HR professionals are engaging with the most diverse workforces in history, from age to gender. These teams’ job is to appeal to all generations when sending offers. The wages should be encouraging, and the benefits must be expansive. However, each generation has different beliefs about a worthwhile compensation package. If you want to curate plans that span generations, use these thought processes.
Understand the Priorities of a Diverse Workforce
Designing compensation strategies requires your team to know the financial and personal objectives of their workforce, which may vary between each age demographic. Finding commonalities between these unique backgrounds and priorities is the best way to craft a holistic package across generations.
Baby Boomers
Boomers and older generations make up a significant portion of the population, with around 20% of Americans being age 65 or older. Born out of economic volatility, this generation cares most about stability and health care in their compensation. They are the age most concerned with long-term life planning. Appealing to this demographic would include things like retirement plan matching and comprehensive medical offerings.
Generation X
Workers born in the late 1960s and 1970s — who also make up nearly one fifth of the U.S. population — want independence, growth and equity. Their compensation should promise a lot of vertical momentum supported by internal structures, with HR as the foundation. Alongside career development, they want elements like child care assistance to help them focus more time on expanding their workplace potential while balancing all aspects of their lives.
Millennials
Born in the last two decades of the 20th century, millennials currently make up the largest share of the labor force and have thus caused a shift in workplace expectations. A decent salary is important, but so are perks like mental health days and gym memberships that help them calm information overload. Additionally, they want socially responsible work, driving a sense of personal fulfillment.
Generation Z
Arguably the most demanding yet competitive is Gen Z, who are projected to overtake boomers in the workforce by the end of 2024. This generation wants more than livable wages. This generation’s worldview focuses on equality and innovation amid social and economic instability. It has led to their priorities being more about inclusive, ethical work environments with high salaries — despite more flexible schedule setups and age equating to a lack of experience.
Mend the Gaps for Specific Multigenerational Challenges
How can you offer all these demographics what they want? A flexible compensation model is the most appropriate. Appealing to what each generation wants most is crucial for keeping candidates interested and retention steady. However, the strategy must also solve obstacles and overcome each generation’s stereotypes regarding workplace wages and benefits.
Offering choices instead of a comprehensive compensation plan is the way to do this. Instead of crafting a one-size-fits-all solution, HR departments should focus on individual curation. Offer options to the multigenerational staff. Then, they can cherry-pick what fits their needs.
Providing options prevents workers from feeling forced into a benefit they do not want. Adding options also helps people feel well compensated when what they need is present. Younger generations are skeptical of how well a company will treat them, so providing a customizable compensation package gives them agency and increases an employer’s chances of gaining early trust during onboarding.
Meanwhile, millennials would take a 20% pay cut if it meant their work-life balance was more reasonable. Many workers in this age group and younger are fatigued by hustle culture, so compensation must be competitive, yet the benefits should consider how to supplement an overworked generation.
Go Beyond Conventional Offerings
HR departments must become experts at juggling the numerous factors influencing how multigenerational workforces feel about their salaries and benefits. This becomes more nuanced when fighting for talent. Around 63% of employed people sought other opportunities because of pay, making low wages one of the most prominent causes of high turnover.
Other companies are trying to keep a balanced staff while enticing employees of all ages to join the ranks. Once teams meet needs and employees no longer feel obstacles burden them, you can introduce originality into benefits packages.
Compensation packages should be novel. They must embrace outside-the-box thinking. For example, mental health days are becoming the norm. While this is a welcome inclusion, workplaces may consider vacation stipends or team-building opportunities, including paid travel. These perks expand how employees view their work-life balance and solidify a belief that the company values their well-being — not just their productivity.
These boons are pleasing to all ages. You should also include age-agnostic benefits with mass appeal, which include but are not limited to:
- Health savings accounts and reimbursements
- Equal family leave
- Financial support and guidance
- Lifestyle spending on well-being
Examples of Innovative Compensation Packages
Several companies have established solid precedents for giving multigenerational workforces malleable financial benefits.
Salesforce is doing multiple things correctly for its diverse workforce. It offers lifestyle spending accounts so staff can invest in their choice of wellness projects, such as retreats or gym memberships. Some choose to invest in their hobbies, making it enticing for all generations. They also have the option to work from home in some positions, making it easier for workers to craft the schedule they need in the work environment that suits their traits best.
Global consulting company Bain and Company has done multigenerational surveys of the changing workforce. It discovered a rise in income increases the value of other perks to employees. For this reason, it instituted programs like paid volunteer hours and clubs within the company to offer opportunities for social connections outside working relationships.
These are only a few examples of the creativity and versatility of giving employees choices within their compensation package.
Wages for All Ages
In the modern working age, compensation means more than a good salary. Workers in a multigenerational workplace have intensely different perspectives and priorities from what employees want from their employers. Therefore, you should give them the choice of how to feel more stable and cared for by their compensation, benefits, and corporate leadership.
This post was written for HRTech247 by Eleanor Hecks. Eleanor is a business and hiring writer and researcher who is passionate about sharing physical and mental health resources with the SMB community. You can find her work as Editor in Chief of Designerly Magazine as well as a staff writer for publications such as HR.com, eLearning Industry and Training Industry.
