2025 HR Strategy Planner

The Challenge

As many CEOs enter 2025 with a clear focus on growth and efficiency as top strategic priorities, HR leaders are uniquely positioned to help drive the business forward with a strategic HR plan. Yet only 28% of HR leaders report that their HR strategic plan is fully integrated with the business planning process.

HR leaders can’t afford to sit on the sidelines anymore. It’s your time to make human resources an engine of growth for your business.

Where to Invest

1. Deepen your business insight.

Understanding the business at a granular level is non-negotiable. Make time in your calendar to proactively connect with different business units to uncover pain points and opportunities where HR can add measurable value. Think beyond traditional HR metrics and learn what drives the organization’s success. 

2. Lead with a future-forward vision.

You can’t constantly be stuck in the past or distracted by the present. You need a proactive strategy that anticipates future needs. Identify the long-term goals your business will need to meet and build an HR roadmap that scales alongside these ambitions. The more forward-thinking your strategy, the greater your impact. 

3. Be a champion for change.

Innovation doesn’t happen by chance—it’s driven by leaders who embrace transformation. Empower your team to bring fresh ideas to the table and lead by example in adopting change. CHROs who champion adaptability inspire trust and confidence at every level of the organization. 

4. Make sure there's data behind every strategic decision.

Without data, decisions are guesswork. Align your people data to key performance indicators (KPIs) and use analytics to guide every step of your strategy. Let data-driven insights be your greatest ally when demonstrating HR’s value to the C-suite. If you can show the numbers behind your impact, buy-in and resources will follow. 

Additional Resources:

• HR as a Strategic Partner: The 2025 Planning Guide
• The HR Operating Model of the Future 
• Aligning Workforce Strategies with Business Objectives

The Challenge

Organizational culture can be a competitive advantage. Read: it CAN be. But as the labor market and economy shift, leadership priorities often swing between two extremes: a focus on engagement and experience versus a push for performance and efficiency.  

This reactive pendulum swing can leave your organization without a steady foundation. Without clarity, employees, managers, and leaders alike feel adrift.

Your mission? Break free from the pendulum swing. It can't be engagement OR performance. It has to be both. And when done well, engagement and performance drive one another in a virtuous cycle that elevates your entire organization.

Where to Invest

1. Analyze where you are.

Your first step is to understand what your employees are telling you. Dive into your engagement surveys and performance metrics to identify gaps and opportunities. Look for patterns that highlight where employees feel disconnected or unsure of their priorities—and where things are going well.

2. Take one small step.

You don’t need to overhaul your culture in one fell swoop. If you rarely survey employees, rolling out a full-blown employee listening strategy tomorrow is not realistic. Nor is moving from an annual review to weekly 1-on-1s and quarterly reviews. It’s ok to iterate. It’s ok to take a small, meaningful step in the right direction. Incremental steps build trust, momentum, and a foundation for lasting change. 

3. Get everyone on board.

HR cannot shoulder weight of engagement and performance alone. You develop the strategy, and you support your teams. But everyone else needs to play their part. Make sure your managers are trained to do the work you need them to do. Help them evolve from managers to coaches. Remind leaders of their role in defining and modeling the culture they want, holding everyone in the organization accountable to it. And bring employees into not just the feedback process, but the action planning process too. 

4. Communicate the why–again and again.

Employees resist change not because they don’t want it but because they don’t understand it. Your communication strategy should emphasize articulating the “why” behind every initiative. Share updates regularly, highlighting wins and how employee feedback drives change in the organization. And reinforce your vision for the future often to keep employees aligned and on the right path. 

5. Leverage the right technology.

Many HR organizations have been getting by with less-than-optimal technology for engagement and performance. If this is you, you won’t be able to sustain progress much longer. Everyone on your team is more effective and efficient when they have the right data and technology at their fingertips.

Additional Resources:

• Culture Strategy Scorecard
• Employee Success: What it is & how to unlock it in your organization
• A Winning Approach to Employee Success

The Challenge

HR has long been tasked with building engaging, high-performing workplaces while relying on tools that fall short of their needs.

From cobbling together “free” solutions to squeezing functionality from HRIS systems, many organizations are using technology not built for modern engagement, performance, and retention challenges. These outdated or misaligned tools hinder HR departments' ability to deliver strategic insights and streamline workflows, keeping them reactive instead of proactive.  

Add to this the rise of AI. While its potential to transform HR is undeniable, few HR leaders feel equipped to leverage AI effectively. In a fast-paced business environment, where actionable insights and efficiency are critical, the right tech isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.

Where to Invest

1. Audit your current tech stack.

Assess the tools you currently use for engagement, performance, and retention. Are they easy to use? Do they integrate well? Are they delivering actionable insights? Make a checklist of gaps that need to be addressed to better meet the needs of your HR team, managers, and employees.

2. Embrace AI to amplify your impact.

AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the future of HR. 2025 is the time to get on board. Use AI-powered tools to: 

• Simplify and automate manual processes like survey administration and manager training
• Surface insights that help HR and leadership spend less time analyzing and more time improving
• Provide predictive analytics to flag turnover risks and uncover engagement drivers
• Deliver tailored recommendations to managers for improving team performance and morale

Quantum Workplace’s AI tools help managers identify flight risks, understand engagement trends, and get personalized action recommendations, ensuring faster and smarter decisions. 

3. Focus on user-friendly, scalable solutions.

Choose tools that make it easy for everyone—HR, managers, and employees—to engage. Platforms should be intuitive, reduce administrative burden, and scale as your organization and strategies evolve. Do not chase shiny new AI features for the fun of it. Look for AI that works with you and that solves real problems that empower your people to do their best work.

4. Bridge the gap between data and strategy.

Your tech should connect metrics across engagement, performance, and culture to provide a holistic view of your workforce. This visibility enables HR to guide the organization strategically, aligning employee success with business outcomes.

5. Train your people to get the most out of your tech.

Even the best tools won’t deliver results if no one knows how to use them effectively. Offer hands-on training to HR leaders and managers, focusing on how to integrate tech into their workflows and drive better outcomes. Better yet, look for a partner that takes on the lion’s share of training for you–or that trains and nudges people in tool.

Additional Resources:

• How to Choose the Best Employee Engagement Software
• How to Select the Best Performance Management System
• 6 Tips for Getting Your HR Tech Budget Approved (from a CFO)

The Challenge

Employee engagement surveys are still the gold standard tool for understanding engagement across your workforce. But conducting a survey is just the first step. Most organizations fall short when it comes to acting on the results.

Our research shows that 2 in 3 employees believe their organization fails to respond effectively to survey feedback. And employees who witness action on their feedback are 12 times more likely to be engaged. Not acting on your survey results is more damaging than not surveying at all.  

Where to Invest

1. Take a flywheel approach.

Think of employee listening like a flywheel that keeps turning. As you continue to invest time and energy into your approach, you’ll build mounting momentum. Each survey, feedback session, and follow-up action adds momentum, driving better engagement, performance, and business success with each rotation.  

2. Get out of the once-a-year survey mindset.

An annual survey doesn’t provide the agility you need to respond to today’s fast-changing workforce. Too much can change in a year. Leaders need more frequent feedback to make meaningful decisions in real-time. Our research shows employees are more engaged when they have at least four opportunities per year to share feedback via survey. 
 

3. Use a proven engagement model.

Don’t build your listening strategy on a faulty foundation. You need a true understanding of what engagement is, what drives it, and how to measure it. Without a validated engagement model, your feedback risks being directionless, making it harder to connect insights to action in the right place at the right time. 

4. Build a scalable action planning process that doesn't cut corners.

We know what you’re thinking. Action planning is overwhelming. It’s time-consuming, complicated, and you don’t trust your managers to do the right things with the data. The key is a scalable process that empowers managers to take ownership without adding complexity. That’s where a framework like AFTER comes in:

• Analysis: Share results early with leaders and people managers.
• Focus areas: Identify high-impact areas for each team.
• Team discussion: Empower managers to engage their teams in identifying solutions.
• Execution plan: Develop measurable, best-practice actions.
• Reminders & Reinforcement: Communicate progress throughout the year. 

Check it out: Quantum Workplace offers smart, scalable, AI-powered action planning tools. These tools empower managers to own their team's engagement data and make meaningful changes.

Additional Resources:

• The Employee Listening Flywheel: Moving Your Feedback Strategy Forward
• Why You Need an Employee Engagement Model
• Quantum Workplace AFTER Framework for Action Planning

The Challenge

1 in 3 employees say their departure from their last organization could have been prevented. Turnover—especially turnover of your best performers—is expensive. It affects productivity, morale, customer satisfaction, and more.

Despite 85% of executives claiming employee retention is a top priority, many struggle with ineffective, reactive strategies that fail to address costly employee turnover at its core. The result? Lost productivity, weakened morale, and significant costs—not just financial but organizational.

For CHROs, developing a proactive retention strategy is not just an operational priority but a critical business imperative. 

Where to Invest

1. Listen to your employees.

Employees know better than anyone what might be causing people to leave. And many will share their ideas and concerns directly if you ask. You need to open a variety of channels to help leaders listen continuously. This includes engagement, pulse, and lifecycle surveys—but it also includes more informal conversations like 1-on-1s. 

2. Pinpoint high-risk employees.

Leverage predictive analytics to identify employees or groups most at risk of leaving. Focus retention resources on these critical areas to maximize impact and reduce the potential disruption caused by unwanted departures.

3. Uncover true turnover drivers.

You’ve heard it before. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And in this case, it’s true. You need a crystal-clear picture of what is driving people to leave and to stay. What is happening with turnover at your organization? Who is leaving? Why are they leaving? Where are the biggest trouble spots?

Use data from engagement surveys, exit interviews, and other feedback mechanisms to identify the key factors driving turnover. Whether it’s a lack of growth opportunities, poor leadership, or workload concerns, knowing the "why" behind employee exits enables you to act on the "how" of retention.

4. Make data your friend.

When you have good data to dig into in real-time, it’s much easier to make an impact on turnover. You should be able to slice and dice your data across different groups and areas to understand exactly what is happening, where, and how you might address it. Lean into predictive analytics to help you understand not just what is happening but also what might happen next—and what to do about it.

5. Act proactively with actionable insights.

Data without action is just trivia. When it comes to retention, you need to move from insights to action—quickly. And you need to get front-line managers involved. Equip your people leaders with AI-powered tools to create targeted retention strategies. Align these solutions with the specific needs of your workforce, enabling you to address turnover risks before they escalate into resignations.

Check it out: Quantum Workplace's Retention Radar helps you retain top performers by analyzing real-time turnover risks, uncovering key turnover factors, and offering AI-powered, actionable strategies to improve retention. 

Additional Resources:

• How Not to Keep Your Top Talent
• 15 Employee Retention Strategies to Help You Be a Magnet for Talent
• 7 Ways to Change Your Retention Strategy in a Shifting Landscape

The Challenge

Organizational change is inevitable, but it often feels like a whirlwind for employees. When not managed effectively, change can destabilize the engagement and performance of your teams and create significant turnover risk. Our research shows 40% of employees have considered leaving their job due to organizational changes. And 62% have witnessed coworkers leave as a direct result of change. 

Where to Invest

1. Understand the true impact of change.

Change doesn’t have to derail your workforce. In fact, when managed effectively, it can be an opportunity to reinforce your organization’s mission and vision while building stronger connections with your team. Employees who receive communication before changes occur are:

• 3.2X less likely to consider leaving due to change.
• 30% more engaged compared to those informed only after changes.
  
  

2. Focus on communication.

The frequency of change isn’t what impacts engagement—it’s how organizations communicate about it. Organizations that proactively communicate during change see 79% high engagement, compared to just 41% for those that communicate infrequently.

By prioritizing a structured, proactive approach, you can turn change into a catalyst for growth and alignment. Share updates early and often to ensure employees feel informed and valued. Clearly articulate the "why" behind the change and its potential impact on teams. Consistent messaging throughout the process helps build trust and reduces uncertainty.
 

3. Relay your messages in a timely manner.

Timing and transparency are crucial. 55% of employees say they want communication before changes happen, yet 36% report learning about changes during or after they occur. Without a thoughtful communication strategy, employees feel uninformed, overlooked, and undervalued—key factors that heighten turnover risk and weaken engagement. 

4. Align everything back to your culture.

Employees stay engaged through periods of change when it aligns with the organization’s mission and is guided by confident, transparent leadership. Equip leaders to effectively communicate and support their team members during transitions. 

5. Don't shy away from feedback.

The Challenge

Career growth is consistently a top driver of employee engagement, yet 37% of employees cite lack of career development as the primary reason for leaving their jobs. For organizations to retain top talent, they must prioritize creating pathways for employees to grow, improve, and excel. However, many companies struggle to integrate career conversations, skill-building opportunities, and growth planning into their performance strategies. 

Where to Invest

1. Get a pulse on employee skills.

HR needs accessible, reliable data on employee skills—and that data needs to be easy to serve up in real-time. Managers can help collect skill data through performance reviews and talent reviews. Streamlining this process and centralizing the data helps you identify skill gaps and areas for growth, so you can fine-tune your employee development plans with confidence and clarity.

2. Build context through career conversations.

Empower managers to facilitate meaningful discussions about employees’ goals, motivations, and future aspirations. Pair career development conversations with a focus on skill gaps and how to close them. Regularly revisiting career development ensures alignment between employee aspirations and business needs.
 

3. Establish clear pathways for growth.

A lack of visibility into growth opportunities can discourage employees. Introduce frameworks that outline competencies for specific roles, highlight transferable skills, and suggest next steps to achieve desired outcomes. For example, help employees map their skills to roles that fit their strengths and interests while outlining areas to strengthen for career advancement.

4. Equip managers with smart, actionable tools.

5. Highlight data to drive impact.

Track, share, and celebrate metrics around career development initiatives—such as promotions, internal mobility rates, and skills alignment. These insights demonstrate to employees and leadership alike the tangible benefits of investing in development—and in turn drives higher employee retention.

Additional Resources:

• Valet Living: HR Evolution & Culture Transformation
• 2024 Trends Report: Performance & Impact

The Challenge

Managers are more than task supervisors—they are culture champions, trust-builders, and key drivers of employee engagement and business success. Yet many feel underprepared and unsupported in their roles. They’re overwhelmed, under-recognized, and craving better training, tools, and technology. 

• 57% of managers say they weren’t prepared to be a people manager when they first became one.
• 66% say they received no training when transitioning to a management role. 

Where to Invest

1. Make engagement a shared priority.

To get managers invested in engagement, connect the dots to their personal success. Highlight how an engaged team drives better performance, reduces turnover, and makes their own role more fulfilling and manageable. Equip managers with clear expectations, practical tools, and real-time data to measure progress. Hold them accountable for taking action. When managers see engagement as a path to both team and personal success, they’re more likely to champion it. 

2. Simplify and align your performance management processes.

If managers are overwhelmed, your system may be too complex. Simplify your performance management processes so managers can focus on what matters most: coaching, alignment, and results. Break the system into bite-sized, clear steps that managers can follow with confidence.

• Create clear, aligned goals and actionable feedback strategies.
• Build structured processes for frequent, productive 1-on-1s.
• Use real-time data to help managers track progress and make informed decisions.
   

3. Empower managers with smart, actionable tools.

Managers need the right tools to make performance and engagement easy and actionable. Equip them with resources and technology that streamline their roles while empowering them to focus on high-value activities like coaching and recognition. 

Essential Tools: 

• Recognition tools for real-time celebration of success.
• 1-on-1 frameworks for regular, meaningful conversations.
• Feedback systems (360, peer, and upward) to boost development.
• Goal-setting platforms to keep teams aligned and motivated.
• Talent reviews and succession planning tools to future-proof your workforce.
   

4. Invest in manager development.

Most managers are not natural at leading people. Managers crave continuous growth but often lack access to the training they need to be effective. Spend time training your managers and provide ongoing support to build their confidence. Prioritize ongoing development in key areas like giving effective feedback, managing change, and leveraging AI to improve efficiency. 

• Host quarterly manager training sessions on coaching, communication, and change management.
• Include managers in strategic discussions to deepen their understanding of organizational goals.
• Pair training with resources like templates, conversation guides, and real-world examples. 

Additional Resources:

• The Big Book of 1-on-1 Questions 
• How to Build High-Performing Teams
• 2024 Trends Report: Performance & Impact

The Challenge

An recent study found that while 82% of employees report they feel strategic agreement within their companies, actual alignment was, on average, just 23%–two to three times lower than perceived alignment.

Despite its importance, achieving alignment is a challenge for many organizations. Leaders may set a strong vision, but gaps often emerge as strategies cascade through teams. Misalignment is a silent killer—it confuses teams, wastes resources, and creates productivity pitfalls. Your job as a CHRO? Expose it and eliminate it. 

Where to Invest

1. Uncover barriers to alignment.

Misalignment often begins with communication breakdowns or unclear priorities. Use employee feedback tools to surface where gaps exist—whether it's a lack of clarity around team goals or inconsistent support from managers. Addressing these barriers ensures employees remain focused and engaged.

2. Align from the top down.

Alignment starts at the leadership level but must cascade effectively. Equip managers to translate organizational priorities into team-level goals and tasks. Encourage open dialogue to ensure employees understand the "why" behind their work and its connection to broader strategy.
 

3. Monitor and address talent risk.

Strategic execution relies on the right people in the right roles. Leverage tools that identify talent risks—such as disengaged high performers or gaps in critical roles—before they impact business outcomes. Proactively addressing these issues helps maintain alignment and momentum.

4. Foster a culture of alignment and accountability.

High-performing organizations prioritize continuous communication and collaboration. Encourage regular check-ins, feedback loops, and goal-setting sessions to reinforce alignment. When employees see their contributions acknowledged and connected to success, their motivation and commitment grow.

Additional Resources:

• How to Set Better Employee Performance Goals
• How to Align Individual, Team, and Organizational Goals
• The Best One-on-One Meeting Frequency (According to Research)

The Challenge

Performance management is at a crossroads. While 75% of organizations have updated their performance management processes in the last year, 70% admit their current methods don’t drive engagement, and 62% say they fail to enhance performance.  

Employees and managers alike are signaling that these systems often feel clunky, inefficient, or demotivating: 1 in 4 employees only use performance management tools annually, with fewer than 10% using them weekly.

Employees say these processes need to be more effective, more motivational, and a better use of their time. Managers report struggling with inadequate tools, limited feedback training, and unclear expectations, leaving them unsure of how to coach effectively. 

Where to Invest

1. Build a framework tailored to your culture.

No two organizations are the same, and performance management isn’t one-size-fits-all. Take time to audit your current processes and identify gaps. Involve employees and managers in the design phase to ensure the framework aligns with your unique culture, values, and goals.

2. Stay rooted in engagement.

Performance management—if done well—can be engaging. Our research shows which elements of performance management are most connected to engagement, including:

• Recognition: If I contribute to the organization's success, I know I'll be recognized
• Fairness & Transparency: My performance at work is evaluated fairly
• Feedback: My manager regularly provides me with effective feedback that helps me improve my performance
• Goals: My performance goals are aligned to organizational goals
• Empowerment: I am empowered to decide how. my work gets done

As you’re designing your organization’s approach, reflect on whether it’s optimized to also strengthen employee engagement. 
 

3. Shift toward a continuous feedback  model.

Continuous performance management is our best practice model for performance management, but it’s not the right fit for everyone and you can’t get there overnight. What’s more important is the willingness to evolve and grow based on what your business and teams need. Transitioning to continuous performance management doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start small by: 

• Increasing the frequency of feedback and 1-on-1s.
• Providing managers with training to become better coaches.
• Using technology to integrate performance management into daily workflows.
  
  

4. Centralize performance data for better insights.

Performance data often gets lost in fragmented systems. Ensure feedback, goals, and reviews are captured in a centralized platform that’s accessible to managers and employees alike. This helps connect the dots between performance, engagement, and organizational priorities. 

Power up: When you leverage an AI-powered performance management platform (like Quantum Workplace) that centralized employee performance data becomes a gold mine for effective performance conversations, development, and strategic talent decisions.

5. Equip managers with the right tools and support.

Managers are at the heart of performance management, but they need resources to succeed. Focus on tools and processes that: 

• Make goal-setting and alignment seamless.
• Enable real-time recognition and feedback.
• Simplify the performance review process.
• Help managers identify and develop talent for critical roles 

Additional Resources:

• Performance Pathways: Find Your Performance Management Fit
• Try Our AI: Performance Reviews
• Continuous Performance Management: The What, Why, and How

The Challenge

Organizations recognize the importance of identifying and developing top talent, yet many struggle to do so effectively with their talent management strategies. 48% say an inability to identify top talent will prevent them from meeting talent needs in the next 1-2 years; and 42% of managers don’t know how to have effective development conversations. You need scalable ways to spot high-potential employees, prepare future leaders, and proactively address talent gaps.

Where to Invest

1. Define what top talent means to you.

Start by identifying the traits, behaviors, and competencies that align with your organization’s values and goals. Ensure managers have clear criteria for recognizing high-potential employees. This clarity helps drive consistency and objectivity in talent reviews.  

2. Build a robust and agile talent review process.

Talent reviews should happen regularly—at least quarterly—and leverage objective data. Encourage collaboration among leaders to create a holistic view of talent and uncover opportunities for development and advancement. Focus on three key areas: 

• Employee impact: How employees contribute to team and business success.
• Growth trajectory: Their readiness and potential for expanded roles.
• Retention risk: The likelihood of losing key talent and how to mitigate it.
  
  

3. Sync talent review data with succession planning.

Effective succession planning relies on insights from talent reviews. Use this data to identify high-potential employees for key roles, create personalized development plans, and build a clear roadmap for retaining and preparing top talent.

4. Equip managers to lead development conversations.

Managers are at the heart of employee development. Provide them with the tools and training to facilitate meaningful conversations about career growth, skills development, and performance expectations. This not only enhances succession planning but also strengthens manager-employee relationships.

5. Continuously evaluate and refine your plans.

As engagement and performance data evolves, so should your strategies. Use succession planning tools to collect ongoing feedback, measure plan effectiveness, and adjust based on changing organizational needs. Regular refinement keeps your talent strategy aligned with business priorities.

Additional Resources:

• Knowing & Growing Your Talent Pool
• 5 Fresh Talent Review Best Practices
• Unlocking Succession Planning: Strategies for HR Pros

The Challenge

Culture is the heartbeat of an organization, shaping how people work, connect, and thrive. Yet for many organizations, defining and sustaining a strong culture has become more complex than ever. Remote and hybrid work models have shifted the cultural landscape, fragmenting what was once unified into a mosaic of microcultures within teams and functions. 

To make matters more challenging, many leaders struggle to articulate what their culture truly means—let alone how to embed it into day-to-day actions. While 66% of executives say culture is more important than strategy or operations, few feel equipped to make it a reality. 

For HR, the mission is clear but demanding: empower people leaders at every level to champion culture. HR alone can’t be the keeper of culture—it requires democratizing people expertise across the organization and turning managers into culture carriers who align their teams with shared values, goals, and behaviors.

Where to Invest

1. Redefine HR as a center of excellence.

HR’s role is shifting from siloed ownership to organizational enablement. Act as a coach and partner, helping leaders and teams: 

• Define cultural priorities that align with business strategy.
• Build systems and processes that are easy for everyone to adopt.
• Equip managers with tools and insights that make engagement and performance actionable.
   

2. Recognize and nurture the cultures within teams.

Each team, department, or demographic brings unique dynamics to your organization. Empower leaders and managers to identify and embrace these micro-cultures, fostering belonging and alignment within their teams while ensuring they connect to the overarching organizational values.
 

3. Equip leaders to model and sustain culture.

Your leadership team sets the tone for the entire organization. Leaders should: 

• Actively champion engagement and employee success initiatives.
• Communicate purpose and strategy clearly across all levels.
• Model behaviors that align with desired cultural outcomes.
  
  

4. Empower managers and culture champions.

Managers are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between organizational goals and team-level execution. Provide them with: 

• Engagement insights that reveal team dynamics and barriers.
• Training to strengthen feedback, coaching, and recognition skills.
• Resources to manage distributed teams and navigate evolving team needs.
  
  

5. Foster employee ownership of culture.

Culture thrives when employees feel empowered to contribute. Create opportunities for employees to: 

• Share honest feedback through safe and varied channels.
• Collaborate with managers on action plans to address challenges.
• Celebrate achievements that align with organizational values. 

Additional Resources:

• Series: Everyone Owns Employee Success
• The Importance of Organizational Culture
• Creating a Culture of Feedback & Recognition [New Research]