For years HR professionals have been stressing the importance of employee satisfaction, talent retention, skills gaps bridging by upskilling and reskilling the workforce, and so many other important subjects that were a lot of times under-valued by companies’ executives, and as a result of that, they were not always given the freedom to act accordingly. 

It seems though in 2025 all that might finally change and HR will become a more strategic partner to the business, being the ones able to handle many of the changes and strategies that will remain the focus of organizations during this upcoming challenging year.  

As we start our way into this new year, it seems rather clear that the future of work and the workplace will be focusing much of their efforts onto the employee, who seems to finally be placed at the center.
In doing so, the employees will benefit from many advantages, tools and opportunities for their own growth, development and comfort going forward. As Josh Bersin puts it, this is the year of the superworker. An employee empowered by strategies and tools that will focus on their own advancement.  

Many companies are already working hard to provide employees with the best experience at the workplace by allowing extra flexibility to accommodate specific requirements, increasing employee support to adapt to disrupting changes (past, present and future ones), as well as implementing opportunities for employee development (reskilling and upskilling). 

While to some this may seem like a bit of an effort and potentially an expensive one, these should be considered as a future investment.
Companies that will adopt this strategy will become more attractive both for future employees as well as external contractors and freelancers, thus remaining or becoming more competitive in their industries. 

While all this will require adaptation from all levels of employees, from CEO to executives, to managers, to individual contributors and external contractors, specifically for HR professionals this is an extremely valuable opportunity to shine.
Not only will HR professionals be at the forefront of these new strategies and adaptation by leading many change management initiatives as well as implement many of the changes themselves, but also by finally being able to prove HR’s value to all levels of the business. 

To summarize, while it seems the world is currently dazed by AI, new technologies and so on, from the HR professional perspective, these are only tools to finally bring HR to the next level, one that it rightfully deserves.
So from me, an HR Business Consultant, to you, my dear HR professional, make the most of this year.  Choose wisely the initiatives and tools you should integrate onto your organizations to make the employee-at-the-center strategy happen and succeed, and by doing so, bringing your company to the next level.
Once you do, not only will you have proven yourself as a capable professional in your field, but you will also have proven to your executives the importance and value of HR as a strategic business partner.  

Feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss in more depth. 

Happy 2025 to us all!