Welcome to the Bringing the human back to human Resources
podcast. I'm Tracy Chernoff, and I've
spent my entire professional career in.
HR each week. We'll explore the delicate
balance between people and business with the aim to
reconnect the two and create meaningful outcomes.
Listen in as I share my own experiences, challenge the
status quo, and chat with guests from various industries about
our mission to bring the human back to human resources.
Hi, everyone, welcome back to the Bringing the human Back to
Human Resources podcast. Thank you so much for being here
for another week. And by the way, not to get
everyone, you know, disappointed, but this week is
the last episode of 2024. Maybe that makes you excited.
Maybe that makes you disappointed.
I hope if you've been like, you know, unable to listen to some
episodes that that means that you now have a few weeks to
catch up and listen to some episodes that have come out
recently that maybe you weren't able to dive into.
I, you know, if you've been here a while, you know that I
generally take the last couple of weeks of the year off and I'm
elongating it just a bit because now I'm a mom and I need a
little bit more time than just like 2 weeks.
So without, you know, doing anything actively for the
podcast, even though I am still kind of recording for 2025, but
nevertheless, this is the last episode of 2024.
Break out the tiny violin, which doesn't exist post editing, I
don't think, but just imagine it in your minds.
And the good news is, however, that the podcast will be back
the second week of January. And if I quickly look at my
calendar here, that makes January 7th the week that the
episode of the the podcast will be back, which is very, very
exciting. So just mark your calendars.
You get the first few days of January off.
And actually, I will be taking a much needed respite trip.
Hopefully everything works out. So that'll be really nice that I
can actually unplug and literally unplug before
returning to work and returning to the podcast on January 7th.
So, you know, of course I'm going to wrap up our episodes
for this year with, you know, kind of like a summary of what's
to come in 2025. And so I have a number of of
topics here, or I should say trends, I'll say that I think
are going to be super prevalent in 2025.
I'm not going to go into them too deeply.
And I should have started this episode by saying that I have a
cold. And so if I sound congested,
it's because I am and I'm really sorry.
But nevertheless, I'm going to spend time talking about the all
of these trends that I'm predicting will continue to be
prevalent if they're not already or or if they are already or if
they're not prevalent already, that they will become prevalent
in 2025. S before jumping into that, I
just want to, you know, start off by saying, well, I've
already started off, but you get what I'm saying.
I want to continue by saying thank you because this is the
fourth year of the podcast, and this is this episode
specifically is episode number two O 8.
And I really, truly could not have 208 episodes without you,
without my assistant, without my editor.
I mean, I'm just so, so grateful to all of the listeners and all
of the people in the background who helped me make this podcast
what it is. So thank you, thank you, and
thank you once again. Without further ado, let's jump
into the trends for 2025. Drum roll please.
The first is that human centric leadership will continue to
evolve. 90% of HR leaders believe human centric leadership
is crucial for success. And the key here is that we're
going to see a shift in moving from command and control to
empathy driven leadership, which we kind of have already seen,
right? Like we're, we've talked a lot
about this over the last 12 months, so to speak, even though
technically my podcast was on maternity leave with me, but you
get what I'm saying. The last calendar year.
The second trend that we really need to see, and we've talked
about this before, is the balance between AI and the
human. And again, as you know, there
have been a number of episodes where I've highlighted either on
my own or with a guest, the importance of seeing AI as a
tool rather than a takeover. And you know, the, the theme
here is that AI is an enhancement.
It's a tool, it's a resource. It's not intended to replace
what humans do. Maybe in some areas we're going
to see AI replace people. Like for example, if I don't
know, if we think about like an Amazon storefront, like there
are no people in that store in those stores.
And it's just like the computers and the technology and AI that
run that that store logistically.
So maybe we will see AI as a replacement there.
But generally speaking, the trend or the focus for 2025 here
is that we need to strike a balance between technology and
AI technology and human interference or interaction or,
you know, involvement. AI should be for routine tasks,
while humans should be focused on strategic thinking.
And there also needs to be literacy surrounding AI across
all organizations. When we think about not only how
people use AI, but also the security that concerns that
could come into question with improper use or set up of AI
technology. It's really important that
there's a a focus on literacy and regulation around AI.
And also, there is an emphasis that we need to place on ethical
and responsible use for AI. For example, companies that deal
with confidential information should make sure that their
employees are not entering confidential information into AI
tools unless they are. There's some proprietary
technology that enables them to do so.
But you know, for example, if you're using ChatGPT, you might
not want to put your Social Security number in there.
Just just going to go ahead on a limb and say that, but this is
just a very specific example, but if you're dealing with like
customer data or financial data, there has to be an awareness and
understanding of what responsible use looks like.
Our role as HR practitioners is to support the transition and
the collaboration between AI, technology and human
interaction. Also, we have to have to have to
reduce fear and build confidence around this because there is
nothing to be afraid of. If you are afraid that AI is
going to take over your job, you are not focused on the right
things. Focus on what you can control.
AI is here to stay, technology is here to stay.
No one is complaining about having a cell phone, right?
But 30 years ago or so when cell phones first hit the scene, try
to think of like the very first handheld cell phone that made of
maybe that was in the 80s or 90s.
Anyway, I digress. Like people might have had some
fear around it, but at the end of the day, like it's technology
and it's allowed us to move society forward in many ways.
So we have to reduce that sense of fear and help to build
confidence around what a collaborative, balanced approach
to technology combined with human interaction, what that
looks like. You know, I, I think I did an
episode on AI and job replacement and stuff like that.
There are ways that you can hopefully future proof your
jobs. And you know, when especially in
HR, we deal with a lot of people and we deal with things that are
nuanced, like are probably a little bit more complex than
just an, something in that that an algorithm can solve for.
And so, you know, those are things that you have to think
about in terms of like where you're spending your time.
Let technology and AI help you with mundane things so that you
can spend the bulk of your time on things that are more
strategic and more impactful on your organization.
And then finally, in this, you know, balance between AI and
human interaction, consider upskilling programs.
Like when we think about how we build confidence, we do have to
help people see where they can invest in themselves or be
invested in by their companies in order for their skills to be
fine-tuned and made more strong so that they can hopefully
again, future proof their careers.
Another trend here in reading through my notes.
Let me see which one. I think, you know, there's some
trends here that I think we've kind of covered, but you know,
I'm going to read it anyway. Personalization of work
experience and, you know, moving away from these outdated
workplace trends. I at first I was like, should I
even talk about this? Because we've talked about it a
lot. But you know, at the end of the
day, I think it's probably still going to be a trend because
there are still so many outdated workplace like workplace
instances. They're like rigid schedules,
one-size-fits-all approaches, performance metrics that are
like, you know, antiquated. And we had to move forward.
And like, the company that I work for is in workforce
management, and we talk a lot about this with scheduling and
automation. And turning hourly jobs into
good jobs is our mission. And so when we think about
moving forward in this trend, there has to be customization
and personalization around working hours, schedules,
development and individual development plans and paths, you
know, how we evaluate performance.
And of course, that is kind of like always something that we're
talking about in HR. But you know, a lot of this is
really like thinking about the individual, which I think is
something that will will probably always and hopefully
always be a trend. Another trend here, something
again that we talk a lot about is employee well-being an
engagement. And you know what?
Again, I think this will continue to be a trend until
workplaces get it right. And the reality is, is that
there's always gonna be a workplace out there that isn't
getting it right. The challenge here is addressing
this term, the great detachment where people are basically not
creating that sense of belonging within their organizations for
themselves. Like, they just do not attach to
their organizations. They detach, dissociate and are
not like super committed and invested.
And so some focus areas to improve that are around focusing
on mental health opportunities or options for people in terms
of benefits outside of the traditional employee assistance
program or EAP, integrating a work, the work and personal life
rather than just striking a balance.
You know, we heard from Megan Grace last week on Gen.
Z and what they want in the workplace.
And this kind of continues in this same focus area that there
has to be this harmony and integration between our work and
personal lives because there isn't a separation as much as
there used to be, at least. And then meaningful fulfilling
work and purposeful work has to continue to be the focus.
If someone is not feeling fulfilled in their work, that's
going to very significantly impact not only their happiness,
but their well-being, their engagement, and their success
and achievement at work and in the workplace.
So some strategies here are to focus on two way communication,
really having discussions with people and not just telling
people, but really offering up the opportunity to have
conversations, rebuilding or having a renaissance on the
culture of the organization. There are some things that I'm
doing in my role now that are certainly with the effort not
only to refocus, but maybe in some ways to rebuild and have a
renaissance on our culture. And even if it's redundant for
some people, it's really meaningful because culture is so
impactful on people's experiences at work.
And then finally, I, I know you've probably heard me say it
a million times, especially if you've been here since the
beginning, but I always like to say we bring our whole selves to
work. So in that same breath, we have
to focus on the whole person when we are developing them,
when we're, you know, helping them to move forward in their
careers. The entire person has to be part
of that rather than Tracy at work versus Tracy at home.
This is we are developing Tracy or we are developing Susie
salesperson, right? So bringing that whole self to
work and developing that whole self at work.
Three more trends for you all to think about and digest here.
Skills and development evolution is one of them.
We've already kind of touched on this topic of upskilling, but
here's a statistic for you. 6 in 10 employees will need skill
based training by 2027. And you know what?
I wouldn't be surprised if that statistic was low because if you
think about the number of layoffs, the number of
organizational changes, the number of people who have gone
without training to begin with in the last, I don't know, four
or five years. I think it goes without saying
that there are a lot of people working today or, or who will be
working who have not had any kind of skills based training at
all. And you know what, if that's
the, the statistic, let's just get everybody's upskilled.
Let's get everyone trained on the things that they need within
their roles or within their careers, professions, whatever.
And let's get them to be as close to 100% as possible.
You know, some shifts that I think we'll see or that we're
the there will be a shift from tenure based to skills based
evaluations. So, you know, we've seen a lot
of companies unfortunately layoff very tenured or senior
members of their team. So skills are going to be very,
very, very important. Transferable skills as well as
skills that are acquired overtime.
I mean, these things are super important.
Continuous learning will need to become essential.
If we know that 6 and 10 employees will need this skill
based training in the next basically two years, then we
know that learning has to be a part of the framework and the
fabric of an organization. And by the way, hopefully this
goes without saying, skills are both are, are both technical and
the power skills, as my friend Erin Deal likes to say.
And rather than soft skills and those skills, the technical and
the power are, are really important because when working
in tandem, you have some magic that's happening there.
And you know, when we think about how we make all of this
happen, we have to look at some learning platforms probably.
We need to think about how we teach adaptability and agility
so that people can kind of move and ebb and flow with the change
in approach to skills and, and training and learning and things
like that. And there will have to just
continue to be development of obtaining new skills,
transferring skills across departments, across careers.
Like things are not stagnant anymore.
They're not static either. You know, I would say
organizations require a lot of agility from people.
And I think the people who are able to be the most agile and
the most adaptable are the ones who tend to continue to kind of,
you know, shed their skin and find new ways to remain really
important to organizations. So something we'll probably
continue to see. And the second to last trend
here is that businesses will hopefully focus on
sustainability and being eco conscious.
And so some emerging trends that we see around or that we're
seeing around this are booms, a boom I should say, in green
jobs, a focus on the environmental elements and
stewardships of stewardship, excuse me, of these types of
jobs. And then very conscious best
best practices within businesses.
And I would imagine that remote work continues to emphasize this
sustainability. I, I think many companies
continue to offer remote or hybrid work options for some of
these reasons, which is great to see.
And you know, certainly from a human element of things, people
will have to continue to align their work with personal values.
And we've talked about it before that when people are working in
organizations where they feel alignment on their values, there
is a huge awakening for a person and a a sense of really like
belonging and, and community for that person, because there's a
values alignment and a values match there, which will continue
to be really important. Also, companies, especially
those within these emerging trends, will and should create
purpose driven roles and build sustainable careers.
You know, the things are always changing.
I mean, even when we think about 10 years ago, like what the way
that social media wasn't necessarily like a business and
now you have like thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe
millions of people who are content creators and
influencers. I mean, when we think about
sustainability, my question for them is how do you future proof
your jobs? Because that job is a product of
this massive progressive innovation that didn't exist
before, like content creation in this way, like with social media
and like buying and selling on an app.
These are all like super, super new innovations.
And while they probably are here to stay at least for a
significant period of time, just like anything else, there's the
potential for it not to be sustainable.
Like I always bring it back to Blockbuster.
Blockbuster probably thought that they had it made for
eternity. And then here comes Netflix
jumping on the scene, right? So how do these people in these
jobs, even for ourselves, we might not be content creators or
you know, on social media and we still have this call to action
to focus on the sustainability in our careers.
How do we future proof our our careers from emerging
technologies that could otherwise really challenge the
landscape for us? Now we talk about this a little
bit in AI. And I would imagine that with
the right responsibilities and regulations applied within
organizations that there won't be this replacement effect as
we've talked about before. But there's a really big
emphasis I think and and we'll see this I, I believe in 2025 on
the sustainability. And I think one of the best
things that people can do is acquire transferable skills,
diversify themselves, do what you can to invest in yourself.
And you're learning and you're growing.
All of those things are investments.
Like you're never going to waste time when you're focusing on
upskilling your own skills, right?
You're never going to waste your time if you're finding ways to
invest in yourself. So do more of that.
And then the last, I think key trend for 2025 is on workplace
connection. And I talked about it in an
episode. I think that's coming out in
2025. I don't think it came out yet,
but yeah, I think it's coming out in toward the end of
January. But it's about connection and
connectivity at work. So you'll hear more about this
already in one of the first episodes of the new year from
me. So this is a last but not least
trend for 2025. Like this is going to continue
to be very, very important. You know, we'll continue to see
hybrid work evolve. We'll also continue to see
remote work evolve. People are not giving up on the
remote life. People are also not giving up on
the hybrid life. I think that the hybrid work
methodology is probably what's going to end up being the
reigning champion for most companies because it kind of is
where this balance is struck between business needs and
employer employee demands. At the same time, I think remote
work, I don't think they're going to be so far away from one
another. I think hybrid and remote are
going to be like top 2 and then full in office is going to be
last in in the top three. I don't, I know very few people
who want to be in the office full time.
And I think that's for a very good reason because people want
flexibility and they want to have more time in their busy
weeks and remote, I mean, in person work, excuse me, doesn't
really offer that compared to remote or hybrid work.
So we'll continue to see more on on that.
However, what we do plan to see, and Megan mentioned this a
little bit last week also that people want and they do value
very deeply in person connection.
And we talked about this with regard to Gen.
Z last week, because it's kind of like you want to have the
remote work flexibility and you also want to have the
opportunity and the option of meeting in person.
And so we'll probably continue to see that.
And then, of course, because of these demands and the way that
connectivity and connection in general have changed and will
continue to evolve, we'll probably see new technologies
that are more immersive, excuse me, that drive this, you know,
very unique type of connection and hopefully foster more
collaboration as well. But it would be really
interesting to see what technologies come out of this
very significant demand and push from both employees and
employers. Culturally speaking, we know
it's very difficult to build community across time zones and
geographies and countries. And so that will continue to be
a major topic in 2025 while also maintaining a human connection
in this digital age. I think I might have mentioned
that this, it seems like the pendulum is swinging a little
bit. It was like fully swung into
being 100% or 100% digital and social in the last like 20
years. And now it's kind of like, well,
maybe not even the last twenty, maybe in the last like 10 or 15.
And then now it's kind of like, well, we want less of that
actually and we want a little bit more of that in person
connection. So it'll be interesting to see
that as well. And then of course, we hopefully
this goes without saying, but all of this requires inclusive
environments and that the places and the environments in which
people are working foster inclusivity and belonging and
diversity and equity because all of those things matter.
And so with that, you know, the common thread here across all of
these sources, which by the way, all of these articles where I
kind of pulled these 2025 trends from looking ahead, all of these
links will be in the show notes. But the common thread here, the
invisible string if you will, is the need to balance both the
technological advancement with the human connection.
And I believe that successful organizations in 2025 will be
the the those who can leverage new technologies while
strengthening human relationships and personal
development. The companies that can do that
are going to be on top in 2025. So you heard it here first.
Those are my predictions, but also these are borrowed from
many articles, which again, will be LinkedIn, the show notes.
So I think it probably won't even come as a surprise any of
these to you because they are, you know, already being talked
about. So with that said, I, again, I'm
so grateful that you have been here for another year in its
entirety. I can't believe we're already at
the end of 2024, but I wish you a very healthy, happy, quiet,
relaxing, successful, peaceful, and meaningful holiday season.
Like, how many more adjectives can I come up with?
But yes, please, I hope it's a wonderful holiday season for
everyone. I will of course still be
reachable on Instagram and LinkedIn and e-mail.
So if you want to continue to connect, please feel free.
Otherwise, I will see you January 7th, 2025 for the next
episode. And in the meantime, catch up on
some episodes you haven't listened to.
Share this podcast with a friend, rate 5 stars if you feel
so inclined, leave a review, whatever you can do.
I really appreciate it because your dedication to listening to
these episodes really matters a lot to me and I deeply, deeply
appreciate it. So without that, without further
ado, without taking you on a longer journey than I've already
taken you on, I bid you adieu. 2024 Thank you for everything
and I will see you in the new year.
Thanks everyone. Bye.
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Them thank you so much for tuning in and I'll see you next
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