledge and learning management is much more complex than it actually sounds.

Practitioners have the mentality that if they develop content that stakeholders need, success will come organically. It’s the whole “if you build it, they will come” mantra. But, the fact is that a lot of organizations have developed great knowledge and learning opportunities that actually fill a real-world need (i.e., developed a good solution to a confirmed problem) without much impact. And, here are 7 deadly reasons why.

Part 3: Using web analytics data to identify insights and develop business strategy

When it comes to a web analytics strategy, organizations go through a natural progression. The first step in the process is to develop a method for capturing the data. As the first blog post in this series states, many organizations are finding Google Analytics (GA) to be a helpful and cost-effective web analytics service. Once the data is captured, the next step is to develop a data reporting strategy. The second blog post delves into how one can use GA’s basic reporting functionality to apprise business leaders. The next stage is to use the captured data and reports to identify insights and develop business strategy.