Generational segmentation in employee benefits is too simplistic and not necessarily meeting employers' and employees needs, analysis from Martha How for Aon Employee Benefits has found.
How analysed the psychological forces which people face when making pay and benefits choices and found they are often the same regardless of age.
She warned that generalisation on benefits employees wanted "may simply be unhelpful", however, communication preferences were different across the generations.
How said: "It's a common view that we now have five generations in the workforce, each with differing needs and preferences."
However she warned that the five generations can be perceived in "caricatures."
She said: "These can be caricatures - for example, that 20-somethings aren't interested in pensions, while 50-somethings are worriers about pension and health. Until now, flex has been the answer to offer choice for individual preferences".
"Employers need to apply segmentation intelligently - by age may be appropriate if it's done carefully and is based on data specific to the organisation. Making sweeping assumptions is dangerous.
She added: "However our research shows that there do appear to be distinct differences in communication preferences across the generations.
"For employee demographics with wide age ranges, it is essential for employers to use multi-media communication strategies and consider carefully, and potentially even vary, content that truly gets the message across to the whole employment base."
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