We’re living longer, working longer, and trying to build careers in a world that doesn’t always keep pace. Today’s workplace is more generationally diverse than ever before, and yet the systems that support employees are too often lagging behind. An employee benefits package you designed 10 years ago might still serve your team — but is it serving all of them equally?Jeremy Reid, Client Director at Partners& and a specialist in employee healthcare strategies, has seen this challenge play out first-hand. “What’s changed in the last 10 years is that we’re now working with five generations, and that brings a whole new layer of complexity,” he says. “Each generation has grown up in a very different world, with different expectations around work, health, and support. But the most important thing to remember is that not everyone in a generation wants the same thing.”In other words, age alone won’t tell you what your team needs. To build a truly inclusive, high-performing workplace, HR leaders need to go deeper: designing strategies that flex to support every life stage, identity, and personal context.Breaking the generational mouldThere’s no shortage of articles trying to decode generational differences in the workplace. Millennials want purpose. Gen Z wants flexibility. Baby Boomers want security. But as Jeremy points out, these assumptions can be reductive. “The real insight comes when you stop asking what Gen X wants and start asking what the 42-year-old single parent in your team actually needs.”It’s a call for nuance. Generational diversity is real, but it’s only one layer of the inclusion puzzle. If employers want their employee benefits policies to resonate, they need to think in terms of individual life journeys, not demographic shorthand.Why personalisation is the new inclusivityIn the past, employers could get away with a one-size-fits-all approach to benefits, but, today, that’s a fast track to disengagement. “The key is flexibility,” Jeremy says.That doesn’t mean offering infinite choice. It means designing a benefits ecosystem that allows your people to engage with what matters to them, when it matters most. YuLife’s Preventative AI, for example, helps identify trends and health risks across employee groups, making it easier for HR teams to offer targeted, personalised support.Digital tools like YuLife’s Dynamic Health Questionnaire and Mood Monitor also help identify emerging needs across your workforce without relying on age-based assumptions. Instead of guessing what different generations want, HR leaders can use real-time data to understand what their people are actually struggling with, from financial stress to poor sleep.Life stage matters more than ageOne of the strongest themes in Jeremy’s work with clients is the shift from age-based to context-based thinking. “It’s more about where someone is in their life, what they’re dealing with at that point in time, than whether they’re a millennial or a boomer,” he explains. That shift is especially important in today’s workforce, where two people in the same age bracket might be in wildly different life situations. “You can have a 28-year-old who’s a new parent and a 60-year-old who’s training for a marathon. Their needs are going to be totally different,” he says. Likewise, a 35-year-old member of staff might be navigating IVF, caring for a sick parent, or planning early retirement — or all three.When employers use life stage as a lens for benefits design, it opens the door to more meaningful, responsive support. Instead of designing for the average, HR leaders can tailor their offering to the real — and often invisible — challenges their employees face.Embracing intersectionality in benefitsWe’ve explained that inclusivity isn’t just about age and that many employees fall into multiple identity groups that shape how they experience work, health, and support. This is where HR leaders need to embrace intersectionality: the idea that different parts of our identity overlap in ways that affect how we experience the workplace. Mental health, caregiving, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and cultural background can all shape an employee’s needs and vulnerabilities.Jeremy emphasises that employers need to listen actively, not assume. “I’ve spoken to employees who feel their neurodivergence isn’t acknowledged. They’re expected to perform the same way as everyone else, with no adjustments.”Inclusive benefits are designed with these overlapping realities in mind. That could mean adding carer support, fertility benefits, or mental health coaching. But it also means creating a culture where people feel safe to ask for the support they need.Culture and communication make or break the systemEven the most generous benefits programme will fail if employees don’t understand or trust it. That’s why Jeremy is passionate about clear, inclusive communication. “Communication is critical. If people don’t understand what they’re entitled to, it’s like offering nothing at all.”Too often, benefits are communicated once during onboarding, then buried in an HR portal. But generationally inclusive benefits require an ongoing conversation. That means explaining the ‘why’ behind your benefits, offering multiple touchpoints, and making it easy for people to access support.It also means training managers to have empathetic, informed conversations. Jeremy notes that line managers are often the first point of contact for employee wellbeing concerns, but many feel under-equipped. Investing in their training and confidence is essential.The takeaway: meet people where they areJeremy’s advice to HR teams is simple but powerful: meet people where they are. Not where you think they should be based on age or job title. Not where a vendor tells you most employees are. But where they are in life, right now.That’s what an inclusive employee benefits strategy looks like in action. It’s removing the friction and creating space for employees to thrive, whether they’re just starting out, raising kids, managing illness, or planning retirement.As Jeremy says, “It all comes back to listening. If you listen well, your benefits will land well.”