Gaining peace of mind by switching to Guideline

Veronica is a one-woman show for executive recruiting firm, Govig & Associates. She’s the entire HR department for over 55 employees, and she also serves as the Executive Assistant to both the CEO and the firm’s President. How does she do it all? Well, she tries not to. “Working with full service benefits providers helps me ensure I’m not stuck being the only 401(k) person. Our providers unlock capacity for me to focus on the many other critical parts of my role.”

Govig & Associates selected a legacy 401(k) provider long before Veronica arrived. While she initially considered them full service, her opinion changed dramatically when the company changed accounting firms. “I was shocked to find out it was actually me on the hook as the 401(k)’s fiduciary. When it came to annual filings, that was on me too.” During the accounting transition, Veronica inherited a whole lot of 401(k) responsibility. She now needed to file government forms, act as the 3(38) and 3(16) fiduciary, and make manual contribution updates to payroll each pay period. And she needed to figure out how to do all that in her 401(k) platform.

“Our previous provider felt like it was built for a 401(k) expert. There were so many buttons to push and deep, dark areas of 401(k) unknown. It was confusing, and a bit scary to navigate on my own.” Naturally, Veronica went looking for a modern, all-in-one 401(k) provider⁴ right away, but she hit a speedbump before finding Guideline. “We tried a different Gusto-integrated 401(k) provider first. We started setting up with them, notified our employees of the change—and then it all came crashing down after one of the worst customer service experiences ever. We had no trust in their team after that and we had to pull the plug.”

Thankfully, her payroll company Gusto introduced her to Guideline — their preferred 401(k) provider.

Like many companies, cost was a big factor in 401(k) selection criteria. Veronica was happy to learn that, “Govig & Associates administration costs are lower with Guideline than they were with their previous 401(k) provider.” She also appreciated that Guideline offered:

For Veronica, converting their legacy 401(k) policy over to Guideline meant one thing: relief.

In the year since making the switch, life has gotten easier for Veronica as Govig & Associates’ HR department of one. “With Guideline, I get more space to breathe. I’m not panicking about compliance reports, logging into payroll six times a day to change contribution rates, or worrying that I made a mistake amidst all the manual data entry. In fact, I haven’t had to think about 401(K) in five months. Five months! That’s basically HR nirvana—like clouds parting on a sunny day. Guideline has been a game changer for me.”

For Veronica, Guideline’s friendly support team, easy-to-use platform, and on-demand employee education resources also help take work off her desk. “New admins on our account don’t require Guideline training. I’m fielding fewer questions about 401(k)s thanks to all the FAQs, and I generally sleep better at night knowing our team has access to the educational resources they need.”

Veronica’s even gotten to deliver some good news to her team following the transition. “We found our previous employee fee structure pretty confusing, so the team struggled to understand their actual 401(k) costs. Now that we’re with a more transparent provider like Guideline, it simplifies communication a lot—and I even got to tell the team that I successfully lowered their 401(k) fees by switching to Guideline.”