SHRM 25, the world’s largest HR conference
MHR’s global team have been attending HR events across the US, most recently SHRM 25 in San Diego. They’ve spoken to hundreds of HR professionals about the challenges they’re facing, the systems they’re using, and the strategies they’re prioritising. Let’s take a look at their main takeaways.
HR’s top priorities and challenges in 2025
After asking HR professionals from across the US about the challenges they’re facing, it was clear that employee engagement, system integration, and retention are HR’s top challenges right now.
Employee engagement
Dispersed, hybrid, or remote working can lead to a lack of communication, making it harder for HR to drive employee engagement across their organisation. This was ranked as HR’s top challenge, with 22% saying they struggle to build a motivated, connected workforce.
Retention
The labour shortage in the US is creating retention problems for HR departments in lots of different sectors, who are losing top talent to their competitors. It's no surprise, then, that 19% ranked reducing employee turnover as their top challenge.
HR systems integration and automation
System integration and automation was next on the list, with 17% saying it’s their biggest challenge. HR commonly deals with a large tech stack, with multiple systems for HR and employee data, recruitment, onboarding, payroll and employee engagement. Manual processes are also common, with reliance on spreadsheets to keep track of data, leading to duplication and double keying.
Leadership development
16% thought that preparing leadership for change was a challenge, saying that leadership can often be stuck in their ways and resistant to change, especially when it comes to buying in to new HR systems.
Company culture
14% ranked company culture as their biggest challenge. Employees’ expectations are shifting, with many now wanting to work for an organisation with the same values and morals as them. Without building a strong company culture, organisations will continue to lose talent to their competition.
