Supporting a multigenerational workforce through reward and benefits
People are working for longer and more flexibly, creating a diverse and multigenerational workforce, with five generations soon to be in employment. Each generation includes individuals with different needs, values and priorities as they move through life and respond to the environment around them.
To offer a reward package that is meaningful, cost effective and has long‑term impact, organisations need to make it diverse, inclusive and adaptable. Employees value different elements of reward depending on their circumstances, preferences and stage of life. Workforce data can provide useful insight into age diversity and help shape an age‑inclusive reward and benefits strategy.
Employer consideration:
Age data should be considered alongside employee feedback, benefit uptake and other workforce information, so the offer reflects people’s needs at different life stages.
Generational groupings can provide helpful context about broad workforce trends, but employers should avoid using them as fixed labels. Priorities and preferences are influenced by personal circumstances, career stage and wellbeing needs. Reward decisions should be informed by local evidence and direct employee feedback.
Dr William Palmer, senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust, analysed changing behaviours and motivations of health care staff using more than one million NHS Staff Survey responses over two decades. The research focused on clinically qualified staff, representing around 60 per cent of the NHS workforce.
His findings show a growing divide in job satisfaction between younger and older staff. Older employees report high satisfaction with work‑life balance and resources, while younger staff express increasing dissatisfaction, particularly around pay and stress. These insights highlight the importance of age‑inclusive reward strategies that respond to the expectations of a multigenerational workforce.
Key findings include:
- Generational sentiment trends -
- Older workforce (66 and over): consistently positive outlook on work‑life balance and resources.
- Younger workforce (20s): declining job satisfaction, particularly around work‑life balance, pay and stress. - Work‑life balance - Younger staff, once as satisfied as older colleagues, are now the least content. This shift raises concerns about retention and morale.
- Pay satisfaction - Younger employees report increasing dissatisfaction with pay, despite improvements in pay structures.
- Engagement in additional work - Younger staff are now more likely to take on paid additional work, suggesting changing expectations around compensation.
Harnessing the benefits of an age‑diverse workforce
Organisations need to respond to an increasingly age-diverse workforce. Longer working lives, changing lifestyles and evolving expectations can affect people’s decision to remain in or leave the workforce. It is also becoming more common for people to pursue portfolio careers, retrain or move between industries during their working lives. These changes can benefit organisations through the transfer of knowledge and skills, a breadth of experience and innovative ways of working.
An inclusive offer can support retention by showing staff that relevant support is available throughout working life, while also strengthening the organisation’s offer to prospective employees. Organisations will also need to adapt to future changes as new generations enter and contribute to the workforce. Generation Alpha will be the next cohort to join the NHS workforce. This is a valuable opportunity for employers to test assumptions about their expectations through workforce engagement surveys and employee listening rather than designing support around predicted preferences alone.
Currently, there are four generations in the NHS workforce. The following animation defines each generation and provides some key facts and figures in relation to how each one is represented across the NHS.
A life‑stage lens: moving beyond assumptions
Recent reward research challenges employers to reconsider whether generational labels are the best basis for benefit design. While understanding age demographics is important, priorities may also be shaped by career stage, caring responsibilities, health, finances and personal circumstances.
Employer consideration:
A life‑stage lens complements, rather than replaces, age and generational insight. Employers can use both approaches by identifying broad trends, testing them through employee listening and offering flexibility where possible. The aim is not to create separate packages for every group, but to provide an inclusive core offer with meaningful and accessible communications.
Understand your data and listen to employees
Workforce data, including age, band and role, combined with staff feedback, can help employers understand their workforce and identify gaps in awareness, uptake or accessibility. This insight can inform the development and communication of reward and benefits.
What can employers do to create an age‑inclusive reward strategy?
Ensure flexible working is available to all staff
Flexible working can support attraction and retention across the workforce. It matters for different reasons, including caring for children or older relatives, managing a chronic illness, balancing work and study, maintaining work-life balance, or working flexibly towards retirement.
NHS Employers has a number of useful resources to support employers with flexible working.
Redefine recognition
New forms of recognition and non-financial benefits are an important consideration to a multigenerational workforce. Technological change has created more immediate and accessible ways to recognise staff, including online tools, apps and recognition platforms, that allow appreciation to be shared in real time. This can make recognition feel more personal and meaningful, when it is timely and linked to the contribution an individual has made.
Sustainable reward
Social and political changes have seen a shift in the importance of sustainability and the impact that individuals and organisations have on the environment. This has become a more prominent part of employee expectations, particularly for younger generations who have grown up with climate change and social responsibility as major public issues. However, it is increasingly relevant across the whole workforce, with staff of all ages more placing greater value on reward and benefits that reflect environmental responsibility and wider social value.
Provide wellbeing support
People are working longer and more flexibly, so benefits should respond to a range of life events and circumstances. They may value different forms of support throughout their working lives, which are likely to change depending on their personal circumstances, health needs, family responsibilities and career aspirations.
Reward and benefits strategies should consider a broad range of benefits that respond to key life events including, support relating to pregnancy, long-term health conditions, disability, menopause, caring responsibilities and other significant life stages.
Financial support and education
People across the workforce may experience points in their lives and careers when financial education, signposting and support are important. Employers should review their financial wellbeing package to ensure that benefits and support are inclusive and relevant. For example, managing debts, saving for the future and accessing pension scheme information and guidance. Signposting to a range of internal and external support can help ensure employees can access relevant guidance at different life stages.
Reaching staff through inclusive reward communications
When communicating about local benefits such as financial wellbeing and education or national benefits, employers should consider using a range of methods to maximise reach and visibility. This could include the staff intranet, mobile apps, workshops and posters in and around wards and corridors.
Employer consideration:
Avoid assuming that a particular channel belongs or is best suited to the needs of one generation. Instead, consider role, location, working pattern, digital/IT access and employee feedback.
Some messages will be relevant across life stages but may need a different emphasis. For example, pension communications can help staff early in their career understand the long-term value of membership, while supporting later-career staff as they plan for retirement.
As expectations continue to evolve, organisations will need to remain agile and innovate, ensuring their approach to reward and recognition keeps pace with the changing workforce needs.
