Age Matters (A Lot) in Compensation & Benefits Preferences

One more piece of data from "2006/2007 Strategic Rewards Report: Aligning Rewards with the Changing Employment Deal", the study published jointly by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and WorldatWork:  Age makes a significant difference in the reasons why employees leave an organization.

For the following different age groups, here is a run through of the top reasons that employees would leave.  Note that pay is number one for every age group; but after that you can see the different life stage concerns migrate through this list.  Interesting!

For employees < 30

1. Pay
2. Promotional opportunity
3. Career Development

For employees 31-39

1. Pay
2. Promotional opportunity
3. Length of commute

For employees 40-49

1. Pay
2. Stress
3. Work life balance

For employees 50-59

1. Pay
2. Retirement benefits
3. Stress

For employees >60

1. Pay
2. Retirement benefits
3. Healthcare benefits

If there was ever a time for "one size fits all" reward programs, it has surely come and gone.  Now it will be important for every employer to really understand its current and planned future workforce in order to know how best to spend its reward dollars.  I have a client who is wrestling with this issue right now; they have implemented and funded a very generous profit sharing/retirement vehicle (it is the cornerpiece of their overall reward program), but are finding that it is largely unappreciated by the fastest growing segment of their employee population (the "under 30's" who want cash, cash, cash).  A dilemma.