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ISSUE 251 – Synopsis – September 2025
ESG, values and corporate governance
As environmental, social and governance factors become integral to long-term business strategy, HR & People leaders must play a pivotal role in embedding these principles into organisational culture and practices. In this issue, we are exploring the growing demand for businesses to go beyond compliance, aligning corporate values with broader societal expectations and stakeholder accountability. As expectations of corporate responsibility continue to rise, ESG factors are no longer just the concern of compliance teams or investor relations. For HR leaders, this presents a strategic opportunity to align people, purpose and performance, so where should focus and resources be placed to make the greatest impact and how can HR best marshal the relationships and sometimes conflicting intentions with employees, business needs, communities and broader stakeholders? Leaders are the architects and vanguards of governance and how it relates to the efficacy of their leadership, accountability, ethics and the behaviour of the wider organisation, so what are the elements required to help shape trust, transparency and long-term resilience, to keep the business and its people onboard with ESG and values, in the face of tough commercial environments? During these challenging economic times, where shortcuts are a constant threat to operating sustainably, how can these essential values be retained? HR & People leaders are uniquely positioned to embed ESG into the heart of organisational culture, but how is this best articulated when there are so many competing issues? What are the effective measures that can drive policies that support diversity and inclusion, fair compensation, wellbeing and ethical behaviour? HR needs to forge its position to play an effective role in shaping leadership behaviour, succession planning and executive pay, aligned with ESG principles. Here, transparent decision-making and accountability frameworks are essential, especially as stakeholders demand greater visibility into how companies treat their people and uphold their stated values. To guide meaningful action, what should HR leaders and their teams consider in integrating ESG metrics into performance reviews and incentive structures? What does ethical leadership and values training look like? How can effective partnerships be forged with all department leaders – including legal and risk teams – to ensure governance standards are upheld? What are the best channels to listen to employee feedback, to shape ESG priorities and evaluate progress? Ultimately, ESG is not just a reporting framework, it’s a lens through which HR can champion purposeful, people-first cultures. By embedding values and governance into the employee experience, HR leaders can help build businesses that are both responsible and resilient.
Workforce transformation
In an era defined by disruption – digital, shifting employee expectations and global geopolitical uncertainty – workforce transformation has become a strategic imperative. It is no longer just about restructuring or reskilling, today’s transformation efforts demand a fundamental rethink of how organisations attract, develop and retain talent and skills to sustain an effective and competitive workforce in a constantly evolving commercial landscape. One of the key challenges is pace, where technology and business models are advancing faster than traditional workforce planning can keep up with. AI, automation and hybrid work are redefining roles and capabilities, requiring continuous learning, agility and new leadership models. Equally pressing is the cultural shift and employees are now seeking purpose, flexibility and inclusion alongside traditional career growth. So, we are looking to unpack workforce transformation and we are seeking guidance on how HR & People leaders must act as change agents, ensuring people strategies evolve alongside organisational goals and how to plan and implement effective workforce transformation. We will be exploring the pressing issues that are impacting including; the change of skills over roles, the shift from static job descriptions to dynamic skills frameworks, how resources and investment should be best placed to support continuous learning, internal mobility – and how to maintain digital fluency – building digital capabilities across all levels, not just in tech roles. Concurrently, we will be seeking insight into how to support innovation, adaptability and championing employee voice, by involving all stakeholders in shaping the transformation. We will look at the importance of transparency and feedback loops, to foster trust and commitment. We will also be asking for guidance on equipping leaders with the tools and capabilities to lead through ambiguity, manage resistance and support wellbeing. Finally, we will be shining a light on the importance of agile HR practices, to align with the move toward more iterative workforce planning, flexible team structures and real-time talent insights. Workforce transformation is not a one-time project, it’s an ongoing evolution and critical to creating resilient, future-ready organisations.
People-centered HR strategy
From economic uncertainty and digital disruption to evolving employee expectations, HR leaders are being called to rethink how organisations create value through their people. At the heart of this shift is the need for a people-centered HR strategy, one that places employee experience, voice and wellbeing at the core of operations and organisational success. In this issue, we are seeking insight into how organisations must prioritise a people-first culture, in an era where the entire employer/employee contract – physical and psychological – has changed beyond recognition. Where employees seek more meaning, flexibility and inclusion in their work, how can HR respond with strategies that are both empathetic and adaptive? What does a people-centered HR strategy look like in practice? How can change strategy maintain a human-led, tech-enabled framework, where digital tools are leveraged to enhance, not replace irreplaceable human experience and value? We will be looking at how data and analytics can provide insight and understanding into dovetailing business operation imperatives with employee needs and how to tailor solutions in real-time. We will be delving into the employee journey – how to move away from one-size-fits-all policies – and consider how diverse career paths, flexible working models and individual growth can be supported. We are aiming to bring insight on how to position culture as a strategic asset – building trust, psychological safety and shared values – and how to make culture measurable and actionable. The role of HR is evolving from process owner to experience architect and in this new landscape, the organisations that thrive will be those that understand their people, not as resources to be managed, but as the foundation of their future.
Optimising benefits
The shift from one-size-fits-all to a tailored approach to the employee lifecycle and experience dominates the benefits debate. As employee expectations evolve – and the workforce becomes increasingly diverse, spanning multiple generations, cultures and lifestyles – HR & People leaders face a growing challenge of how to design benefits that are both meaningful and sustainable. Traditional, catch-all benefit models no longer suffice – what a Gen Z employee values in flexibility or mental health support may differ significantly from a Gen X parent or a late-career worker, focused on retirement planning. Meanwhile, the demand for holistic wellbeing – physical, mental, financial and social – is rising across the board. In this issue, we will be looking for guidance on how HR & People leaders can meet these diverse needs, while ensuring return-on-investment and how a more agile and personalised approach to benefits strategy is key to competitiveness. We will be looking for insight on data-informed design and how to read and act upon employee surveys, usage patterns and demographic data, to understand what a workforce truly values and what is going unused. We look for synopsis that give pointers on how to provide flexibility and choice and the pros and cons of choosing modular or flexible benefits schemes that allow employees to select options that suit their stage of life and priorities. We will also be looking at holistic wellbeing and how employers can go beyond the standard benefits, to include mental health, financial education caregiving support and digital wellness tools. What are the most effective platforms for delivering clear, consistent and guiding communication, to ensure benefits are well-understood and easy to access? The reality is, if people don’t know what is available or how to access benefits, they won’t. The world is changing fast and benefits provision needs to evolve with it, in real-time. One of HR’s greatest challenges is to meet sustainability with competitiveness and impactfully aligning employee expectations with operational objectives is the key to that outcome.
As with all of our subjects in issue 251, we welcome your expert knowledge and ideas for potential articles, to shine a light on the future challenges and opportunities that our readership faces in 2025.
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