HR Challenges and Predictions for 2025: Insights from the SHRM India Advisory Council

The world of HR and people management is changing rapidly with AI technology, evolving workforce dynamics, and new global priorities. To kick off the new year, SHRM India hosted its first podcast on HR Challenges and Predictions for 2025. Moderated by Achal Khanna, CEO of SHRM India, APAC & MENA, this engaging session brought together top industry leaders, including D. Shivakumar, Raj Nayak, Pavitra Singh, Pranjal Sharma, and Richard Rekhy.

This blog sheds light on engaging insights from the session, providing a roadmap for HR professionals and organizations to navigate the future.

Embracing Change and Technology

Achal Khanna opened the session with an inspiring message about the fundamental values that make a workplace truly great: collaboration, empathy, and respect. SHRM aims to create better workplaces where both employees and employers can thrive together. 

"SHRM creates better workplaces where employees and employers thrive together. We believe in collaboration, empathy, civil behavior at workplaces, and respect for each other."

She also noted that SHRM is a member-driven catalyst for creating better workplaces, touching the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM is the foremost expert, researcher, advocate, and thought leader on the issues and innovations impacting today's evolving workplaces.

Job Security and Employee Engagement

D. Shivakumar, Management Thinker and Chairman of MTPL, an Advent PE Company and Chair of SHRM India Conferences and Council, shared a crucial insight about job security and its role in enhancing employee engagement, commitment, and long-term thinking among employees. When employees feel secure in their positions, they are more likely to be engaged, loyal, and committed to their work.

Job security is consistently ranked as a top concern for employees in various studies. His perspective encourages leaders to rethink their strategies and prioritize the well-being and engagement of their people, that builds a more motivated and engaged workforce and also a responsive organization.

"Without job security, you do not have engagement; you do not have commitment. You do not have long-term thinking; you do not have capable people."

Richard Rekhy, Vice Chair of Grant Thornton Bharat, discussed the impact of technology on HR practices. While it's important for HR to embrace new technologies, we can't forget the human element that makes HR so impactful. Maintaining the personal connection means HR professionals must continue to engage with employees on a personal level. It's about listening to their concerns, understanding their needs, and providing genuine support. While AI can analyze employee data, it takes a human to interpret these insights and take meaningful action.  

One of the key insights from Rekhy's discussion was the importance of ethical AI in maintaining employee trust and engagement. He mentioned that the inventor of AI has now become an advocate for ethical AI, underscoring the need for responsible use of technology in the workplace.

"Employees need to feel trusted that the system is actually looking at them. How do we get the employee engagement back? They need to work out ways in which they can collaborate."

Rekhy emphasized that AI and technology should be used to create personalized employee experiences to drive productivity and engagement.

"The biggest problem we have is that technology is taking away human touch with people. How do we maintain the culture, the connectivity with the people, keeping them engaged?"

The Human Element in the Workplace

Raj Nayak, Founder of House of Cheer, shared his perspective on how psychological safety and respect in the workplace can make all the difference. Employees look for respect, recognition, and reward, in that order. If employees are afraid to speak up and their concerns are not heard, they are likely to leave the organization. Nayak also highlighted the need for organizations to listen to their employees and create a culture of inclusion and belonging.

"People work for three things: respect, recognition, and reward, in that order. If people are not respected, they're going to leave you."

Wellness and Well-being

Pavitra Singh, Head of HR at PepsiCo India, focused on the role of wellness and well-being in employee engagement. She emphasized the importance of listening to employees, simplifying work processes, and promoting holistic well-being, including emotional, physical, and financial health.

"Organizations need to start thinking through more holistically, starting from listening to making sure that we're taking care of the well-being of the employee."

Culture, Connection, and Caring

Pranjal Sharma, a renowned Economic Analyst, Advisor, & Author discussed the shift in employee expectations and the need for organizations to reset their relationship with employees. He highlighted the importance of culture, connection, and caring in attracting and retaining talent in the evolving workplace. Culture is very important because anybody who wants to join an organization also wants to be part of a culture that they can connect with and be a part of the larger ecosystem.  He added that unless the elements of culture, connect, and caring are in place, it will be difficult to inspire employees.

"Today, the sense that I am important, my own self-worth, and my self-health are important has become so pronounced that unless an organization is able to feed into that and connect on that front, it will be difficult."

Strategies for Future-Ready Organizations

There are several areas organizations need to focus on to stay ahead of the curve. These strategies will help ensure that companies stay flexible, innovative, and resilient in the changing workplace dynamics.  

Leveraging Technology

Embrace AI and automation to enhance efficiency and decision-making while maintaining the human touch. Technology will play a crucial role in democratizing information and enabling agility within organizations.

Pranjal Sharma highlighted the dual impact of technology, particularly AI, on the workplace, creating both excitement and anxiety. He noted that while technology is transforming roles across all functions, it is also causing panic among CxOs, who must now navigate a talent crisis. Sharma emphasized that the traditional concepts of managing people and employment are evolving.

"Technology is enabling this shift. If I have a skill, I don't want to give my entire mind, body, and soul to an organization. I will rent my skill."  

Promoting Inclusion and Diversity

Building an inclusive and diverse workplace isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a game-changer for innovation and success. To truly create a sense of belonging, organizations need to go beyond the basics and recognize the diverse needs of their employees. It's about making everyone feel like they belong, considering all aspects from physical abilities to cultural backgrounds.

Pavitra Singh explained that true inclusion means valuing every voice, not just meeting quotas. When people feel included, they contribute their best ideas, which sparks creativity and success.

Role models and mentors are key. Pavitra mentioned the ‘Sis code,’ where women support and uplift each other. It’s about creating a supportive network and paying it forward. This approach builds a workplace culture where inclusion and diversity are ingrained in everything we do.

"Inclusion is an emotion, a feeling of belongingness to a particular place or a group, while diversity is just a pure number."

Focusing on Employee Well-being

Prioritize holistic well-being, including mental, physical, and financial health, to enhance employee engagement and productivity. Organizations need to listen to their employees and simplify work processes to reduce burnout and increase satisfaction.

Enhancing Governance and Trust

Thought leaders also stressed the importance of strengthening governance practices and building trust through transparency, ethical AI, and personalized employee experiences. There is a need to retrain leaders and people managers to adopt empathy and compassion as their fundamental values that will help in connecting with employees on a deeper level.

In Richard Rekhy’s words, "Compassion is empathy in action. It's not just going and asking how you're feeling but actually helping and supporting employees."

Adapting Leadership Styles

Develop leadership styles that promote collaboration, agility, and the ability to ask intelligent questions in the tech-driven era. Leaders must move from a command-and-control structure to a collaborate-and-commit model.

D. Shivakumar highlighted three fundamental shifts in leadership styles driven by technology:

1. Democratizing Information: Moving from a command-and-control structure to a collaborate-and-commit model.

2. Agility: Adapting quickly to changes and setting the pace within the organization.

3. Intelligent Questioning: Developing the ability to ask smart questions and not solely relying on AI for insights.

"Leaders must develop the ability to ask very good questions and not delegate the task to AI."

Conclusion

As we prepare for 2025, HR leaders and people managers need to address these critical challenges and leverage opportunities to build future-ready organizations. By focusing on job security, psychological safety, mental health, collaboration, financial resilience, and a higher purpose, organizations can create supportive and thriving work environments that drive success and innovation.