Conferences & Industry
Atlanta Life at IBI National Conference — The GenZ Workforce Is Here. Is Corporate America Ready?
Date TBD · Chicago, Illinois
Conference · Thought Leadership · Industry
Generation Z is no longer entering the workforce. They are in it — showing up, pushing back, demanding more, and quietly reshaping what it means to be an employee in America. For the organizations responsible for attracting, retaining, and developing this generation while simultaneously managing the needs of every other generation in the room, the challenge is real and the stakes are high.
Atlanta Life Insurance Company brought that conversation to the national stage at the IBI Annual Conference in Chicago — presenting on one of the most pressing workforce questions facing HR leaders, benefits professionals, and organizational decision-makers today: how do you attract and retain Gen Z workers while honoring their role as the incoming stewards of corporate America?
The Presentation
Atlanta Life's session was led by a panel that brought both research-grounded expertise and real-world perspective to the topic:
Courtney Johnson, Vice President of Group Solutions at Atlanta Life, anchored the conversation from an organizational and solutions standpoint — speaking to what companies are doing, what is working, and where the gaps remain.
Dr. Kristin Tugman, Workplace Mental Health & Health Productivity Specialist and Atlanta Life's lead expert advisor, brought the clinical and research-backed perspective — grounding the discussion in what we know about Gen Z's relationship with mental health, work, and the expectations they bring to the workplace.
Trish Payne of Atlanta Life's Group Solutions team contributed a practitioner's lens — speaking to the practical realities of building programs and environments that resonate with this generation without alienating the ones that came before.
What the Conversation Covered
Gen Z brings a distinct set of behaviors, expectations, and values to the workplace — ones that organizations cannot afford to misread or dismiss. The panel explored what those behaviors actually look like in practice and what they mean for the organizations trying to meet them.
On attraction: Gen Z evaluates employers differently. Salary matters, but so does mission, culture, mental health support, flexibility, and a sense that the organization actually cares about the people within it. Benefits packages that were designed for a different generation — and communicated in a different way — often miss the mark entirely with this cohort.
On retention: Getting Gen Z in the door is one challenge. Keeping them is another. Research consistently shows that Gen Z workers are more likely to leave an organization that does not invest meaningfully in their well-being, does not offer growth and development, or does not feel aligned with their values. The panel addressed what meaningful investment actually looks like — and the difference between wellness as a checkbox and wellness as a genuine organizational commitment.
On the caretaker role: Gen Z is often discussed as a generation making demands of corporate America. The panel offered a more complete framing — one that acknowledges that this generation is also inheriting the structures, systems, and challenges of the organizations they are joining. They are not just recipients of corporate culture. They are, increasingly, its next stewards. Understanding that dual role — and what it means for how organizations develop and invest in Gen Z talent — was a central thread of the session.
Atlanta Life's Perspective
The work Atlanta Life does through LiveBalanced™ — our health and productivity solution built on four pillars of well-being — is directly relevant to the Gen Z conversation. A generation that is more vocal about mental health, more financially stressed than any before it, and more aware of the connection between well-being and performance is also a generation that needs and expects the kind of holistic support LiveBalanced™ is designed to provide.
Dr. Tugman's presence on the panel brought that expertise to life — grounding Atlanta Life's work in the clinical reality of what Gen Z workers are experiencing and what organizations can do to respond with both care and competence.
The IBI National Conference brought together some of the most serious thinkers in the health and productivity space. We were honored to be at that table — and to contribute a perspective rooted in both research and the real work we do with the organizations we serve.
About the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI)
The Integrated Benefits Institute is a leading nonprofit research organization focused on workforce health and its impact on employee productivity and organizational performance. IBI's annual conference brings together HR leaders, benefits professionals, researchers, and solution providers from across the country to advance the conversation on health, productivity, and the future of work.
Atlanta Life Insurance Company is committed to the communities it serves — through purposeful partnerships, meaningful presence, and a mission that has guided this organization for more than 120 years.