REBA Inside Track: Personalised benefits can ensure equity across age groups
Understanding shifting intergenerational dynamics across the workplace is central to designing an effective employee benefits package that suits both the modern business as well as its employees.
The experiences and needs of today’s 20-somethings are (and will be) markedly different to those in their 50s and 60s. This will need new thinking about retirement savings journeys.
In addition, no two people have the same financial circumstances, so organisations are consciously tuning into the different financial priorities individuals face at various stages of their working lives — including how they save for retirement.
Forward-thinking employers, such as those participating in REBA’s roundtable, are already leveraging data and artificial intelligence (such as generative AI and large language models) to offer personalised benefits that align with employees’ life stages and financial priorities.
Hard to engage
Pensions play a crucial role in the population’s long-term financial security, yet engagement with workplace schemes remains a challenge, particularly among younger employees who struggle to see the long-term value of saving early.
Although some employers at the roundtable had noted a gradual change in attitudes to investment, savings and ways to engage workers, more needs to be done to bridge retirement adequacy gaps.
This is particularly significant for workforce demographics such as women, carers and those in lower-paid roles.
Employers can play a fundamental role here by improving pensions education, encouraging increased contributions, and offering financial planning tools that help employees visualise their future retirement outcomes.
The UK government’s ongoing raft of pensions reviews, and in particular the Advice Guidance Boundary Review, should introduce reforms that make it easier for organisations to offer financial guidance without overstepping regulatory boundaries in advice.
If implemented effectively, these changes could allow employers to take a more proactive role in supporting financial literacy that will empower employees to become more retirement-ready.
Ultimately, employers that prioritise financial wellbeing, including pensions engagement, are investing in more than just their employees – they are shaping a more resilient, engaged and productive workplace.
The challenge is now to move beyond recognition of intergenerational changes, and how they relate to financial issues, to take meaningful action.
This roundtable discussion generated a diverse range of practical strategies, actions and insights that employers across various sectors are implementing. By capturing this collective expertise throughout this report, fresh good practice can be shared with other employers.
