Julie Voges Talks to World at Work About Empowering Employees Through Customized Rewards Programs

Despite generational differences, shared desires such as work-life balance and flexibility emerge across Baby Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Xers.

Understanding these evolving employee goals is essential for designing effective rewards programs. OneDigital’s Practice Leader, HR Consulting, OneDigital Florida & Georgia, Julie Voges highlights some of these differences and the importance of developing benefits that reflect these preferences in a recent World at Work article, “With a Multigenerational Workforce, Personalized Rewards Are Key.” Voges notes that while Boomers typically favor the traditional "lifer" and pension track, Millennials prioritize balance, flexibility, financial gains, and travel opportunities. As Boomers retire in the next three to five years, Millennials will dominate the workforce, necessitating a shift in how total rewards are personalized to meet their needs.

This data reveals how goals shift over an employee’s career, and it calls on total rewards professionals to design flexible rewards programs to meet employees where they are across the different generations. Families in 2024 are looking for and concerned about the same issues that our grandparents were concerned about. Health, success and financial security, for the most part, have remained somewhat steady over time. Other key events that shift are also happening later, therefore transforming how employees value various rewards offerings. People are waiting longer to marry and start a family, so there has been a shift within the generational age group that impacts when people will align with a specific total reward offering.
 
— Julie Voges, Practice Leader, HR Consulting, OneDigital Florida & Georgia

By actively engaging employees in the design of rewards programs and offering a menu of customizable options, employers can better attract, retain, and engage a multigenerational workforce.

To read the full article in World at Work, click here.

In short, employers seeking to optimize benefits investments, especially in the current environment of escalating costs and higher-for-longer interest rates, must take a strategic approach. This includes leveraging data-driven approaches to identify benefit areas that can deliver the highest return on investment when it comes to attracting, retaining, and engaging top talent, no matter what life stage they're in.

Ready to dig into the data-backed strategies for personalizing employee benefits? Check out OneDigital's 2024 Employee Value Perception Study.