There are opportunities for employers at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve staff satisfaction and attract new staff by offering a range of competitive benefits and out of all the generations, baby boomers represent the biggest opportunity for employers, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report: ‘UK SME Adoption of Employee Benefits 2018’ found that a significant amount of employees stated they would like a product they are not currently offered and the top benefits they are looking for are life insurance and income protection, both of which 54% of respondents who did not receive them said they would be willing to sacrifice some of their salary for them to be provided.

Generation X and baby boomers are more driven by financial benefits with basic salary, pension contributions, and work-life balance being the three standout categories. On the other hand, Generations Y and Z also prioritize basic salary but place more value on a range of additional benefits, such as performance bonuses, health benefits, and work-life balance.

Ben Carey-Evans, Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “It is evident that pension contributions are particularly essential for baby boomers, with over one in five considering this to be the most valuable benefit. This is unsurprising, as baby boomers are closer to retirement age and need to increase their pots more urgently, while they are also more likely to have other commitments, such as families and mortgages, to continue to pay for.”

According to GlobalData’s 2018 UK SME Insurance Survey, baby boomers represent an opportunity for employers as over half of respondents indicate there is a benefit they do not receive but would like to for three of the *six products. In addition, the percentage of respondents who would like a product they are not offered by their current employer is higher than the percentage who are offered it for all six products. Therefore the six financial plans listed would be effective ways to target and retain baby boomer staff.

Carey-Evans concludes: “Employers looking to develop propositions that target set groups should vary their approach by age group. The clearest indication of this from our survey was the responses that stated people did not have a certain financial planning product but would like it. The clear trend here was the older the generation, the more likely they were to want a product they did not currently have, which represents an opportunity for employers.”

*Six products: Life insurance, income protection, critical illness, dental plan, healthcare cash plan and private company pension.