Having a solid awareness of generational demographics prepares you to appropriately guide employers to make the most informed decisions for their unique employee populations. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Generational demographics are shifting quickly, and your employer clients expect you to know how these changes will impact voluntary benefit strategies. They want to know which products they should offer in order to meet the needs of their increasingly diverse workforce, and they want to offer their employees personalized enrollment communications based on age, gender or life stage. These desires require a solid awareness of generational demographics so that you can appropriately guide employers to make the most informed decisions for their unique employee populations.

Related: Workers across generations focusing on long-term benefits

Bonnie Brazzell and Nick Rockwell, Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc.

Take payroll deduction, for example. In our November 2019 column, we discussed how, despite the growing number of options for payment alternatives, employees overwhelmingly prefer payroll deduction. What if you encounter an employer whose employee base has a high percentage of Generation X and millennial employees? You may wonder if this preference holds true or if you should offer your clients alternative payment methods, like credit card or ACH.