26 April 1999

What Will Motivate 21st-Century Workers?

The following is excerpted from "The Journal of Commerce" issue of 22 April 1999.

Sweeping changes in demographics, family structure and cultural and personal values will shape the workforce of the 21st century, according to a panel of experts at the recent Risk and Insurance Management Society conference in Dallas....

The workforce of the 20th century had values that embraced a career, success, loyalty to the employer, financial rewards and promotion. They believed in the value of brand names and worked to improve their standard of life. The workforce of the 21st century will seek learning, growth and inner contentment, along with loyalty to self and personal development. They will be more interested in quality of life than material goods.

In the next century, employers will have to employ the underutilized disabled population to help fill gaps in the workforce. As well, companies will have personalized employee benefit and risk management programs in order to attract and retain productive employees. Certainly the emphasis on worker productivity will be paramount in the future.

The oldest baby boomers will turn 60 by the year 2006. Employers will be challenged to provide enough career development to hold older employees' interests so that these individuals strive toward the same level of high performance as their younger colleagues. Increasing numbers of women and single parents will fill the ranks, with women joining the workforce at twice the rate of men. The number of telecommuters will also increase dramatically, due to improvements in technology and a trend toward "knowledge" work on a project or contract basis....

The concept of employability vs. lifetime employment will prevail, meaning that employees will not expect to spend their careers with only one company, but they will look to the employer to provide incentives like training and development opportunities.

These challenges require employers, employees and insurance carriers to stop viewing risk and benefits programs as employee entitlements and to start embracing cultural change. This can be done by redefining jobs and employee benefits and leveraging the potential of disabled workers, for example....