Small + Mid-Size Business

Specialized Talent Solutions: Connecting Expert Professionals with Retirement Plan TPAs

Situation

Medium and small-sized unbundled retirement plan Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) face unique challenges in the talent acquisition landscape. These specialized firms require professionals with highly specific skill sets who can seamlessly manage a full book of business remotely from day one. Before partnering with Networks Connect, many of these organizations had made unsuccessful attempts to fill their open positions, leading to operational challenges and potential revenue impacts. The highly specialized nature of these roles, combined with the competitive remote work landscape, created significant recruitment obstacles for these organizations.

Challenge

Retirement plan TPAs faced two primary challenges in their recruitment efforts:

Limited Internal Capacity: These organizations typically lacked dedicated recruitment resources or bandwidth to efficiently identify and engage qualified candidates when roles needed to be filled.
Competitive Remote Hiring Landscape: With remote work becoming increasingly common, candidates with specialized retirement plan expertise had opportunities across the entire continental U.S., making it difficult for smaller TPAs to compete for talent.
Highly Specialized Skill Requirements: These positions demanded candidates with specific technical knowledge and experience who could immediately take over client relationships and complex retirement plan administration.
Urgency to Fill Critical Positions: Many of these firms had positions that had remained open for months, creating potential service disruptions and impacting operational effectiveness.

Solution

Networks Connect implemented a specialized recruitment strategy tailored to the unique needs of the retirement plan TPA industry:

Focused Industry Expertise: We developed deep knowledge of the unbundled TPA space, understanding the specific skills, experience, and cultural attributes required for success in these organizations.
Dedicated, Consistent Sourcing: We maintained around-the-clock focus on identifying professionals with specialized retirement plan administration backgrounds, allowing us to engage qualified candidates precisely when they were actively seeking or open to exploring new opportunities.
Strategic Candidate Network Development: We continuously expanded our reach within the retirement plan administration community, creating a sustainable pipeline of qualified professionals across the country.
Multi-Client Placement Strategy: By working with multiple TPAs facing similar hiring challenges, we developed a comprehensive understanding of the talent landscape and could efficiently match candidates to the right opportunities.
Guidance Throughout the Hiring Process: We provided valuable insights to both clients and candidates during the interview and offer process, helping manage expectations and facilitating effective decision-making.

Results

Networks Connect’s specialized approach to retirement plan TPA recruitment has delivered exceptional results:

We have successfully placed 43 specialized candidates across 21 different TPA clients, demonstrating our ability to consistently deliver qualified professionals in this niche industry.
Our placements have enabled these TPAs to fill critical positions that had often remained vacant for months, allowing them to maintain client service levels and operational efficiency.
The candidates we’ve placed have been able to quickly integrate into their new organizations, taking over complex plan management responsibilities and contributing value from day one.
Our comprehensive understanding of the industry has established Networks Connect as a trusted partner for retirement plan TPAs nationwide, creating long-term relationships and ongoing placement opportunities.

Client Feedback

"Working with Networks Connect has been an outstanding experience from start to finish. As an unbundled TPA, we often require highly specialized candidates who can manage complex plans and hit the ground running. This is something that's difficult to find in today's remote work landscape. [Networks Connect] not only delivered qualified candidates quickly but showed a deep understanding of our industry's unique needs. What truly sets them apart is their professionalism and guidance throughout the interview and offer process. They kept communication flowing, helped manage candidate expectations, and provided valuable insight that made decision making easier on our end. Thanks to their support, we filled several key roles that had been open for months with professionals who are already quickly proving to be strong assets to our team. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Networks Connect and would confidently recommend them to any TPA in need of experienced, specialized talent."

Why It Matters

In specialized industries like retirement plan administration, finding the right talent is critical to maintaining client relationships and operational excellence. Networks Connect’s success in this space demonstrates our ability to understand niche markets and deliver qualified candidates where traditional recruitment approaches fall short.

What sets Networks Connect apart is our commitment to building deep expertise in specialized fields, enabling us to efficiently match candidates to opportunities where they can thrive. By focusing on understanding both client and candidate needs, we create sustainable talent solutions that deliver long-term value.

Is your organization struggling to find specialized talent in a competitive market? Networks Connect specializes in identifying and securing top-tier professionals for even the most challenging roles. Contact us today to learn how we can help you build your dream team and calculate your potential ROI using our Recruiting ROI Calculator.