Communicating Benefits Outside
Your Generational Comfort Zone
ISCEBS Webinar
August 21, 2008
A Looming Disconnect
• Increasingly complex benefit
responsibility for employees
• Multiple generations in the workforce
• Wider use of “new media”
Choosing Benefits
Jennifer Newperson
• 25 year old single new hire
• Full time
• $36,000 salary
• Next 30 days, choose all benefits
Between now and the end of the next
30 days, what benefit choices would
she need to make at your
organization?
• Health insurance
coverage
• Dental coverage
• Flexible spending
account participation
• Dependent care
spending account
participation
• Health savings account
participation
• Retirement plan
participation
• Retirement plans and
investment choices
• Vacation buy or sell
• Life insurance
• Disability coverage
• Voluntary benefits
Complex Decisions
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Which medical plan?
$$ now and later?
FSA/HSA/HRA?
Save a % of pay for retirement? How much
is that?
What investment funds to select?
Can I buy more vacation?
Do I have the right life insurance?
Do I have to have disability benefits?
Am I ever going to have fun again?
Difficult Financial Concepts
• Net pay
• Cash flow
• Pre tax
• Investment fund types
• Tax bracket
• Eligible claims
• Year end carryover
• Deductible
• Reasonable & customary fees
Now Jennifer again, where will she
get information about your benefits?
Check off sources of information at
your organization.
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Meetings
Brochures
Newsletters
Internal benefits
website
Vendor decision tools
Posters
E-mails
Vendor websites
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Flyers
C. D.'s
Tutorials
Videos
Newspapers
Blogs
Podcasts
FAQ Wiki
Four Generations in Workforce
www.boomerproject.com
Who We Are
Defining
Events
Generational
Values
Silent Generation
Defining Events
Conformists,
conservatives
Great Depression
The New Deal
WWII
Generational Values
Dedication and Sacrifice
Hard work
Patience
Respect for authority
Duty before pleasure
Honor
Boomers
Defining Events
Prosperity
Children in spotlight
TV
Suburbia
Assassinations
Vietnam
Civil Rights
Cold War
Women’s liberation
Driven
Soul Searchers
Generational Values
Personal gratification
Entitlement
Control
Won’t Accept the Status Quo
Work Ethic
Generation X
Defining Events
Watergate
Single parents
Latchkey kids
MTV
AIDs
Computers
Challenger
Glasnost
Berlin Wall
Risk-takers
Skeptical
Focus on job,
not hours
Generational Values
Technosavvy
Think Globally
Self-reliance
Diversity
Pragmatic
Millennials
Defining Events
Internet Chat
School violence
Over-involved parenting
Multi-culturalism
World Trade Center
attacks
Gulf War
Iraq
Optimistic
Co-dependent
Tenacious
Generational Values
Confidence plus
Civic duty
Achievement
Street smarts
Multi-tasking on steroids
Fearless
Four Generations = Different
Preferences
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Silent Generation
Baby Boomers
Gen X
Millennials
Everyone is in information
overload!
Silent Generation:
Information in Print World
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Newspapers
Magazines
Books
Meetings
Television
Radio
Telephone
Internet
Boomers:
Information in Age of Aquarius
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Newspapers
Television
Meetings
Books
Radio
Peers
Internet
Generation X:
Information in Digital World
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Internet
Blogs
Emails
Wikis
Podcasts
Videos
Print
Meetings
Millennials: Information in New
Media World
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Text Messages
Wikis
Blogs
Internet sites
Videos
Podcasts
Online communities
Emails
New Media
• Technology
based
• Mobile
• Interactive
• User-generated
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Wireless
Peer to Peer
Ultrahigh Speed
Instantaneous
Response
New Media
• Blogs
• Podcasts
– Sound
• Text Messaging
Networks
• Online
Communities
• Wikis
• Mashups
• mymoneyblog
• Vault
• ITunes
– NPR rebroadcast
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Otair
Omnilert
Wesabe
Wikipedia
Mapdango
New Media
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www.mint.com
www.mymoneyblog.com
www.cleverdude.com
www.choate.com
www.abcnews.go.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.mapdango.com
www.metacafe.com
What “new media” sources of
benefits information are available at
your organization?
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Wiki's
Blogs
Podcasts
Interactive
discussion rooms
• Text message
announcements
• Online communities
• Online mentoring
• Cell phone alerts
• Interactive
personalized
websites
• Internal search
engines
Where to go from here??
Blocking & Tackling
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Who’s your audience?
What’s your message?
What behavior needs to occur?
What does the audience pay attention to?
What media is available?
Timing?
Budget?
Back to Jennifer New Hire
• What are her likely preferred sources
of information?
• What does she need to decide?
• What does she need to know from
your organization to do that?
• What information’s available?
• What can be added?
• What can be developed?
Questions?
Additional Resources
• www.28media.com
– Sharif Ewees
• Global web tools
– Debbie Slappey – Mercer
– Michael Rudnick – Watson Wyatt
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Southeastern Institute Of Research
www.technorati.com/business/
http://37signals.com/
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Web_2.0#Wikis
Communicating Benefits Outside
Your Generational Comfort Zone
Jackie P. Jackson
804-864-1925
jpjackson@jackconsultingllc.com
www.jackconsultingllc.com