Finding harmony

For the first time in history, five generations will soon be working side by side.

This poses one of the biggest challenges facing HR teams today. How do HR leaders innovate in a way that continues to provide fair and equal experiences across the company?

The millennial and baby boomer trade-off often means many companies find themselves struggling to do so.

Today, 40 per cent of the global workforce is made up of generation Z and millennials — by 2025, it will be 75 per cent. As the largest workforce population, millennials are being credited (and blamed) for significant changes to the status quo.

The reality is we should commend them. Despite sometimes getting a bad rap, millennials are having a positive impact on our culture, workplace and government.

Their influence has led companies to feel pressured to evolve in a way that benefits everyone. They have forced companies to rethink flexibility, meetings and cubicles — a day at work doesn’t always have to mean being at the office or clocking in from nine to five.

Millennials have forced businesses to look beyond profit to having a wider, positive impact on society. They have put a focus on personal health that is more proactive and holistic, changing the nature of the products and services in the market today.

How this group thinks about their health in particular is having a wider impact on the rest of the workforce. When it comes to employee health and benefits, the complexities become ever more strained for HR leaders trying to navigate demand and the need for equality. That’s because one-size-fits-all health plans and an inconvenient access model no longer meet expectations.

So, let’s break it down.

Mental health: The younger workforce, both gen Z and millennials, place a higher level of importance on psychological health than other generations. This has driven the discussion for improved support for work-life balance, along with prevention tools and resources to support mental health in the workplace — pushing companies to evolve.

Physical health: Baby boomers place a greater emphasis on benefits that support their physical health, as this generation will be entering their senior years with higher rates of chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

Health care and benefits: One of the biggest differences among all generations is the way in which these groups seek out health information. Gen Z and millennials instinctively turn to digital technologies as a channel to find relevant health advice, whether it’s found on websites, through apps, or from friends and family via social media.

Baby boomers, on the other hand, will seek out professional advice most often in-person. This transcends to the access and application of health benefits, in that the younger generations are comfortable both accessing and sharing their personal health resources and information digitally.

For HR leaders, finding the right provider is critical to providing quality health support and coverage for their teams — one that is flexible not only in the coverage it offers, but in the way members can interact with their plans.

Gen Z and millennials will want to do everything related to their health digitally, through their mobile phones. Gen X may prefer web-based options, while many baby boomers still prefer a paper-based approach.

The struggle for HR goes beyond access to personalization. How can businesses provide personalized, supportive health benefits for people who have vastly different needs? The traditional model of employer-sponsored insurance plans fails to deliver, leaving consumers feeling neglected.

A new path

Today, new methods are emerging that are changing the nature of health plans and wellness programs in the workplace. The consumer-driven demand for personalized, integrated services has created a turning point for employers and the insurance industry alike.

Moving from a structured insurance plan to one with personalization and flexibility will be the new reality. The health-benefits provider of tomorrow will be one that will transform its business model, moving away from premiums to value-added services charged on a subscription basis, oriented around the consumer — a model that encourages and drives usage and engagement, rather than restricts it.

For employers, this is good news. The significant investment businesses place in health care for staff can go further with the rise of spending accounts and a more consumer-driven model. Increasingly, the health benefits employees value go beyond traditional benefits such as vision or dental to include osteopaths, naturopaths and fitness classes such as yoga.

As the most health-conscious generation in decades, millennials are the driving force behind the popularity of these plans due to the flexibility to choose what is — and what is not — covered. And all generations are getting behind it.

HR leads are navigating this changing nature of work. They are seeing that employees are expecting more from their employers, and learning that the workforce is starting to view health resources as a critical part of the employment proposition.

Furthermore, employers are learning the benefits of maintaining a healthy workforce to the business and the economy overall.

HR has an opportunity to transform health benefits into something fresh and new: Health engagement. These additional options target physical, mental, financial and emotional well-being — and change the nature of benefits from reacting to illness to taking steps to prevent it.

 In an increasingly competitive landscape, employers are looking for new ways to attract and retain all valued employees at their organizations. It’s becoming clear that in order to innovate, companies must appeal to the millennial and gen-Z workforce — but that does not have to come at the expense of other generations.

With the priority these groups put on health, and the wider benefits that brings to the entire cross-generation talent pool, it’s truly a win-win situation across the board.