If employers wish to see robust participation rates in their 401(k) plans, they need to have brief and informative educational sessions, easy-to-enroll options and features that allow them to defer decisions to experienced brokers.

Retirement experts offered this advice at the ASPPA 401(k) Summit in Orlando, Fl., which is sponsored by the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.

"Employers need easy-enrollment options… so participants don't have to wait until they get to a computer [to enroll]," said Dorann Cafaro, president and founding partner of The Cafaro Group, a New Jersey-based retirement consulting company.

She spoke yesterday at a session on 401(k) education, explaining that plan sponsors should have enrollment options available for workers at educational meetings when retirement benefits are discussed.

Cafaro also presented examples in which clients have done good and not so good jobs of educating workers on defined contribution plans.

One employer armed its workers with hand-held Palm Pilots that allowed them to join a plan and pick their contribution rates right at the meeting. "Options like this can be very successful," she explained.

Another client offered $2 for every $1 an employee put into their 401(k) plan. It was a generous offering but one that was not followed up on, as evident by below-average participation rates.

She attributed it to a lack of effort on the employer's part to engage its workforce and educate employees about the benefits of their DC plan. "A lot of employers understand that the value of the dollar is significant, [but] it's not about the money. It's about education."

Many employers have let up on educating their workers with the advent of automatic enrollment, which was made easier following passage of the 2006 Pension Protection Act, said Chad Larsen, senior vice president of retirement services for Moreton Financial Solutions, a Denver-based brokerage firm.

He called it a "horrible mistake" to assume plan participants are fine once they're enrolled in a 401(k) plan. Being auto-enrolled "doesn't diminish the need to communicate," he added.