One of the most significant shifts in the landscape of U.S. workforce demographics has been the increase in the number of generations working side by side. For benefits consultants, it's a reality that creates a large challenge and an even greater opportunity. 

• The challenge is to understand how employers will be affected by the new diversity of perspectives, experiences, needs, expectations, and preferences among the four (soon to be five!) generations that comprise today's workforce.
• The big opportunity is to provide guidance to HR and benefits leaders on how to navigate those differences and support them to design benefit plans that appeal to the entire spectrum of age groups in today's workforce. 

After all, a benefits program that drives a greater employee experience for each employee in each generation will, in turn, support employers to hire better talent, increase employee engagement and boost retention.

The good news is that brokers already have access to tools to support employers and achieve the opportunities ahead. More to the point, brokers should consider leveraging six proven, practical strategies as well as HR data to help their employer clients ensure their programs are up to the challenge of engaging a multigenerational workforce.

Let's define our benefit audiences

Baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and Generation Z are the generations that make up the bulk of today's workforce. Demographers don't all agree on what years bound each generation, but here is a generally accepted breakdown, with quick insights from research by the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School: