Preview: How to get Gen Y to buy insurance

Type the word “millennial” in Google and you’ll get about 17 million results. Type “Generation Y” and there are about 148 million results. It’s a fact: people are talking about this generation. Here at LifeHealthPro.com, we have covered the subject in-depth, from how to sell insurance to Gen Y clients to marketing tips to our most recent list of 30 millennials making waves in the insurance and financial industries.

But how can you really harness the power of this generation, especially when they are already filling the ranks at the workplace? How can you bridge the generational gap between seniors, boomers and Gen Y to achieve a harmonious and engaged work culture? That’s what Sarah Slydek, CEO of XYZ University, a management, consulting and training company that focuses on these younger generations, will talk about during her presentation Friday at 9:30 and 11am at NAILBA 34 in Orlando, Florida.

“I think that the generational topic has been talked about a lot and people are aware that we have generational differences. My presentation is going to move beyond awareness and more into actionable points in ways that we think organizations can really learn how to engage this next generation of consumers as well as next generation of talent,” Slydek said during a phone interview with LifeHealthPro.com.

She says that the many differences that we see with millennials and the other generations are due to the fact that they are the first generation of the post-industrial era. “We’ve been in an industrial era for over a century and many of the methodologies, especially in the insurance industry, are very rigid and set in this era. As a result, we’re seeing the need to change for an entire industry, not to mention individual businesses. When you’re talking about change in the scale that it needs to happen, it could be quite daunting. And I’m hoping to give attendees some real insights and tools that they can immediately implement and hopefully be able to see change not as a challenge but as an opportunity,” Slydek said.

Her fascination with generational gaps has always been present, and she has had the opportunity to observe them while working for different organizations and industries. “Why is it that certain generations are more engaged in certain ways at work and other generations, when you apply the same tactics to them, they don’t engage at all?” Slydek asked herself. “I think that it’s fascinating to look at how our values and our behaviors have changed over the years, and also very important to look at what companies, industries and organizations of all types need to do to be able to do to bridge those gaps and provide something relevant and meaningful for the future.”

Slydek also cautioned that “no business can survive without great talent or without people buying their products and services.” Hence, why her presentation will touch on four actionable points:

- Looking at how the recession has shaped generation Y, which is coming of age and will become the majority of the workforce.

- Looking at how technology has shaped the youngest generation and how that is trickling up and affecting everyone.