Have you ever looked at your talent attraction and retention strategy and thought about whether it meets the needs of a multigenerational workforce?

Well, according to the Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2017 guide, a large number of UK businesses are not offering the right benefits when trying to attract talent to meet the needs of their growing workforce. Our research includes a survey of 17,000 employers and employees from across the UK and here is what it revealed:

26% of employers believe career development is most important for attracting talent, followed by benefits package (16%). But professionals in different generational brackets are motivated by varying factors when looking for a new job.

27% of Gen X said work life balance is most important when looking for a new job compared with 41% of Gen Y respondents, who said career development is most important. Only 15% of Gen X felt career development was most important, showing a clear mismatch between employers and their Gen X staff.

What benefits does your organisation offer employees?

When asked what benefits their organisation offer their employees, our research showed:

• 58% of organisations offered childcare vouchers, but only 8% of Gen X professionals said this is an important benefit when considering a new role.
• 50% of organisations surveyed offer a cycle to work scheme, despite only 5% of Gen X staff stating this was an important benefit.

From our research we see that the most important benefit for Gen X is actually flexible working, with 68% saying this is the most important benefit when looking for a new job. This was followed closely by over 25 days annual leave, with 60% saying this was important. Again we see a clear mismatch between what employers offer and what Gen X employees want – over 25 days annual leave was the fifth most common benefit offered to staff as standard by UK organisations.

This highlights the need for employers to better understand what different generations want in order to retain and attract the talent needed to meet their future business objectives.

Attract the talented workers you need for future business success

The demographics of the workforce have changed; people are living longer and therefore exceeding what would have been the normal retirement age. As an employer you must be aware that when you have a multigenerational workforce you need to ensure that you are keeping all employees engaged and retaining and attracting the best talent.

Skills and capability irrespective of age should be the most important factor for any organisation when recruiting, which is why employers should seek to attract and retain the best people for the job across all generations.

With a growing multigenerational workforce it is important that employers offer benefits packages that are tailored to encompass different generational groups. Those employers who are currently offering a combination of flexible benefits are best placed to suit the wants and needs of the entire workforce.