Page 18 - BusinessWest September 2, 2024

providing flexible working dress codes and arrangements; and delivering opportunities for networking and inter- nal connection. “We’re always seeking to increase the breadth and flexibility of what we offer, ensuring our benefits meet employees’ diverse needs at each stage of life.”
Ebner agreed that generational differences certainly become evident around employee benefits.
“We moved away from that cafete- ria model of benefits where we had a bunch of different things, and you could sign up for whatever was important to you, to more standard benefits pack- ages,” she noted. “But now, we’re kind of back to asking, ‘what are you looking
for?’
“When we’re building our employee
value proposition,” she went on, “what’s going to retain my staff? What’s going to help me attract and retain the best talent? And one area where there are some distinct differences generationally is employee benefits, for sure.”
For instance, she said, Millenni- als and Zoomers express more needs around both mental health and finan- cial education.
“There’s a lot of mistrust from the younger generations in the stock mar- ket and what’s going on economically today,” Ebner said of the latter. “They’ve lived through 9% inflation, they know that going to the grocery store is cost-
ing them a ton of money, they know they can’t buy a house right now with mortgage rates so high. So giving them a financial holistic wellness picture is important, and what a lot of them are looking for.”
At the same time, older workers can also benefit from that kind of perk, she added, in the same way that younger workers have driven the shift toward remote work and hybrid schedules that everyone now enjoys.
“It’s interesting to see some genera- tional trends, and they’re not the same for everybody,” said Irene Costello, director of Operations at the Markens Group, an association-management firm in Springfield. “It’s forced us to
become more flexible in our policies: remote work, time-off policies, reducing dress-code expectations. Earlier this year, we changed our time-off policy at the beginning of the year to adjust to the growing requests. A lot of organiza- tions are doing it as well; some organi- zations are getting super flexible.”
It’s easier for a company like Markens, a small business where most staffers are under age 40, to make those changes, Costello added, but for larger companies with a more promi- nent cohort of Boomers and X-ers, it can be difficult to change the culture, alter policies around work-life balance, and ... well, be flexible at all. “From the employer’s side, it’s challenging.”
“With older generations, there’s some aversion to change, some difficulty adapting to new technologies and new processes overall.”
For this issue’s focus on business management, BusinessWest delves into the different work styles and expecta- tions of the four main generations in the workplace, how they influence each other, and why their differences can be positive.
Change Agents
It should be noted that two other generations are in play as well: the pre- Boomer Traditionalists, the youngest of whom are entering their 80s, and some of whom still work; and Gen Alpha,
the oldest of whom are in high school and starting to seek summer jobs and internships.
That’s quite a broad spectrum of employees working together, often with dramatically different expectations and work styles. While broad stereotypes hardly fit everyone, Traditionalists and Boomers are known for appreciating structure, stability, and clear expecta- tions, while Gen X and Millennials are more apt than their older counterparts to prioritize work-life balance, collabo- ration, efficiency, and, as noted, benefits that speak to personal wellness.
“With older generations, there’s some aversion to change, some dif- ficulty adapting to new technologies and new processes overall,” Costello said, adding quickly that there’s plenty of crossover in what different work- ers want. “We have a very young staff. I’m 29 years old. But even though I’m younger, I love to see people coming into the office five days a week, to be visible.”
What many employers are dealing with now, in a post-COVID era where companies in many sectors are strug- gling to recruit and retain talent, is the fact that the growing cohort of younger
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THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
18 SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
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