HR Trend Radar 2025: Rethinking HR Operating Models

What will define HR success in 2025? Leonard Kluck, Head of HR Excellence at Dr. Wieselhuber & Partner, highlights the need for HR to go beyond the basics. From reshaping operating models to balancing performance and culture, the HR Trend Radar 2025 offers actionable insights for navigating the future.

On a scale of 1 to 10: Which trends require leaving the comfort zone and what impact do they have on functional work tasks? The HR Trend Radar 2025 provides classification and orientation.

Deployment of disruptive HR operating models – IMPACT 10

In the challenging economic situation faced by many companies, the purely administrative focus of HR management on basic tasks such as payroll, contract management and data maintenance is no longer sufficient. An HR department that neglects more far-reaching issues or deals with them in “firefighting mode” often fails to meet the requirements of reorganization and transformation programs.

To enable HR to support “intelligent rightsizing” and smart resource reallocation instead of “across-the-board downsizing” in this context, it is necessary to critically rethink the HR operating model. New HR operating models are aligned with the specific requirements of the respective business and operating model and set differentiated priorities.

Service and technology companies, for example, prioritize comprehensive support for their employees along a holistic employee journey (state-of-the-art employee experience model), which aims to achieve continuous development, resilience and high satisfaction and improves the quality of collaboration and leadership.

In contrast, process-oriented manufacturing companies primarily focus on specific core processes in HR management to address critical areas of action. Comprehensive recruitment of skilled workers, as well as targeted training and development paths, are the focus here in order to meet the special challenges of personnel planning in a stable and sustainable manner.

High-performance sales teams – IMPACT 9

Particularly in sales, as the direct interface to the customer and a key factor for customer loyalty, sales growth and stabilization, a stringent and finely tuned employee journey is becoming increasingly important. It helps to effectively prevent phenomena such as “silent quitting” and to promote the sustainable retention of employees and high motivation. Starting with the targeted, business model-specific approach of qualified talent, through efficient recruitment and onboarding processes, to continuous development through customized career paths, each element of the HR value chain must be precisely interlinked.

Effective HR services and transparent offboarding processes, complemented by an active alumni network, also strengthen employer branding and the appeal of the sales organization. A consistent focus on a holistic HR value creation promotes the development of highly motivated, high-performance sales teams that contribute significantly to corporate success through customer focus and sales orientation.

Protecting corporate cultural identity in the context of digitalization and automation – IMPACT 8

The fusion of disruptive technologies with the human factor in the organization is increasingly becoming the core of a complex area of tension in modern HR management. Highly efficient process and impact chains, supported by AI and automation, are central priorities for companies seeking to maximize value optimization. Routine tasks – manual and digital – are being automated, as are data management, evaluation and the development of solution-oriented process models. This creates space to focus on refining operationally valuable and tactically and strategically relevant tasks.

However, a “zombie” organization geared exclusively towards performance and technocracy risks descending into sterile impersonality – with potentially high opportunity costs in the context of personnel. HR management must actively maintain a balance between a focus on performance and corporate identity in order to avert the risks of a “characterless, creativity-free enterprise” and at the same time ensure that the perspective goes beyond pure recruiting and the organization remains a living, socio-economic entity.

HR Trend Radar 2025: “Servant Leadership” as a fixed leadership skill – IMPACT 8

Many companies and managers are now faced with the question of how to inspire their teams and motivate them to achieve top performance. Where traditional delegation models have long shaped disciplinary and technical management structures, a new understanding and model of leadership is increasingly gaining ground in German medium-sized companies. To continuously motivate teams and at the same time maximize the potential of young and experienced talent, managers are increasingly having to take on the role of motivator and coach (servant leadership).

This coaching management style is characterized by a high degree of empathy and is designed to absorb emotional stress, have a de-escalating effect and thus create the necessary framework for employees to develop. In this context, it is crucial for managers in medium-sized companies to maintain a balance between between a distinct leadership style and a trusting relationship. A clear company-wide leadership model provides the basis for offering employees the necessary impetus with a sense of proportion, without completely abandoning classic hierarchical structures.

Successful employer branding through personalized employee experience – IMPACT 7

In the face of a shortage of skilled workers and an aging workforce, employer branding is becoming a strategic core of HR management. Companies must communicate their values and strengths clearly and authentically in order to attract talent in a targeted manner. This positioning in the “war for talent” requires a well-founded self-analysis by HR management: only those who clearly define their identity and employer value proposition (EVP) can develop an employer brand that is convincing in the long term. This is no longer communicated dominantly through online presences and job ads, but rather through the employees themselves.

The authentic communication of personal company experiences turns the workforce into “living advertising media”. Digital platforms such as Kununu, Glassdoor or LinkedIn act as catalysts and exponentially increase the influence of employer ratings. Employees publicly nominate their companies as “top companies” or cause serious, often irreversible damage to the employer’s image with negative ratings.

Targeted development programs that are aligned with specific job profiles and an integrative learning and feedback culture are therefore a central element of a positive employee experience. This culture takes into account team dynamics as well as individual needs and tasks – and thus contributes to the long-term retention of employees and strengthening of the employer brand.

Please also read the following articles:

• Communication and Value-Based Management
• Restructuring Without Change Management? Think Again.
• Unleash Potential: Three High-Impact Levers for a Thriving Learning Culture

Leonard Kluck

Leonard Kluck ist Head of HR Excellence bei der Management-Beratung Dr. Wieselhuber & Partner (W&P).

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