As the year is now well into its final month — and for those of us in the northern hemisphere the nights keep closing in earlier and earlier — it’s time for some reflection on what we’ve seen in HR trends this year and how we expect them to impact across 2025.
We’ve been passing round Korn Ferry’s wonderful report: “Talent Trends 2025: Progress over perfection”. First of all, we love the subtitle: as a startup, we appreciate how important it is to move fast. Plus, we know that the pursuit of perfection is a frustrating, and emotionally crippling, mistake. Secondly, we think they’ve picked a very solid set of trends that are part of longer journeys, sharpened by current context.
They’ve highlighted AI, Skills, Learning and Development, Employer Value Proposition, and the ongoing work location debate. We’ve got our own takes on all these elements, and a couple more we’ll be keeping in mind for the year ahead.
AI in HR Tech
AI has been hyped for a long time. Critics call it a solution in search of a problem, and it certainly isn’t a magical cure-all. However it is here, and here to stay, the question is just in what form. For us (and we will be talking more about our approach to AI, and the AI elements in our roadmap in future blogs), AI is a powerful tool to boost scale and speed for busy HR teams. Automation is great, but removing the human element from HR is not. More data and analytics is brilliant, but unless you can ensure real accuracy and effectiveness aligned to your company goals, it is wasted effort. So for any AI tool, you need to make sure you’re using AI tools that meet your needs, which do what they say they do, and which are properly integrated into your processes and ways of working.
And of course “AI” is a broad term, which covers many different areas. At Hirehoot, we’re primarily working in the worlds of machine learning, and natural language processing, which are how we’re helping businesses match with leadership talent. We’re also big believers in ethical Al design, which focuses on minimizing bias in data, models, and processes. In our case, that’s to ensure equitable hiring.
Hiring for skills
Skills-based hiring has been another phrase that’s been on everyone’s lips. As a strategy, it’s not as simple as it sounds, because unless you know the skills you need, how can you actively recruit for the skills you want?
That really is the crux of the challenge. To fully adopt a skills based hiring approach, you need a skills based everything approach, it needs to be part of talent management and progression, supported by learning and development initiatives. And that means you need an approach to assess, evaluate and quantify skills - both hard and soft. After all, you may have some of the right skills in your business already, only people are in roles that aren’t currently using them.
If you don’t understand skills as they relate to a role, then hiring has to fall back to experience as a proxy, and you’re potentially missing out on really high-potential candidates.
HR trends in learning and development
As we just mentioned, learning and development — which is increasingly important to employees for personal growth and advancement — needs to tie back to skills. For companies to be able to invest in employees’ future, they need to know what building blocks are needed to build that future.
Many companies offer learning and development programmes, but their effectiveness is generally mixed. Often uptake is patchy because learning and continuous progression aren’t fully adopted into the culture of the business.
The EVP
Culture and experience matter now more than ever. The younger generation is beginning to dominate in the workforce with fresh new aspirations and expectations. Upheavals like the COVID-19 pandemic have shattered traditional office-based ways to create engagement and foster connection between employees and across teams. And employee wellbeing is more significant as the old work-life balance is eroded into a full work-life integration.
Some of this can be addressed with technology and benefits: wellbeing programmes, experience platforms, even recognition and reward or appreciation programmes. But technology alone cannot be the answer. For an EVP to ring true, it must be nurtured and cultivated at every level. This means that senior leaders must embrace core cultural values, and managers must reinforce them.
Hybrid working
We’re seeing a range of different reactions, in terms of remote working, to the COVID-19 crisis proving that far more roles than expected could be done from home, and that it is a far more inclusive way to work.
There have been increased attempts (which may in the long run prove unsuccessful based on employee preferences) to encourage return to the office for larger companies with heavy historic investment in physical property, We’re also seeing a rise in remote-only and remote-first messaging from younger, more flexible organisations.
We expect that the hybrid approach is here to stay and will evolve over 2025. From offsetting hours, creating regional hubs, and embracing tools to create more inclusive ways of working among geographically distributed teams.
What else to look out for?
We’re agreed that these are some of the top trends to watch out for in 2025. But what else is on the horizon? The maturation of hybrid working is perhaps the herald in a larger flexibility trend, which can support a breadth of employee preferences and more agile business practices. So keep an eye out for:
More agile HR processes, to help businesses adapt to uncertainty and support fast business transformation.
Additional support for managers and people leaders, decentralising some HR operations, especially in scale-ups.
Increased transparency in pay structures as employees continue to be motivated by total package and purpose driven work over salary alone.
More working flexibility, from compressed hour weeks to role-sharing, supporting a wider range of employees in the workforce.
If you’re seeking a new opportunity for 2025 (especially if you’re in data, AI or a related field) join Hirehoot today to get started, or if confidential hiring can help you face the challenges of the year ahead, get in touch!
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