Diversions May 12, 2011

What the Biggest Time Waster in Your Inbox?

Xerox has released a free Microsoft Windows desktop app that sorts through mounting e-mails to identify what’s distracting you from “real business.”
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The Business of Your Brain desktop app, available for download at http://www.BusinessofYourBrain.com, can let you know what’s hogging your time, and what you spend your working days avoiding. 

By downloading the app, Xerox said, users can reveal the following insights:

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  • Meeting Buddy: show up to the office today dressed just like a colleague? Could be because he is the person with whom you have the most meetings.
  • Quickest to Panic: find out who sends the most emails flagged with the high alert exclamation point.
  • Focus Drainer: what are the latest buzzwords in your email subject lines? Your Focus Drainer results will clue you in.
  • Motor Mouth vs. Many Thanks: we all have a few contacts notorious for their lengthy emails; find out who takes the prize in your inbox. On the flip side, you’ll also see who most frequently adds to your email count with reply all “thanks” notes. 
  • Most Ignored: delete emails without reading? Business of Your Brain will tell you who you’re most likely to ignore.

“Sure, the Business of Your Brain app can fog your focus, but it also gives some not-so-subtle nods to taking back control of your workday.  It is a lighthearted look at focus – or lack thereof – in business, a concept that’s serious to Xerox,” said Christa Carone, chief marketing officer, Xerox.

Data & Research May 11, 2011

Fidelity Shows Positive Changes Made After Education

Fidelity Investments announced two records set among Fidelity-administered 401(k) plans.
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The average 401(k) balance rose to $74,900 at the end of the first quarter, marking an all-time high since Fidelity began tracking account balances in 1998. It also represented a nearly 12% increase from a year ago and a 58% jump from the same time period in 2009. In addition, nearly one in 10 participants increased his deferral rate during the first quarter, the largest percentage taking such action since Fidelity started tracking the figure in 2006. 

Fidelity said an analysis of plans that adopted many of its employee education programs from March 2009 through September 2010 revealed positive participant behavior changes across four important factors that contribute to retirement readiness.

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Plans utilizing Fidelity’s engagement programs were nearly twice as likely to increase enrollment rates compared to those plans not adopting them during the same time period (54% versus 27%, respectively). In addition, participants in plans that leverage Fidelity’s educational communications just after enrollment were six times more likely to increase their deferral rate over participants in plans that did not utilize the programs (12% increased deferrals versus 2%, respectively).  

According to a Fidelity announcement, plans that proactively help participants with asset allocation were significantly more likely to improve age-based asset allocation across their participant population as compared to plans that didn’t provide the education (85% versus 51%, respectively).  

Finally, more than half (51%) of plans that reached out to departing employees with distribution options such as staying in plan or rolling over to a qualified retirement account, such as an IRA, decreased the number of participants cashing out. The average cash-out rate for those plans decreased by two percentage points while the rate for plans not utilizing the programs increased by five percentage points.  

Since their launch in early 2009, Fidelity’s employee engagement programs have been adopted by 92% of its plan sponsor clients.

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