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ISSUE 245 – Synopsis – March 2025
ISSUE 245 – MARCH 2025
EVP
Never before has the necessity for a contemporary and competitive Employee Value Proposition been so acute. In 2025, the EVP is far and away the most discussed, analysed and considered element of the employer/employee relationship and is integral to attracting and retaining top talent, whilst communicating a compelling message to all stakeholders. The five pillars of EVP: Compensation, total rewards package, career advancement opportunities, contribution to the world and culture, are still the key points of reference that align employees with the organisation’s mission and are part of the fundamental benchmarks in advocacy, equity and inclusion within an organisation. But the world of work has fundamentally changed and so have the rules of engagement. Remote and hybrid working are an expectation, not a perk and part of the EVP is to support work-life balance, enabling autonomy and empowerment. Boundaries are being pushed and tested – there is some push and pull in every organisation – but hybrid work models are here to stay and so the EVP is about blending the best of in-person collaboration, with the freedom of remote working. In this competitive landscape, talent is looking for inspiring cultures, career growth and meaningful work and attraction and retention is not just about physical reward and remuneration, it’s about appreciation, recognition and continuous development.
Digitalisation of tools and practices
2025 is a milestone year on the digital transformation roadmap, marking progress of the ongoing journey of the integration of digital technologies and digitised data across the world of work, the economy and society. The scale is huge and complex – with almost all job roles impacted – and that requires a digital workplace strategy that delivers cohesive digital employee experiences, is integral to smooth integration and builds a resilient technology foundation to support people with the right tools and capabilities. Yet many business are operating under a traditional model – vertically-integrated, hiring full-time employees on fixed salaries – even though the traditional way of doing business is quickly becoming outdated. Indeed, almost every employer is now, to varying degrees, a remote and hybrid digital workplace and the digital employee experience (DEX) has become a critical factor in operating efficiently and competitively in the hybrid/remote setting. But where many organisations struggle with transition is placing all of the focus on the tools, rendering employees outside of the equation until the point of adoption. Crucially, early and ongoing discussions about the context of work and how digitalisation will change operations and impact employees working lives is essential to individuals gaining confidence, developing new required skills and adapting in time for change, not in reaction. Digital technologies are changing the world of work dramatically and irreversibly and how employers react and evolve will define competitiveness, agility and commercial success.
Conflict management
There is a growing appreciation that not all conflict is bad in the world of work and business – the perils of groupthink and siloed mindsets in a fast-moving era, are well documented – and conflict can be constructive, as readily as it can be destructive. But as we strive towards greater diversity in thought and background, people management becomes more complex, nuanced and non-binary and conflict is inevitably on the increase. So how can managers and team leaders identify the differences between positive and negative conflict, in order to maintain a shared sense of purpose and direction, as well as keeping conflict in positive territory? Thriving in a diverse team is a blend of empathy, confidence and trust – empathy to understand and appreciate how the personal life journeys of others will have shaped their understanding and responses to situations – while confidence and trust means giving opinion, without fear of feeling bullied into agreement for a quiet life. For managers and leaders, the escalation of negative conflict was more clearly signposted in the conventional, physical workplace and so the increase of virtual teamwork presents new dynamics that require adaptation, in terms of emotional intellect, communication skills and developing mediation skills for ad-hoc communication and collaboration in the course of day-to-day operations. It’s about understanding the difference between conflict management, conflict resolution and conflict transformation and the importance of transforming conflict for long term sustainable change of relationships, culture and contexts. It’s identifying behaviours and attitudes of others in situations of conflict – in particular recognising signs of high conflict or challenging behaviours – and that means heightened awareness in hybrid and virtual team operations. There are no specific legal obligations on having conflict management processes in place, although there are certain laws and regulations that need to be considered in conflict management – although notably, none have been adapted to remote/virtual work settings.
Future proofing your organisation
Predictions are that 50 percent of companies listed in the S&P 500 will not be in business in ten years’ time and will be superseded by new enterprises. Economic uncertainty, market disruption, geopolitical instability and continuously changing consumer behaviour sit beneath the broiling sea, as an imperfect storm rages, putting businesses under constant existential threat. One thing is sure, history will teach us nothing – these are unprecedented times – and organisations can no longer rely on technical expertise, industry savvy, venerable knowledge and gut instinct to make decisions about the future. There is no breathing space in which to lavish time and resources into workforce planning for the next three-to-five years and so businesses need to continually adapt to new opportunities and to fend off challenges. There is a constant pressure to recalibrate organisational structure and this can impact the business model, size and people at all levels, creating a constantly disrupted environment that requires resilience, agility and pragmatism. So, how can accurate change be made at speed and scale? This is the era of continuous organisational transformation – not just incremental tweaking and adjusting – rather it is reimagining and reshaping to better align with strategic vision and equanimous, to adapt to new opportunities and confront emerging challenges, ready and confident. As with all of our subject this issue, we welcome your synopsis for potential articles, which can shine a light on the road ahead.
As with all of our subjects in issue 245, we welcome your expert knowledge and ideas for potential articles, to shine a light on the future challenges and opportunities that our readership faces in 2025.
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