Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research
Kathie Lingle's Work-Life Blog - Different Strokes for Different Folks: Total Rewards Strategy Across Generations
Kathie Lingle's Work-Life Blog
Different Strokes for Different Folks: Total Rewards Strategy Across Generation Guest Blogger: Jeanetta Darno, Nationwide Insurance
April 17, 2008 - During my participation last week in a WorldatWork webinar on Multigenerational issues, Generational Differences in the Workplace - What's An Employer to Do? , I was challenged by a listener who suggested that it might be more useful to focus on similarities between the generations instead of differences. Although I agree that everyone shares the same basic desire to be trusted, respected and recognized as a valued contributor, I draw the line at rewards, because both research and my own experience suggest that perceptions about what people find rewarding does vary across the generations. What’s more, there is power in this realization, because organizations are better able to engage more segments of their workforce today by offering differentiated total reward strategies that respond to a variety of needs.
To this point, a recent article published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Generational Preferences Starting To Affect Rewards Design by Kathy Gurchiekpoints out thatemployers are starting to customize the total rewards packages they offer to meet different needs, according to the 14th annual Top Five Total Rewards Priorities Survey. For example, “Gen Y tends to approach the workplace [with an] independent contractor mentality,” Deloitte Consulting LLP principal Dick Kleinert toldSHRM Online “They want personalized treatment, and portability [of benefits]. They aren’t signing up for lifelong jobs.” Tell that to a Boomer!
He went on to note that 84 percent of employers are redesigning their total rewards strategy accordingly. 60 percent are redesigning their retirement programs. 69 percent plan to increase their emphasis on performance-based pay.
It’s not sufficient to simply make changes, however. The new value propositions need to connect with their intended audiences. Accordingly, 71 percent of employers plan to increase communication and education to current and potential employees about their rewards programs and 63 percent plan to provide better tools for major life events such as retirement.
What about you? Does your company take the view that generations in the workforce impact total rewards strategy? What are some of the challenges and/or issues you've faced in attempting to recruit and retain talent across generations?
Wed. May 7, 2008 10:27 AM (edited 5/14/2008)
Dorothy E. Crowley, CCP
For many years, companies have been developing total rewards programs that recognize the diversity of their employee populations, including generational differences. Successful programs offer a variety of options, so that employees can chose the options that meet their needs. But this doesn’t mean that employees in different age groups don’t have shared needs.
If we overlook the similarities among the generations, we will miss opportunities to enhance the value of our total rewards programs as tools to attract and retain employees. For example, in designing a parental leave policy with a small, high-growth company, we found that those employees taking maternity and paternity leaves were concerned about the impact of their leaves on their participation in the company’s 401(k) Plan. The company had established the 401(k) Plan primarily as a retirement savings vehicle for its “Boomer” population. Once management became aware of the plan’s importance to its “GenX” and “GenY” employees, they added company-matching contributions to enhance its value as a recruitment and retention tool. Employees across all generations benefited from this single plan change.
Satisfying the needs of multiple generations is just one element of the larger challenge facing H.R. — supporting the business in competing in the 21st century global marketplace, which requires us to work faster and more efficiently. To that end, HR must facilitate the evolution of a culture of collaboration across its diverse, multi-generational workforce.
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