The past year has marked a significant shift in workplace dynamics. Many organizations are evolving past pandemic-era policies, and we’ve seen artificial intelligence transform traditional workflows. At the same time, a new generation of employees are bringing fresh expectations about career development, work/life balance and workplace culture.
As HR leaders plan for 2025, we face a more complex landscape—one where the intersection of technology, changing workforce demographics and evolving business needs demands a fundamental rethinking of our approach to talent management and organizational culture.
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As a result, HR leaders have several opportunities to ensure that their company is competitive in terms of pay, recruitment and retention. Here are five priorities for HR leaders in 2025.
1. Reimagining compensation and benefits
Companies winning the talent race are those thinking beyond compensation packages to create compelling employee value propositions that encompass career growth, workplace flexibility and tangible ways to contribute to social justice, sustainability or community impact initiatives.
The compensation landscape, impacted by a perfect storm of inflationary pressures, shifting employee expectations and the need to balance competitive pay with long-term viability has never been more complex. To address compensation, organizations need to develop transparent pay structures that reflect market rates while maintaining internal equity.
On the benefits front, 2025 will bring increased focus on creative solutions, particularly in health care benefits. Many organizations will need to take a more assertive stance with their benefits providers, especially in prescription coverage, to ensure value for both the company and employees. Progressive organizations are exploring innovative approaches to total rewards, including customizable benefits packages that acknowledge different stages in life and varied priorities. For example, we are seeing an increased interest in benefits that support mental health, financial wellness, and caregiving responsibilities. The key is creating flexible frameworks that can adapt to changing employee needs while remaining cost-effective and financially sound.
2. Emphasizing organizational strengths in recruiting
In addition to a competitive compensation and benefits program, organizations must demonstrate their commitment to employee development and advancement from the first interaction. Effective recruitment today involves showcasing specific examples of how current employees have developed their careers, achieved work-life balance and contributed to meaningful projects that align with their values. This includes structuring job descriptions and interviews to highlight concrete options for impact and growth within the role.
3. Showcasing intrinsic inclusion efforts
Many organizations are at a crossroads with their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Some are pulling back, while others are doubling down. In 2025, the challenge will be redesigning organizations to make inclusion intrinsic to how they operate, from succession planning to how to structure teams and make decisions.
Success in this area requires moving beyond traditional metrics, such as demographic representation percentages and hiring ratios. Successful organizations will focus on creating environments where diverse perspectives are genuinely valued and actively shape business decisions. This includes developing robust succession plans that identify and nurture diverse talent early in their careers, creating meaningful sponsorship programs and ensuring employee resource groups have real influence on the organization’s policies and practices.
4. The purpose-driven workplace
The conversation about remote work is evolving into something more nuanced—when and why teams gather matter more than coming into the office for a random number of days a week. For genuine connection and engagement, organizations must create powerful reasons to come together, rather than implementing rigid return-to-office policies. This shift requires us to change our thinking about how we measure productivity, build culture and maintain engagement across various work arrangements.
The most successful organizations will be those that create compelling reasons for teams to come together while maintaining the flexibility that employees have come to expect. This means investing in workplace experiences that foster meaningful connections and collaboration, while ensuring remote work options remain viable and supported. The focus should be on outcomes rather than presence, with clear guidelines about when in-person collaboration adds genuine value.
5. Building tomorrow’s leadership
The development of diverse leadership pipelines remains crucial, but the approach needs to evolve. Successful organizations in 2025 will focus on creating comprehensive development programs that acknowledge both traditional and non-traditional leadership paths—whether that’s technical experts moving into management roles, cross departmental talent swaps, or operational leaders transitioning to strategic positions.
Leadership development must adapt to new workplace realities. Tomorrow’s leaders will need skills in managing hybrid teams, fostering inclusive environments and driving innovation across dispersed workforces. Development experiences will need to build both technical and emotional intelligence skills, with particular emphasis on adaptive leadership and digital fluency.
The path forward
These priorities represent unprecedented opportunities to reshape how we think about work, leadership and organizational success. Forward-thinking organizations are implementing this vision through expanded employee support programs and restructured compensation models that democratize incentives and rewards employees at all organizational levels.
As we enter 2025, HR leaders should focus on evolving their benefits strategies to address rising health care costs and adding acquisition programs while building inclusive talent practices that strengthen recruitment and development at every level. These priorities represent core business imperatives that require partnership across all organizational functions—from senior leadership to front-line managers—to create meaningful change in how we attract, develop, and retain talent.
The organizations that thrive in 2025 won’t necessarily be those with the largest budgets or the most innovative perks. Success will come to those who can adapt quickly while maintaining a clear focus on what matters most: creating an environment in which people can do their best work, feel part of a greater mission, and grow their careers. For HR professionals, this means developing practical solutions that drive organizational performance while fostering employee growth and engagement. It’s a complex challenge. But it’s also an exciting opportunity to shape the future of work.
Shereen Solaiman, chief people officer, Myriad Genetics
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