“Millennials” is a term tossed around seemingly everywhere thesedays, with articles promising Ouija board-like intel on what makesthis seemingly indecipherable generation tick.

But the truth is that all people, even millennials, areindividuals—each has his or her own distinctive desires, needs,motivations, and concerns.

It is essential to understand each individual has a unique setof values that define who they are and the particular circumstancesthat inform the way in which they make a buying decision. Thisholds true for employee benefit programs: HR and benefits pros mustfirst and foremost acknowledge the individuality and uniqueness ofthe employee, regardless of their generational label, and thentransform their approach to the benefits they provide to bettermeet that reality.

But common themes within the millennial generation come up againand again that account for how they view their world; andunderstanding those themes is essential to understanding theirneeds and harnessing their potential.

Changing times

According to Pew Research, 1 in 3 workers today is part of themillennial generation. While the exact years vary depending on thesource, generally speaking, millennials were born between 1980 and2000—which means even more of them will be entering the workforcein the coming years.

Why should that matter to employers? After all, generationalchanges have happened for as long as companies have existed. Thedifference with millennials is three-fold:

• Millennials' career expectations aredrastically different than generations before them

• Millennials are poised to become the most effective, efficient,and strategic generation that the workforce has seen

• The collective experiences of millennials have drasticallyshaped what they value and how they are likely to purchaseinsurance-related products

The millennial reality

When previous generations entered the workforce, the generalexpectation was that they would do better economically than theirparents. That is not the case with today's millennials.

An average millennial college graduate is saddled with roughly$35,000 in student loan debt. Millions more who attended college but didn'tgraduate also face staggering amounts of student loan debt, butwith no diploma to show for what often becomes a de facto lifelongmortgage.

Despite being the most-educated generation ever, millennialsentering the workforce in the 2000s were hurt by several severeshocks from a weak economy. Wages were so low that for thefirst time in recent history, living with parents was the top livingarrangement for a single generation. And many millennials stillstruggle with basic life expenses, so much so that they are oftenchoosing to remain on their parent's medical plans for as long aspossible (up to age 26).

One final factor: Millennials are also far more likely tochange jobs than preceding generations, makingit more challenging to attract and especially retain great talent. Engaging themwith benefit options that match their needs and life outlook is atransformational challenge for today's organizations.

All of this may seemingly paint a bleak picture for HR andbenefit pros and brokers trying to understand what benefits willprove, well, most beneficial to millennials. Given their lot inlife so far, it's understandable that millennials are more focusedon the tangible here-and-now than they are on anticipating theuncertainty of what is to come over the long term.

Let's get digital

Another significant difference is that millennials never knew aday without computers. They grew up with social media as part oftheir DNA and continue to embrace the concept of using digitalplatforms to express themselves in a blurring of their professionaland personal lives.

Think about it: Millennials view filling out paper forms andreading through hard-copy information the way boomers and Gex Xersview going to a well to obtain water to drink, cook and bathe.

This embracing of communication and work technology alsotransforms the way millennials blend their work and personal lives,compared to previous generations. They check email constantly, evenif they wake up in the middle of the night, are on vacation,attending a family gathering, or at some other non-workfunction.

Basically, there isn't such a thing as office or business hoursanymore—the demands of their job are omnipresent, in the office, athome, at the ballfield with their kids, or during a night out withtheir spouse.

Going deep into the millennial psyche

In exchange for this “always on” dedication, millennialsexpect—indeed, demand—to be able to take care of personal businessduring traditional work hours, whether that means going to thedoctor's office in the middle of the day, leaving early to meet upwith friends, or working from home or the local Starbucks.

This represents a fascinating look into the psyche ofmillennials. They don't want to just work hard—they want to berecognized and rewarded for workinghard. They want to feel their company sees them asspecial individuals, rather than cogs in the machine pushing outwickets. And they want the company to invest in helping themachieve personal successes as well as professional—not just one atthe expense of the other.

Unlike previous generations that expected once-a-year performance reviews, whiletraveling down the career paths of today's fast-moving corporateworld, millennials crave immediate and constant feedback, real-timecoaching and mentoring from supervisors. The more they believethe organization is helping them develop and improve their skillsand performance, the happier they are.

When you take all of those generational factors into account, itquickly becomes apparent that traditional benefits such as medicalhealth care plans won't hold as much appeal to millennials as theydid to previous generations.

This is especially true for those living at home and still ontheir parents' health plan. A young, healthy person with no spouseor child-raising responsibilities may not see much need foranything beyond catastrophic health coverage. When you're alreadystruggling to make ends meet, your eye is more on the present thanwhat might be down the road.

What does appeal greatly to many millennials, however, arebenefits that help them achieve greater health and financialsecurity, especially ones that have an immediate and tangibleimpact to their bottom line.

Building a millennial portfolio of benefits

Vision care is just one example of the type of voluntary benefits that makeorganizations more attractive to millennials. Roughly 75 percent of all adults need some form ofvision correction. Getting an eye exam and purchasing glasseswithout insurance costs around $600 on average.

That's a big hit to take for a millennial who is alreadystruggling to pay for everyday living expenses, particularly inlight of a recent study that showed millennials are the generationleast-prepared to meet unexpected financial costs.

Offering vision benefits that cost only a few dollars per monthadds tremendous value to a benefits portfolio.

So how do employers make sure that they are using benefits tomeet the needs of millennials, as well as all generationsrepresented in their workforce, while also accounting for the factthat all employees are individuals and have unique needs andcircumstances?

Employers and brokers need to start viewing benefits as a way toprovide employees with a custom-made portfolio of products byoffering many different options to suit many different needs. Thisportfolio approach to benefits allows employees to customize theproducts that are best for themselves and their families.

Voluntary and other types of non-traditional benefits, such as gymmemberships, wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, transitbenefits, dental, and the ability to take advantage of flex time orworking virtually at least part of the time, help employees developa package that will enhance their health and financial security.But a customized benefits package rings especially true formillennials, because it meets them where they are in theirlives—and on their budget.

By adopting the portfolio approach, organizations areacknowledging that employees are individuals with their own uniqueneeds and challenges, and that they may not all value the samethings. That is a bold statement for an employer to make, and onethat will give them access to a dynamic, diligent and hard-workingemployee pool of millennials.

Want to have an even greater impact with millennials in thecompetition for their skills? Then make those benefits easy tounderstand and easy to use through technology platforms. And makesure information and outreach are available throughout the year,rather than just during the enrollment period, to ensuremillennials understand and are able to maximize the value of theirbenefits.

And the same is true for brokers who want to grow their books ofbusiness by adding voluntary benefits. It is essential that brokersprovide voluntary benefits in a way that is easily understandablewhile also encouraging employees to use the products they'repurchasing (except, of course, for catastrophic-type plans).

Leveraging the power of a comprehensive digital platform is theeasiest way to achieve this, and also prevents overloading analready stressed HR professional or broker.

There are several other tips and tricks millennials findvaluable as well.

For instance, advice provided online about whether to stay innetwork or go out of network for services will make their lifeeasier, not to mention helping their pocketbooks. Also, movingservices online that millennials would normally have to go out oftheir way for, such as shopping for glasses, helps them feelengaged within their organization—and reminds them of the intrinsicvalue their employer's organization brings to their lives each andevery day.

Tying the threads together

These are just a few of the threads of continuity that runthrough the experiences and expectations of the individuals whocollectively make up the generation labeled the millennials.

It is important for benefits pros and brokers to transform theirorganization's benefits offerings to align better with what boththe individual and the generational millennials value: benefitsthat reflect the world in which all generations in today'sworkforce think about the interconnections between their careers,their employers, and their personal lives.