Introduction: Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce

Across the US, HR leaders are navigating a complex talent landscape reshaped by remote work, rapid digitalisation, and HR strategies for the future of work

Recent industry roundtables brought together HR professionals to share experiences, challenges, and emerging strategies across key domains: employee experience, upskilling, succession planning, leadership, and retention. The insights reveal a sector in transition – driven by empathy, agility, and strategic alignment.

1. Employee Experience: Moving from Reactive to Intentional

One of the most recurring themes was the shift toward intentional employee experience strategies. HR leaders distinguished between employee experience, engagement, and satisfaction, emphasising that experience encompasses the full emotional and practical journey of employees with their organisations.

Key takeaways:

• Organisations are aligning their core values with employee experience initiatives.
• There’s a growing focus on using data—not just overall scores but departmental and location-specific insights—to refine strategies.
• Change management is essential, especially when introducing new technologies or undergoing organizational shifts.
• A people-first mindset from leadership is considered foundational.

Action Points:

• Implement formal frameworks rather than reactive practices.
• Use pulse surveys and detailed analytics to understand experience gaps.
• Ensure cultural alignment across departments, especially in large or dispersed teams.

2. Competency Models and Upskilling: Building Agile Workforces

Rapid market evolution demands that organisations adopt robust upskilling and reskilling frameworks. Competency models were identified as critical tools for aligning employee development with organisational needs.

Notable insights:

• Soft skills like emotional intelligence and communication are being embedded into core competency frameworks.
• Companies are leveraging tools such as LinkedIn Learning and adopting the 70-20-10 model to enhance experiential learning.
• Initiatives like “internal internships” and project-based learning are providing employees with on-the-job development opportunities.

Action Points:

• Refresh competency models annually to reflect shifting business priorities.
• Combine soft and hard skills into learning programs.
• Develop clear career pathways and offer rotational or trial roles to support skill application.

3. Hybrid Work and Succession Planning: Bridging the Visibility Gap

The rise of hybrid work models is prompting a fundamental rethink of succession planning. Visibility and face-to-face interactions, once pillars of talent recognition, are now being reassessed.

Key themes:

• Remote workers risk being overlooked for advancement due to reduced visibility.
• Leadership development must evolve to include virtual mentoring and cross-department programs.
• There’s a renewed focus on return-to-office strategies – not for control, but to foster belonging and networking.

Action Points:

• Introduce regular in-person gatherings to supplement remote relationships.
• Use tools like 360-degree feedback to ensure performance is assessed fairly.
• Consider hybrid-inclusive development programs to maintain engagement and fairness.

4. Performance Management: From Annual Reviews to Continuous Feedback

Organisations are abandoning outdated annual performance reviews in favor of continuous feedback models that prioritise development over ratings, improving HR strategies for the future of work.

Key insights:

• Regular goal-setting and manager check-ins are replacing rigid review cycles.
• Organisations are separating compensation discussions from performance evaluations to foster honest dialogue.
• Calibration meetings help mitigate rating inflation and biases – especially critical in hybrid environments.

Action Points:

• Train managers on giving fact-based, real-time feedback.
• Implement systems (digital or hybrid) that support year-round performance tracking.
• Ensure executive leadership supports the decoupling of compensation from development conversations.

5. Empathetic Leadership: HR Strategies for the Future of Work Leading Through Change

Empathy emerged as a central pillar in successful change management and leadership transformation.

Roundtable reflections:

• HR leaders are adopting models like SCARF and incorporating empathy exercises into leadership training.
• Concepts such as “pop-up lounges” and informal connection spaces are enhancing team cohesion.
• Recognising psychological safety and transparent communication is vital in navigating organisational change.

Action Points:

• Design leadership programs that balance transparency, accountability, and emotional intelligence.
• Embed recognition and well-being initiatives into change rollouts.
• Encourage bottom-up communication via listening sessions and feedback channels.

6. Employee Turnover: Revealing the True Cost

Participants shared frameworks for quantifying and addressing employee turnover, considering both tangible and hidden costs.

Insights included:

• Cost breakdowns must include interview time, onboarding, training, and loss of intellectual capital.
• Turnover is not always negative – some roles benefit from fresh energy and ideas.
• Effective onboarding and early engagement reduce attrition dramatically (e.g., one company reported a 71% reduction).

Action Points:

• Track new hire engagement at key milestones (e.g., 30-60-90 days).
• Tie turnover metrics to managerial performance.
• Share retention-impact data with leadership to drive investment in people strategies.

7. High Turnover Environments: Maintaining Team Cohesion

In industries where turnover is inevitable (e.g., manufacturing, retail, healthcare), HR leaders are using creativity and transparency to sustain team morale and cohesion.

Strategic responses:

• Transparency around turnover helps normalise the cycle and reduce stigma.
• Tools like “why” whiteboards and reverse mentoring build purpose and cross-generational learning.
• Organisations are leveraging gig assignments and cross-training to maintain operational resilience.

Action Points:

• Implement clear communication strategies during team changes.
• Celebrate rehires (boomerang employees) as a mark of strong culture.
• Foster peer-based recognition and community across roles and shifts.

8. Bias in Performance Management: Addressing the Hybrid Divide

Hybrid models introduce new challenges in performance equity. Several discussions centered on eliminating bias and promoting fair assessments.

Common themes:

• Bias often favors in-office employees who are more visible to leaders.
• Fact-based evaluations and pre-calibration sessions reduce subjectivity.
• There’s ongoing debate over whether separate policies should exist for top performers versus newer hires.

Action Points:

• Ensure performance policies are clearly communicated to all employees, regardless of work location.
• Train evaluators on unconscious bias and use structured review criteria.
• Regularly audit performance data for disparities between remote and in-office staff.

9. Aligning HR Strategy with Business Objectives

The final piece of the HR puzzle is strategic alignment. HR professionals are embedding themselves in cross-functional leadership teams to ensure talent strategy supports business growth.

Examples from the roundtables:

• Use of turnover heatmaps to inform strategic initiatives.
• Implementation of performance frameworks tied directly to company values.
• Investment in AI translation tools to support learning across diverse populations.

Action Points:

• Create visible connections between HR initiatives and organisational KPIs.
• Leverage tech to extend training to remote or tech-limited employees.
• Use listening sessions to close the loop on engagement, feedback, and retention.

A New Era for HR Leadership

These U.S. roundtable discussions underscored a crucial truth: HR is no longer a back-office function. It is a central architect of the workforce experience and HR strategies for the future of work are a crucial requirement.

Whether tackling hybrid work, designing equitable performance systems, or spearheading upskilling, today’s HR leaders are building agile, resilient, and inclusive organisations.

Success lies in human-centered strategy backed by data, empathy, and alignment with broader business goals.