A few years ago, Joe Navarro was looking for a way to make himself more marketable in the job market. He thought getting another degree would help him do that, so he started looking into all the options. After some thought and consideration, Navarro enrolled at the University of La Verne in La Verne, Calif., and started working on a master's degree in gerontology.
It's not an obvious choice—many benefits brokers and agents obtain advanced marketing degrees, MBAs or even liberal arts degrees—but Navarro says it was the right call. He learned about far more than just the elderly. He learned about the process of aging, and that helps him think about ways to communicate with the different generations currently represented in the American workplace.
"The primary reason was I was looking for something to add to my scope of experience and education," says Navarro, who's now the marketing director for Warner-Pacific in Westlake Village, Calif. "A lot of people think studying the aging process is studying old people. But you also study what happens as you age from birth to death. By doing so, I was able to concentrate on all the different generations, which made me able to present on the four generations because of the deeper understanding I had."
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For the first time in history, industry sources say, four generations of employees are present in the current work force—matures, baby boomers, Gen X and Gen Y—and they all have different preferences when it comes to communication. A smart communications strategy that understands the four generations helps agents and brokers sign new clients and work with employees once they enroll in their company's benefits plans.
"The one-size-fits-all approach does not fit at all anymore—it's a whole different conversation with each generation," Navarro says.
Matures
Matures can be defined as workers born before 1945. While many of these workers have retired, they still make up a considerable part of the work force as Americans live and work longer. Advances in medical care mean that many people in this generation remain productive workers well past the normal retirement age. Matures can also include workers who've retired and re-entered the work force, maybe because they've outlived their retirement savings.
Industry sources say matures prefer a more personal approach to communication with their benefits providers and in plan communications. Matures are less comfortable with electronic and mobile forms of communication and as well as interactions they view as impersonal.
"These are the people that have been influenced by World War II and the Great Depression — they like hard work and they're private people," explains Marsha Whitehead, vice president of marketing communications for retirement services at OneAmerica in Indianapolis, Ind. "The communications that we formulate are somewhat formal and very respectful, sort of serious. We did some research on this group to see what they like and they like that whoever is communicating with them take their financial security as seriously as they do. They like more face-to-face and more handholding. They don't like the sales pitch. They're direct and don't want to waste time."
"I have a couple clients that are older—they are an interesting bunch," says Pavlina Sustr of IMA Corp in Denver. "They want the one-on-one interaction throughout the year. They don't want it just once. They want to know in three months that they can come back to you. They lose comfort with the customer service part—they want to deal with one resource."
If a broker takes the time to foster an in-person relationship with someone from this generation, though, it can pay off. Matures also believe that words mean something.
"They have time and they're very social," Navarro says of matures. "For that agent that plans to take the time and have a business plan to accommodate that, it's a lucrative and large market."
Check back with BenefitsPro.com Tuesday-Thursday, and read about the best ways to communicate with baby boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.
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