When building strategies to foster workplace inclusivity, HR leaders must consider several factors within their employee base, including race, ethnicity, and gender among other attributes. Over the past several years, however, they have also had to grapple with a workforce that, as of the late 2010s, is comprised of five generations, making generational makeup another factor to consider.
 

Adding to the complexity is the recognition that people are so much more than their ages and generational stereotypes. As a result, there is a movement to exercise more caution and avoid sweeping assumptions when using generational labeling. So, how do HR leaders evolve their strategies to account for this diversity of their workforce’s generational makeup? Let’s dive into three core steps that should be considered when seeking to foster inclusivity in a multigenerational workforce.

1. Offer a Diverse Range of Benefits

When employees feel valued, they are more likely to stay with a company – which is why a holistic benefits suite is table stakes. In a workforce as diverse as today’s, benefits must also be uniquely aligned with each generation’s needs, supporting mental, physical, and financial health across all stages of life.

Younger generations typically seek out companies that want to make their communities better. At MassMutual, we meet this need by offering volunteer paid time off to support local initiatives. Older generations, on the other hand, typically carry the weight of student loan debt and sometimes struggle with whether they should prioritize paying off their loans or saving for retirement. In this case, employers who want to differentiate themselves can put into place educational and financial resources to help workers looking to take steps to alleviate their loan debt.

However, it’s not just about employees – it's also about their families and loved ones, too. Older generations see value in benefits that support their families, like help and time off for growing your family through pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption; childcare costs, estate planning, daycare and camp reimbursement, and free counseling. These offerings provide both financial benefits to families and help take the weight off parents in the workplace. In our organization, we often see Gen Xers – who sometimes must juggle care of both children and aging parents – utilizing our caregiver leave to support loved ones. This generous benefit provides up to eight weeks of leave per calendar year and ensures that employees are not using standard time off for caregiver duties, but rather for vacation and personal time that allows them to relax and recharge.

Gen Xers and Baby Boomers also find value in healthcare-oriented offerings. These types of benefits can include several things, from fertility benefits to menopausal benefits and beyond, and can help connect employees to critical access, counseling, and insights to help them make informed decisions about their health. In other words, we as HR leaders need to meet people where they are, no matter what stage of life they find themselves in.

Well-being-oriented benefits extend across generations in a variety of ways, too. Our well-being wallet benefit, a $1,250 annual stipend that reimburses employees for a wide range of expenses that support their holistic well-being, is not prescriptive – employees can use it for a range of things from student loan repayments to ski lift tickets, to cultural or travel experiences, to gym memberships, to weighted blankets, and even musical instruments.

It's also important to consider the growing need for mental health support spanning each generation when building diverse benefit plans. In 2023, MassMutual expanded its mental health solutions to offer fast, personalized access to high-quality providers. This offering provides access to 12 free counseling and 12 free coaching sessions each year to our employees and members of their households.

We’ve been excited to see strong adoption rates of this benefit, as more than half of our employees have booked at least one appointment in 2024. By providing offerings that consider the unique needs of employees, companies are investing in their workers, who then feel they can bring their authentic selves to work.

2. Enhance Your Workforce’s Understanding of Generational Differences – While Avoiding Sweeping Stereotypes

Before we act, we must listen and seek to understand. By creating an open dialogue with and among our employees, we can hear directly about how they work and live rather than making assumptions. In turn, this helps build an environment that allows for flexibility based on any number of attributes — age and generation included.

To build such an environment, leaders should take the time to collect feedback and thoughtfully cascade these insights throughout the organization to instill a greater sense of understanding of how each generation generally operates and thinks, while encouraging customization based on individuals. Regardless of the format this takes — surveys, roundtables, or even town halls — mutual expectations need to be set to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Colleagues’ lived experiences inform their expectations, preferences, and behavior at work, which can help bridge generational differences in the office. While sweeping assumptions can’t be made about any generation, research has allowed us to generally understand different drivers and motivators for employees across different age groups. Gen Z, for example, tends to have expectations for companies to demonstrate a commitment to addressing societal issues like sustainability and social good. Communicating how organizations are doing their part, or intend to, may be critical to both attracting and retaining younger workers.

3. Deliver Opportunities for Networking and Internal Connection

Authenticity in the workplace is also driven by having a sense of community. As such, HR leaders must facilitate opportunities for networking, internal connection, and relationship building to ensure multigenerational diversity and inclusivity at work.

An effective way to bridge generational gaps and build relationships is via reverse mentoring programs, where senior and younger workers are paired together to exchange ideas. They may discuss their approaches to issues like technology and cultural changes, allowing them to better understand different working styles and create spaces for friendly exchanges of ideas.

Connections should also be built between generations. This is where employee or business resource groups come in. These groups bring together individuals from a certain background (e.g., young professionals, race and gender-based groups, veterans, etc.) to meet and discuss diverse perspectives, design programming that resonates with teammates of similar backgrounds, and advise the company’s leadership on relevant topics that could influence policies, offerings, and culture — ultimately making workers feel more seen, heard, valued, and respected.

While nuance is required in building a workplace environment that encompasses more generations than ever, HR leaders can feel confident that connected cultures can be built through open communication, acknowledgment of each employee’s passions and preferred working styles, and a robust suite of benefits that help people adapt and meet their needs across their many stages of life. Achieving this type of environment isn’t a “one-and-done" activity but rather something that must continue to evolve through constant evaluation of these strategies. As HR leaders, we must continue to watch and be ready to adapt, ultimately providing the best culture for our employees across all generations.

Author Bio

Cynthia Ryan is the Head of Human Resources at MassMutual.

Error: No such template "/CustomCode/topleader/category"!