From Hiring to Retiring: A Life-Stage Approach to Employee Benefits
The Employee Benefits Webinar Series 2026 is designed for HR professionals and organizational leaders who want practical strategies to support employees at every stage of their careers. Explore how designing thoughtful benefits can strengthen your workplace, from initial hire to retirement and everything in between.
Join us virtually for three mornings of insight, inspiration and actionable strategies to enhance your leadership and support your workforce.
Register for each day separately, so you can mix and match your preferred sessions.
Register for the free Sept. 17 webinar sessions from 10 a.m. - noon ET.
Register for the free Sept. 24 webinar sessions from 10 a.m. - noon ET.
Time: 10 a.m. - noon ET
Life stage: Mid-career – Managing growing responsibilities
Offering a competitive retirement plan has never been more important for attracting and retaining employees. However, for many small and mid-sized organizations, the complexity, administrative workload, and fiduciary responsibilities associated with sponsoring a stand-alone retirement plan can be challenging.
Join Dale Essenmacher, Vice President of Business Development from Ascensus, one of the nation's leading retirement plan providers, as we discuss how the new Pooled Employer Plan through Everence and Ascensus works, how it differs from a traditional 401(k) plan, and what the implementation experience looks like. Whether your organization currently sponsors a retirement plan or is evaluating options for the future, this webinar will provide valuable insight into how a PEP can help simplify plan management while supporting employees’ retirement readiness.
Time: 10 a.m. - noon ET
Life stage: Late career – Preparing for a confident transition
Discover what employees approaching retirement most need to understand about this complex time – and what HR teams need to know to guide them well, from navigating Medicare late-enrollment penalties and HSA contribution rules to helping employees think through phased retirement options and Social Security enrollment. Hear from a panel of experts, Bayley Stauffer, CSA, Everence Financial Consultant; Cindy Kuehn, SHRM-SCP, MBA, Everence Director of Human Resources; Patti Baker, Dock Mennonite Academy Vice President of Finance and Operations; and Michael Whiteman, Everence Financial Consultant.
This isn't about HR becoming a financial advisor – it's about equipping HR as the critical connector who knows the right questions to ask, the right resources to offer, and the plan-document details for a smooth transition.
Every HR professional has a list of compliance questions that arise in real situations, resist easy answers, and have a way of lingering without resolution.
In this capstone session of our webinar series, Ask Annie brings Annie Messer, President, Pension Resource Institute, into a structured Q&A format designed to tackle the employee benefit compliance questions that matter most. Registrants are invited to submit their most pressing questions in advance, and Annie will also come prepared with the issues she most commonly sees HR professionals wrestling with across the retirement plan landscape.
Contact Laura Wolgemuth, Administrative Assistant – Organizational Services, at [email protected] or 717-653-6662.