HR has never been more complex or critical. HR professionals are expected to attract top talent, build a strong company culture, anticipate workforce needs, guide teams through constant change, and more to drive business outcomes.
It’s a lot. And if you’re feeling the pressure, you’re not alone.
According to Gartner’s Top 5 HR Trends in 2025 Report, 74% of HR leaders say employees are experiencing change fatigue, and 55% believe their HR tech isn’t built for the future. The expectations have never been higher, but the opportunity to make an impact has also never been greater.
The good news is that leaders who develop the right skills can thrive, influence, and lead the transformation.
This article breaks down the most critical HR skills for 2025, based on research and insights from Gartner's Top 5 HR Trends and Priorities in 2025 Report.
1. Develop Leaders and Managers
Organizations thrive when leaders know how to develop talent, not just manage tasks. But there’s a gap. Seventy-one percent of HR leaders say they aren’t effectively developing midlevel leaders. Many managers still operate with a directive, top-down approach instead of mentoring their teams to grow and problem-solve independently.
That’s why HR’s role in people development is more critical than ever. Here are some of the key abilities crucial in leadership and management development:
Coaching and Mentoring
- Guide leaders in developing solutions rather than giving them direct answers. Instead of saying, "Here's what to do" ask "What do you think could work?" to build confidence in decision-making.
- Use structured coaching models like the GROW Model to help leaders navigate challenges and improve their leadership approach.
- Create a culture of mentorship where leadership growth happens through consistent, ongoing conversations. Encourage regular one-on-ones, leadership roundtables, and peer coaching sessions to make mentorship an integrated part of daily leadership development.
Building Leadership Networks & Peer Learning
According to Gartner’s report, leadership grows through peer interactions, where leaders exchange insights and learn from real-world experiences. Traditional training often fails because leaders don’t get ongoing support.
To facilitate peer learning, HR requires skills such as:
- Design programs that go beyond classroom learning by integrating peer mentorship, networking, and real-world collaboration.
- Facilitate peer coaching sessions where leaders share experiences and problem-solve together.
- Organize cross-functional leadership forums to break down silos and encourage learning across departments where leaders share challenges, strategies, and insights.
People-Centric Leadership Development
- Replace outdated training models with hands-on leadership experiences, such as shadowing senior leaders, rotational programs, and real-time coaching.
- Focus on human-centered leadership skills, including cognitive empathy, emotional intelligence, and resilience—the key differentiators of great leaders.
- Create an environment where leaders feel safe experimenting, failing, and growing. This reinforces a culture of continuous development. Encourage leaders to take calculated risks by normalizing learning from setbacks in a no-blame environment.
- Prepare ICs for manager roles. Use Elevate’s Manager Readiness Framework to help guide you in facilitating growth in ICs.
2. Activate and Embed Organizational Culture
Culture is not a mission statement, it’s what happens in everyday interactions. Yet most employees don’t fully understand what their company stands for. In fact, only 1 in 4 employees can identify the values that drive their workplace culture.
The disconnect goes deeper; 57% of HR leaders say managers aren’t reinforcing it. If leaders don’t model company values, employees won’t either.
Culture needs to be felt, seen, and reinforced daily. The following are three key HR skills that can make that happen.
Cultural Communication & Storytelling
- Translate core company values into real, observable behaviors employees can apply in daily work. Tie each company value to a specific workplace action. For example, if "collaboration" is a core value, define it as "actively seeking input from teammates before making key decisions" and highlight examples in team meetings and performance reviews.
- Use storytelling to showcase how employees and leaders embody culture in action. Encourage teams to share short “culture moments” in meetings: real examples of how a colleague demonstrated a company value in their daily work.
- Ensure leadership consistently communicates and reinforces cultural expectations. Hold weekly leadership huddles where managers share real examples of how they’ve demonstrated company values, reinforcing consistency in cultural messaging.
Manager Enablement & Accountability
- Build structured feedback loops where employees can share how leadership aligns with cultural expectations.
- Encourage managers to use micro-coaching moments by addressing cultural behaviors in real time. When an employee exemplifies a company value, acknowledge it immediately with specific praise. When misalignment occurs, guide them with a question like, “How do you think this action aligns with our team values?” to prompt reflection.
Data-Driven Culture Activation
- Conduct pulse surveys and AI-driven sentiment analysis to capture real-time cultural feedback. Set up quarterly pulse surveys with targeted questions on cultural values, team dynamics, and leadership behaviors, then analyze trends over time to identify strengths and areas needing reinforcement.
- Refine and iterate culture-building strategies based on hard data to ensure cultural efforts stay relevant and impactful. Run small-scale cultural initiatives (like team rituals or recognition programs) to test what resonates before scaling them organization-wide.
Pro Tip: Treat culture like a product; continuously iterate, measure, and refine based on data and business goals.
3. Plan Workforce Strategically
Workforce planning is no longer about filling open positions only. It extends to building the skills your business needs to stay competitive. Yet, 66% of HR leaders say their workforce planning is still focused on headcount, making it reactive instead of proactive.
With AI and automation reshaping industries, rigid job roles are becoming outdated. The most successful organizations have shifted from job-based hiring to capability-based workforce planning, ensuring they have the right skills in place for both today and the future.
But there’s a challenge: many HR leaders struggle to get leadership buy-in for strategic workforce planning. To bridge the gap, these three core HR skills can help:
Workforce Analytics & Data Interpretation
- Understand workforce metrics inside out (e.g., retention rates, turnover trends, skills gaps). Set up a monthly dashboard to track workforce trends and review them with department leaders to anticipate talent needs.
- Analyze predictive analytics to forecast hiring and development needs. Use AI-driven HR software to analyze attrition risks and skill shortages, allowing proactive workforce adjustments.
- Use data visualization tools to present workforce insights persuasively to executives. Create interactive reports with clear visuals that highlight trends and actionable recommendations to secure leadership buy-in.
Pro Tip: Instead of tracking only historical HR data, use real-time analytics to predict workforce risks before they occur.
Capability-Based Workforce Planning
- Identify skills adjacencies (e.g., transferable skills that allow employees to transition into new roles). Run internal skills assessments to identify employees who can be reskilled for emerging roles rather than hiring externally.
- Balance build, buy, borrow talent strategies (internal upskilling vs. external hiring vs. contract work). Develop a blended workforce strategy that integrates full-time employees, gig workers, and learning pathways for internal mobility.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Business Alignment
- Partner with finance, operations, and strategy teams to align workforce plans with business goals. Hold quarterly talent planning meetings with department heads to align workforce needs with upcoming business objectives.
- Secure buy-in from senior leadership by demonstrating the ROI of strategic workforce planning. Present workforce planning as a cost-saving and revenue-generating strategy by linking it to productivity and retention improvements.
- Work cross-functionally to identify workforce risks and solve them proactively. Establish an early-warning system using workforce analytics to flag potential talent shortages before they become critical.
Pro Tip: Workforce planning shouldn’t just be an HR exercise—involve CFOs, COOs, and department heads in talent discussions.
4. Manage through Change
Constant change wears employees down; 73% of HR leaders see change fatigue, and 74% say managers lack the skills to guide teams through it. But when employees feel ownership of change, performance jumps by 29%.
HR can make change less overwhelming by equipping managers, involving employees, and leveraging internal influencers to drive adoption. Here’s how:
Change Leadership & Influence
- Act as a strategic change advisor to leadership, ensuring changes align with business goals. Partner with senior leaders to map out the "why" behind changes and connect them to specific business objectives that employees care about.
- Identify and leverage key influencers within the organization to drive grassroots change adoption. Use organizational network analysis (ONA) to find employees who others naturally turn to for advice and involve them early in change discussions.
Change Communication & Storytelling
- Personalize messaging for different audiences (leaders, managers, frontline employees). Tailor communications by role—leaders get strategic insights, managers receive coaching tips, and employees get specific impact statements.
- Use two-way communication. Listen to employee concerns and adjust messaging accordingly. Create open feedback loops, like anonymous Q&A forums or live town halls, where employees can voice concerns and get real-time answers.
Pro Tip: Instead of announcing “Here’s what’s changing,” shift the messaging to “Here’s how this change will help you succeed.”
Change Readiness & Resilience Building
- Create a change roadmap to help employees navigate stacked, ongoing changes without feeling overwhelmed. A roadmap visually outlines upcoming shifts, their timelines, and available support.
- Provide managers with tools to coach their teams through change. Provide structured talking points and role-play scenarios so they feel confident guiding their teams through transition conversations.
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5. Strategize and Adopt HR Tech
HR tech is advancing fast, but 55% of HR leaders say their current systems don’t meet future needs, and 69% of employees face barriers using HR tools.
Don’t just add new tools. HR needs to align its tech strategy with business goals, improve usability, and drive adoption. The following three skills are required to facilitate the adoption:
HR Technology Strategy
- Develop a holistic HR tech strategy that supports long-term business goals. Partner with business leaders to identify future talent needs, then map out an HR tech roadmap that aligns with business outcomes.
- Evaluate emerging technologies (GenAI, automation, predictive analytics) to determine real value vs. hype. Pilot new HR tech with a small team before rolling it out organization-wide, ensuring it delivers meaningful improvements in hiring, engagement, or workforce planning.
HR Tech Adoption
- Train employees and managers to use HR tech efficiently for self-service and decision-making. Offer short, interactive training videos embedded within HR platforms so employees can learn in real-time without disrupting their workflow.
- Create an HR tech ambassador program where early adopters champion new tools and assist colleagues in onboarding.
Vendor & Tech Partnership Management
- Schedule quarterly strategy meetings with vendors to explore upcoming features, potential upgrades, and best practices for maximizing platform usage.
- Continuously evaluate HR tech to improve efficiency, compliance, and employee experience. Create an HR tech feedback loop where employees share usability insights, helping HR refine technology strategies based on real user experiences.
The Future of HR in 2025 & Beyond
HR has evolved from policies and compliance to being the center of business transformation. Developing these five skill sets will set the foundation for long-term success. Now is the time to assess where your HR team stands. Identify strengths, pinpoint opportunities for growth, and invest in the capabilities that will future-proof your credibility and workforce.
