Are you trying to tailor your benefit offerings to meet the needs of the Gen Y workforce? Do you know what Gen Y is looking for in their benefits plan? If not, you’re most likely neglecting the needs of a vast segment of workers.
Gen Y is consistently upsetting the traditional order of things, and the media seems to love this tactful disruption. The workforce’s youngest generation is constantly reinventing what a career path can look like, and companies that aren’t staying ahead of the curve are sure to be left behind.
At Health Risk Services, we strive to provide comprehensive, third-party benefit consulting services to help your company design a benefits package that will meet the ever-changing needs of your employees. If you’re attempting to cater to your Gen Y employees, here are a few useful tips:
We Want a Say
While demanding a choice in employee benefit offerings is nothing new, Gen Y is more willing to pay for this freedom than members of generations past. According to MetLife’s study, 55% of Gen Y employees report that they’d be willing to bear more of the costs of benefits in order to have a choice in the actual benefits they receive. This is in stark contrast to the 40% of Gen Xers and 28% of Boomers that reported a willingness to bear the additional costs of voluntary employee benefit offerings.
We Need Help Understanding Our Options
While Gen Y is demanding more of a say in the benefits their company offers, they also admit to needing a bit more direction when trying to understand the nuances of their benefits plan. When asked if they would agree to needing more help understanding how benefits work and how they can meet their specific needs, 54% of Gen Yers surveyed said they would agree, in comparison to only 38% of Gen Xers and 28% of Boomers.
We Seek Financial Security
Gen Y is also looking to their employers to assist in their achievement of financial security more than previous generations. According to the MetLife study, 49% of Gen Yers admitted to looking to their employer to help them achieve financial security through employee benefits. Only 38% of Gen Xers and Boomers surveyed shared these sentiments.
We Desire Efficient Solutions
Because Gen Y has grown up accustomed to the Internet and social media, they readily accept the use of these tools in helping them select the voluntary benefits they need. Technology is vital to employer’s ability to help younger employees navigate their benefit options to select offerings that will meet their unique needs.
According to the study, 64% of Gen Y employees also found one-on-one meetings to be very influential in helping them understand their benefit options. Interestingly, employees that are able to adequately understand their company’s educational benefit materials report that enrolling for benefits is much easier and straightforward than those that struggle to understand their company’s educational materials. Thus, communicating benefit options efficiently is vital in the eyes of Gen Y.
At Health Risk Services, our aim is to help companies like yours design powerful benefit strategies that are capable of meeting each and every employees’ specific needs. If you wish to speak with us about redesigning your company’s benefits package, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 1-403-236-9630 today!
