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Beyond the Announcement: Negotiating the RTO Mandate

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Beyond the Announcement: Negotiating the RTO Mandate

The Great Resignation, the tragic COVID era, and the rise of remote work—just as companies and employees were beginning to find a balance, the return-to-office chapter started to unfold.

Of course, this has turned out to be one of those instances where the workforce and the management just cannot seem to see eye to eye.

Even as HR teams continue to grapple with the issues around their organizations’ return to office mandates, we decided to check in with the HR Spotlight community of HR and business leaders to see how they’ve handled their RTO transitions and if they had any lessons to pass on.

Read on!

Lydia Valberg
Co-President, Merchant Payment Services

Lydia Valberg – Co-President, Merchant Payment Services

As co-owner of MPS, my approach to employee communication regarding return-to-office (RTO) policies stemmed from the values of transparency and community. I made sure to involve employees in discussions early on, ensuring they felt valued in shaping the policy.

An employee once shared that their customer interactions improved significantly with remote work, citing specific instances where being home allowed for faster problem resolution thanks to fewer distractions.

To address these concerns, we leveraged our Customer Management Tools, which offer detailed insights into client behavior and preferences. This data demonstrated that trust and satisfaction between clients and staff were at an all-time high during remote periods.

It was compelling enough for us to design a flexible RTO policy, ensuring that we maintain strong client relationships while respecting the preferences of our team.

This experience reaffirmed the MPS philosophy that fostering authentic relationships leads to better outcomes.

Much like our dedication to transparency with clients, engaging employees through transparent and data-backed discussions led to a policy that upholds both operational efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Tanya Troshyna
Product and People Leader, Tanya Troshyna

Tanya Troshyna – Product and People Leader

Leading global teams taught me that the biggest challenge wasn’t the policy itself but understanding the deeply personal impact of RTO decisions.

The most memorable perspective came from a top performer who explained how their productivity had actually increased at home, sharing data showing a 40% improvement in output and better work-life integration.

This led us to adopt a hybrid approach that balanced team collaboration needs with individual productivity patterns.

Rather than enforcing blanket policies, we created flexibility around core collaboration hours, which ultimately improved both retention and performance.

Ryan Carter
CEO & Founder, NetSharx

Ryan Carter – CEO & Founder, NetSharx

Navigating RTO policies at NetSharx Technology Partners was a unique challenge given our commitment to transparency and long-term relationships.

One story that stuck with me was from an employee who expressed concerns over losing the collaboration benefits we had honed while working remotely. He emphasized how our cloud-based technologies facilitated better cross-team interactions and faster decision-making remotely, leading to unexpected efficiency gains.

To address this, we leveraged our TechFindr platform, normally used for matching clients to providers, to collect internal feedback and usage patterns from remote work setups. This data was crucial in understanding the real impact on company dynamics and played a pivotal role in devising a hybrid model that respected those benefits.

It wasn’t just about bringing people back into the office; it was about rethinking our collaboration practices to retain those efficiencies.

NetSharx has always been about providing a vendor-agnostic perspective, and I applied this approach internally as well.

By being open to employee feedback and agnostic about the RTO solution-whether it was remote, in-office, or hybrid-we could create an environment where our team felt heard and aligned with our mission of providing extraordinary service.

Bryan Driscoll
HR Consultant, Bryan J. Driscoll, JD, LLC

Bryan Driscoll – HR Consultant

Most RTO plans are just thinly veiled power plays.

For jobs that can be done remotely, forcing people back into cubicles is about one thing: control. It’s not about collaboration, productivity, or culture; it’s about managers needing to feel in charge.

One of my clients asked me to chat with employees about their RTO plans and one of the employees said, “If my work speaks for itself, why does someone need to watch me do it?”

That hit hard because it exposes the real issue: trust. For companies still pushing RTO, my advice is simple: focus on outcomes, not butts in seats.

Angelique Hamilton
CEO & Founder, HR Chique Group

Angelique Hamilton – CEO & Founder, HR Chique Group

As an HR executive, implementing our RTO policy was one of the toughest challenges I faced.

Balancing the company’s operational needs with our employees’ concerns required careful consideration and empathy.

I’ll never forget when one team member pleaded, “Please don’t force RTO on us.” That moment really struck a chord and reminded me of the impact this decision had on people’s lives.

It emphasized the importance of flexibility and understanding in our approach, even as we worked towards bringing people back to the office.

Meghan Calhoun
Co-Founder & Director of Partner Success, Give River

Meghan Calhoun – Co-Founder & Director of Partner Success, Give River

Navigating the return-to-office policy was an eye-opener. At Give River, we’re all about creating positive work environments, and understanding employee views is vital.

One comment that lingers with me came from a working mom who described the joy and satisfaction she found balancing work and parenting during remote days. Her insight pushed me to evaluate the impacts of physical presence on employee emotions and family dynamics.

The key was empathy and recognition. Through our platform’s gratitude features, we found that real-time employee recognition decreased stress and increased productivity regardless of the workspace. This encouraged us to integrate more flexible options and to acknowledge employee needs fully. The psychological boost from feeling valued outweighed the rigidness of typical office settings.

In terms of data, Gallup’s research on employee engagement supports this notion, showing 22% higher profitability with engaged workforces.

So looking at these insights, we focused on enhancing remote engagement by gamifying recognition and wellness, meeting our employees where they feel most productive. This approach respects their personal needs while driving company goals effectively.

Naomi Clarke
Head of HR & Chief Diversity Officer, Flingster

Naomi Clarke – Head of HR & Chief Diversity Officer, Flingster

When we decided to implement an RTO policy at Flingster, a hybrid tech startup where remote work had become a core part of our culture, it was anything but smooth sailing.

The initial decision stemmed from leadership’s belief that face-to-face collaboration could spark creativity and strengthen team dynamics. However, communicating this policy revealed significant blind spots in our approach, and the employee response was both vocal and unforgettable.

We announced the RTO policy during an all-hands meeting, followed by an email detailing the schedule and rationale. The email aimed to highlight the benefits of in-person collaboration but lacked sufficient acknowledgment of the flexibility and autonomy employees had grown to value.

The response was immediate and passionate. Employees expressed their discontent in anonymous surveys, Slack channels, and even direct meetings with HR.
One employee made a poignant point during a one-on-one: “Why should I spend hours commuting when I’ve proven my productivity working from home? This feels more like a lack of trust than a strategy.”

Resistance came in many forms—missed commutes were the minor gripe. More concerning were increased turnover rates, productivity dips, and even a sense of disengagement among teams.

The most striking example of dissent was a mid-level manager who staged a “team protest,” where several members worked from a co-working space rather than coming to the office, underscoring their preference for flexibility over a corporate mandate.

Ultimately, the backlash led us to re-evaluate the policy.
We pivoted back to a hybrid model, offering more structured flexibility. The experience taught us an invaluable lesson: successful policy changes must account for employees’ lived experiences, not just leadership’s aspirations.

RTO mandates need to be conversations, not commands, balancing business goals with the realities of a modern workforce.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

Recent Posts

Unlocking HR Efficiency: A Quick Guide to Must-Have HR Tools

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Unlocking HR Efficiency: A Quick Guide to Must-Have HR Tools

The HR stack is more than just a powerful collection of tools that can automate tasks; these tools come together to form the foundations of an HR team’s work, enabling them to work with efficiency and focus on employee experience.

We checked in with our HR community to find out more about their HR stack, and specifically, on their go-to HR tool that transforms their processes into a well-oiled machine.

The responses we received showed us just why some tools are a clear favorite. Bamboo HR, of course, emerges as a winner, but there are others that have made an impression on our HR leaders too.

Read on!

Makeda DuBose
Career and Leadership Development Coach, HiRe Purpose Solutions

Workday

Workday is a favorite HR tool of mine because of its multifunctional capabilities. We can track applicants via the cloud platform as well as run reports, payroll, offer letters, save attachments, and fully onboarding new hires making for a seamless hiring process.

Chris Dukich
Owner, Display Now

BambooHR

As an HR expert and owner of Display Now, a SaaS company revolutionizing screen-based marketing, the indispensable tool in our HR tech stack is BambooHR. This platform centralizes our employee data, streamlines onboarding, and automates performance management, allowing us to focus on strategic initiatives rather than manual processes.

BambooHR’s intuitive design ensures quick adoption by our team, and its reporting features offer insights that guide data-driven decisions. For example, tracking turnover trends has helped us implement proactive retention strategies, critical for sustaining our innovative workforce.

In an industry where agility and scalability are key, BambooHR supports our HR goals by providing a solid foundation for team growth, enhancing employee experiences, and aligning talent management with organizational objectives. It’s a cornerstone of our ability to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market.

Iqbal Ahmad
Founder & CEO, Britannia Training Centre

Bitrx24

The one tool which we cannot live without is Bitrx24.

We have set up different rules in our HR manual to make sure everyone is abiding by them, this is where Bitrix24 came in with its unique features. For instance, it offers a Clock In, Clock Out feature which helps our HR team to detect easily who came on time or late.
It also helps our employees to request leaves or holidays directly from the application. I can say it is one of the best tools for HR-related matters and for internal communication.

David Milo
HR Expert and Owner, Independent Lending

Pymetrics

Pymetrics is the HR application that our Human Resources department would not let go of come 2025. Pymetrics is the perfect example of how technology can disrupt HR processes. Instead of using traditional psychometric recruitment tests, it employs neuroscience gaming to assess the emotional and cognitive dimensions of the applicants.

What is the differentiating factor in Pymetrics?

Rather, the keystone of Pymetrics is its predictive analysis, through which we can now determine a candidate’s fit using their personality rather than sifting through countless resumes. Rather than the usual boring approaches to improvement, we’ve integrated constructive and entertaining games that improve desired traits such as cooperation and flexibility into our recruitment strategy.

What is even more remarkable? The reason why we recruited more is the bias that conventional methods of recruitment have towards and irrationally over-valorizes qualifications. The side effect of this is that we discovered new talent that we never expected and have been able to create a more favorable atmosphere.

This is quite strange but interestingly enough can be a strong reason for Pymetrics’ effectiveness: the empathy factor.

Interestingly, we have confirmed a hypothesis that those who completed Pymetrics are more satisfied with the hiring process. Such candidates view the hiring process from a relatively different lens which in turn bolsters our reputation as a desirable employer in the marketplace.

Sean Smith
CEO & Head of HR, Alpas Wellness

BambooHR

Bamboo HR is one of the must have tools in our HR tech stack. It drives all of our HR processes, onboarding, performance tracking and everything in-between. However, it stands out from the crowd in that it helps to cluster data about employees into one place, automating repetitive admin work and providing real-time analytics.

BambooHR, for example, has developed an amazing applicant tracking system that allows our team to seamlessly find the top talent in a very personal way. In addition, its self-service tools are user-friendly and allow our team to drive transparency and engagement.

What I also love about it is how it maps to our mission in the organization: making more time for what truly matters, developing people. In a field as valuable, and delicate, as behavioral health, where the well-being of our employees is directly related to the outcomes of patients, something like this keeps us on track for cultivating a culture of care, growth and excellence.

John Brooks
Content Specialist, Coinvesting

JoinHomebase

We use JoinHomebase to streamline our HR operations, and it has been a game changer for our staff. The scheduling option allows us to easily develop and exchange shift plans, which reduces confusion and saves us time. Their time-tracking solution also ensures payroll accuracy, reducing errors and making paydays less stressful for everyone.

What I like best is the messaging feature; it keeps communication clear and helps the entire team stay engaged. Furthermore, the compliance help and performance tracking capabilities provide us confidence that we are adhering to labor rules and providing fair support to our workforce.

Using JoinHomebase lets us spend less time on admin work and more time on what matters—keeping our employees happy and focused. It’s been a key part of reaching our HR goals.

Kraig Kleeman
Founder and CEO, The New Workforce

Inhouse Engagement Platform

Running an HR department without an engagement platform is like playing hide-and-seek in the dark—only you’re it, and nobody bothered to hide. With real-time feedback, we flipped the switch on clarity, and suddenly, growth didn’t just knock—it barged in.”

As the Founder and CEO of The New Workforce, I’ve noticed that one of the tools that has become essential for our HR technology group is our employee engagement platform. Honestly, it was a game changer. Imagine this: Before we implemented it, tracking everyone’s feedback and keeping communication open was like trying to fool around in the dark. Now we can see in real time how the team is feeling, resolve issues faster, and ensure everyone’s voice is heard. This not only keeps the team happy and engaged, but it also motivates our productivity and drives the growth we’re known for.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

Recent Posts

Employer Branding Done Right: The Best Ways to Showcase Company Culture

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Employer Branding Done Right: The Best Ways to Showcase Company Culture

A strong employer brand emerges from elements like a positive work environment, employee opportunities for growth and fulfillment, and value-aligning efforts in every avenue of the workplace and business.

We asked our community of HR leaders and business experts their idea of company culture and how they showcased their employer branding to align with the thriving cultural nuances they follow in their workplaces.

Here’s a lineup of responses we received to show you just how employer branding looks when done right!

Read on!

Yosef Adde
Owner, I Buy Houses Torrance

It’s All About Alignment

I’ve found that showcasing a company’s culture is just as important as presenting the right property to a buyer—it’s about alignment. At I Buy Houses Torrance, we highlight our collaborative and service-driven environment by sharing real client success stories through platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram.
Using testimonials, clips of making-of, and team memories we reach out to prospects who believe in the form and values of our company namely integrity, speed and customer-centric approach. For us, LinkedIn has been especially useful in reaching out to people who share our purpose and the objective of making real estate services effortless.
Be it our socials or our friendly website, we make sure all or any channels are upholding excellence and teamwork which builds a pool of similar individuals.

Kalim Khan
Co-Founder, Affinity Law

Focusing on People, Not Just Results

Personal and professional fulfillment is important to all of us, especially to new hires. Beyond case wins, we take every chance to celebrate every employee’s achievements, whether it’s work-related or a personal project. For example, our junior accountant recently passed his final CPA exam so we celebrated this win with a nice dinner and showcased it on our LinkedIn.


To attract top talent, we use platforms like LinkedIn to share real stories of how our team overcomes challenges together, highlighting the supportive and inclusive culture we’ve built.


By focusing on people, not just results, we’ve created a narrative that resonates deeply with those looking for meaningful careers.

James Ellis
Owner & Chief Brander, Employer Brand Labs

Stand Out with Unique Workplace Culture

Right now 99.99% of HR and business leaders are doing everything they can to not stand out. They post “We’re hiring!” messages on social media using the same Canva templates. Their career sites make the copy cat claims of being innovative, supportive and mission-driven without evidence, explanation or description. They run their job postings through ChatGPT to make them “read better” but without providing any more detail on what is being offered of value to the candidate or why someone should bother to keep reading, let alone apply. Their review site responses all follow the same pattern. Their outreach uses the same default messaging everyone else uses.

To a candidate, these companies are cardboard cutouts of one another racing to the bottom, turning their roles into bland commodities that are selected via coin toss.

So if you have the courage to do anything intentionally that defines, illustrates and proves a company’s unique workplace environment and culture, if you have documented your differentiated value to the point where it is clearly the foundation of every single recruitment message, you are already among the top 1% of companies hiring today.

Linda Scorzo
CEO, Hiring Indicators

Use Competency-Based Assessments

Showcasing your unique workplace environment and values is critical in today’s competitive talent landscape, where top candidates are looking for more than just a paycheck-they’re seeking alignment with a company’s culture and mission.

One of the most effective ways to communicate your company culture is by integrating competency-based assessments into your hiring process. They not only help you evaluate a candidate’s skills and potential but also ensure they align with the specific values and behavioral tendencies that thrive within your organization. By identifying key competencies tied to your culture – such as collaboration, innovation, or adaptability – you can highlight how your workplace fosters these traits and attract candidates who are motivated to contribute meaningfully in those areas.

When it comes to platforms, LinkedIn remains a standout for promoting culture and values through authentic storytelling, employee testimonials, and visuals that bring your environment to life. Don’t overlook the power of candidate-focused content on your career page or through video-future hires love to see the “faces behind the brand.”

Pair this with competency assessments, and you’re doing more than talking about your values; you’re actively incorporating them into the hiring process, ensuring the people you bring on board aren’t just capable but truly connected to your culture.

Gavin McMahon
Co-founder & Co-CEO, fassforward

Aligning Culture with Strategy

People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.

Imagine a gentle breeze. You can’t see it, you can’t touch it, but you can feel it. That’s a lot like organizational culture—a powerful, hidden force.

Culture is not written down; it is distributed in people’s heads. Culture is how we do things around here. It drives behavior, guides decisions, and determines whether a company rises or falls. When culture aligns with strategy, it acts as a tailwind, accelerating execution. But when it’s misaligned, it becomes a headwind, slowing everything down.

Shaping culture can seem like trying to catch the wind. The task is to build a culture that is cohesive and aligned with the organization’s goals, despite these complexities.

Culture can be shaped in six simple steps:

#1 – Break down and analyze your culture.
#2 – Align strategy, purpose, and culture.
#3 – Embed culture into work.
#4 – Use AI to uncover opportunities.
#5 – Tell stories to shape culture.
#6 – Continuously cultivate culture.

Jason Atakhanov
Founder, Setsail Marketing

Doubling Down on Our Culture

We attract like-minded talent by doubling down on our culture – passion for our individual work. The culture is rooted in collaboration, creativity (scrappiness), and transparency. Our studio space was modified to eliminate physical barriers— we’ve broken dividers between desks—to encourage open communication and teamwork. We also emphasize professional growth through continuous learning opportunities and hands-on collaborative projects that allow our team to innovate and excel.

We use LinkedIn & Instagram to highlight our company’s day-to-day culture, sharing behind-the-scenes content, team achievements, and testimonials from our employees. So far, this resonated with potential hires, we had them visit our events and see it for themselves – that often leads to meeting our future hires!

Arvind Rongala
CEO, Edstellar

Storytelling to Showcase Workplace Values

As the CEO of Edstellar, I focus on storytelling to showcase our workplace values. We use platforms like LinkedIn and Glassdoor to highlight team achievements, leadership development initiatives, and employee testimonials. These personal stories create authenticity and resonate with potential hires.


Video content has also proven to be successful for us. A glimpse into our culture is provided by brief videos that show team interactions or “day-in-the-life” moments. A well-liked film that demonstrated how our team celebrates little victories, such as throwing a surprise pizza party, resonated with viewers looking for entertaining and interesting work environments.


Finally, the most important people to spread the word are our employees, who act as internal ambassadors. During Mental Health Awareness Week, team members’ personal insights generated real online discussions and increased our credibility.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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HR to the Rescue: Real-World Examples of the Value of an HR Team

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HR to the Rescue: Real-World Examples of the Value of an HR Team

The quandary of an HR team is how it is often perceived to be a department that only handles paperwork, onboarding, and the rare office conflict.

Well, anyone who has worked closely with an HR team will tell you there’s a lot more to it, and those who work in one will downright get annoyed over how someone could think so little of them!

For this post, we reached out to HR and business leaders to help us break these stereotypes with the help of real-world examples of an HR team’s role in solving critical workplace issues. The responses we received were, of course, right in line with our notion of proclaiming HR personnel no less than workplace heroes!

Read on!

Khurram Mir
Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Kualitatem Inc

Supported During Restructuring

I remember a time during organisational restructuring at my most recent job where the HR department was helpful.

Workers were unsure of their responsibilities, job safety, and how the changes might affect them.

In order to provide support through transition services like career counselling and resume-building workshops, the HR team took the initiative to set up one-on-one meetings and communicate the changes clearly.

In addition to reducing worry, this made sure that workers felt appreciated and informed at every stage of the procedure.

During a difficult period, the HR team’s proactive approach to resource provision and communication management significantly improved engagement and morale.

Aghiad Kandar DDS
Chief Executive Officer, UNO DENTAL SAN FRANCISCO

Facilitated Paperless Transition

Our HR team was crucial when we transitioned to paperless charting.

This change required not only new software but also training and adaptation from our team. HR facilitated seamless communication and training sessions, ensuring that the transition was smooth and met with minimal resistance.

Another instance was during our community outreach initiatives, like the Mission of Mercy.

HR coordinated volunteer efforts, managed logistics, and ensured compliance with healthcare regulations. Their involvement allowed us to provide essential dental care to underserved populations without administrative hitches.

HR’s role in fostering collaboration among our dental hygienists and team members also stands out.

They implemented team-building activities and regular feedback sessions, which improved workflow efficiency and patient care quality by 30%.

Their strategic initiatives have been pivotal in maintaining a cohesive and productive work environment.

Karie Droge
HR Manager, Perrin Sportswear

Reduced Medical Insurance Premiums

After receiving double-digit premium increases for our medical insurance multiple years in a row, the HR team knew we needed to do something different.

We switched carriers, started offering HSA plans for the first time in the company’s history, provided extensive education on the advantages of enrolling in the HSA plan, and finally, we implemented an on-site medical clinic that is available to all employees and covered spouses.

While we are still experiencing higher than desired premiums, they were significantly less this year than they might have been had we not taken these measures.

HR was instrumental in educating ourselves on our options, making the right selections for our team, and then communicating everything to the workforce.

Dan Brown
CEO & Founder, Textun

Assisted Remote Work Transition

As COVID-19 hit, the HR team was incredibly valuable in helping everyone adjust to the transition.

The HR team helped us move to a remote workforce, researched different laws for remote work (our team is international) to ensure we were compliant, and organized additional training for people who needed it on navigating the technology we were using.

The HR team was also vital in keeping spirits up during lockdowns, making sure to check in with team members and helping people get time off when they got sick. Thanks to them, we were able to maintain our productivity.

Sheraz Ali
Founder & CEO, HARO Links Builder

Managed Restructuring Communication

In my most recent workplace, there was a significant instance where the HR team played a crucial role during a company-wide restructuring.

As the organization faced changes in management and departmental shifts, the HR team stepped in to facilitate clear communication and support for all employees.

They organized informational sessions to explain the changes, address concerns, and outline new roles and responsibilities.

The HR team also implemented one-on-one check-ins for employees who were directly affected by the restructuring.

This personalized approach helped individuals feel valued and supported during a potentially stressful time. They provided resources for career development and offered counseling services to help staff navigate their emotions and uncertainties.

This proactive involvement not only fostered a sense of stability but also promoted a culture of transparency and trust within the organization.

The HR team’s efforts were instrumental in ensuring that employees felt informed and supported, ultimately contributing to a smoother transition during a challenging period.

Abdullah Saleem
Founder & CEO, Plumbing Amarillo TX

Stepped Up During Boss’s Vacation

I really felt the HR team’s importance when my boss went on vacation.

Suddenly, all those little approvals and quick questions we’d normally take to them needed someone else to handle.

HR stepped up immediately, taking charge of the situation.

Their proactive approach not only kept everything on track but also made us feel supported.

It really showed how crucial HR is in keeping the workplace running smoothly, even during unexpected situations.

Moe Shariff
Business Owner, American S.E.A.L Patrol Division LLC

Crucial in Security Expansion

In my role at American S.E.A.L. Patrol Division, the HR team’s importance became crystal clear when we expanded our private event security services.

As we rolled out customized security plans for events, HR played a vital role by recruiting personnel skilled in access control and crowd management. This meticulous hiring was critical to maintaining our reputation for providing discrete yet effective security solutions.

One standout example was during a large tech conference in Austin.

Our HR team expertly managed the onboarding of temporary staff, ensuring everyone was trained in using our cutting-edge communication technology. This seamless integration allowed our team to address potential disturbances swiftly, enhancing event security and client satisfaction.

Additionally, HR’s efforts in ongoing training programs have been instrumental in our success.

These programs ensure our personnel are prepared for any scenario, such as rapid emergency response during fire watch duties. The training has consistently improved our service quality, directly impacting client trust and retention.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

Recent Posts

Performance Management in 2025: Setting Goals for the Future of Work

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Performance Management in 2025: Setting Goals for the Future of Work

The workplace of 2025 is probably one of the most innovative and challenging yet. A mix of in-office, hybrid, and remote is only the beginning of a long list of myriad elements that shape this new workplace, bringing with it as many roadblocks as opportunities.

In this dynamic setting, where the traditional meets the new like never before, how do HR and management teams approach performance management? We all know an agile and holistic approach is just what’s required, but what are the performance goals to set for 2025 that will truly empower employees and drive organizational success?

We reached out to our HR and leadership community seeking answers, and received in return a range of performance management strategies to unlock the full potential of a workforce.

Read on!

Mindy Honcoop
Fractional HR Leader & Advisor, Agile in HR

Shift to Continuous Feedback and Development

For 2025, my goal in performance management is a shift to how organizations approach feedback-from a governance activity focused on documenting past performance to the daily practice of continuous feedback and forward-focused development. This cultural shift entails making the whole process one of building an environment for real, trusted conversations that develop people and impact business outcomes-less about compliance.

The traditional model of performance management can be reduced to a set of checkboxes: managers gather feedback, document it, and then deliver it in some formalized, transactional review. This approach misses the full potential of feedback as a tool for growth. I want to see performance management integrated into daily work rhythms where feedback is timely, relevant, and connected with the achievement of business goals.

It will work only where trust lives within the workplace. Employees and managers need an ecosystem in which they can say their words without judgment. The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team can be helpful, supported by DISC in working with teams to establish their method of communication and defining common terms when talking about these things.

A continuous feedback culture requires a change of heart in the way we perceive failure. Instead of treating a mistake as an occasion for blame, we have to view it as a valuable source of data that informs us in trying to work better with one another. When failure is embraced-not stigmatized-people will take risks and therefore be able to innovate.

Feedback needs to be viewed not as a formality but actionable data to help teams get better and align their efforts toward shared business goals. Feedback should be less about what went wrong in the past and more about how we can grow and succeed in the future. Treating feedback as a constant and desired source of information lets teams course-correct in real time and continuously improve collaboration and results.

Focusing on future outcomes, building trust, and making daily feedback normal as a positive driver of change-these are ways workplace ecosystems can be created where both the employees and the businesses prosper together.

Tim Toterhi
CHRO, Plotline Leadership

Simplify the Performance Management Process

To ruthlessly simplify the performance management process.

Some managers will make a 100k plus hiring decision after a 45-minute interview but agonize endlessly over a performance rating that, in some organizations, spells the difference between a 2% and 4% merit increase. It’s madness.

I’m on a mission to define high performance, negotiate meaningful rewards for reaching that level, and then demonstrate how to get there. I realize performance management is both art and science, but we’re not talking Picasso and particle physics. Clear communication, process rigor, and consistent action drive simplification.

Jenni Stone
HR Director, InfoMC, Inc.

Focus on Igniting Employee Potential

For 2025, my top performance management goal is to shift the focus from “managing performance” to “igniting potential.” I want to create a culture where employees feel empowered to experiment, fail forward, and stretch beyond their comfort zones without the fear of punitive evaluations. Instead of static metrics, I’m championing real-time feedback loops, personalized growth pathways, and team-driven success narratives. The goal is to make performance management a living, breathing process-one that sparks innovation, amplifies purpose, and turns every team member into a co-architect of the organization’s success. It’s not about hitting a target; it’s about creating a workplace where ambition thrives and results follow.

Meghan Calhoun
Co-Founder & Director of Partner Success, Give River

Cultivate Gratitude and Recognition

In 2025, my top performance management goal is to cultivate a culture of gratitude and recognition that drives employee engagement and well-being. At Give River, we’ve leveraged the power of appreciation through our Gratitude feature to boost productivity by up to 22% and reduce absenteeism by 37% among clients who actively engage with the platform.

For instance, by integrating gratitude and recognition seamlessly into daily workflows via platforms like Slack and MS Teams, teams witness a significant boost in morale and retention rates. When employees feel valued and recognized, turnover costs, which can range up to 200% of an annual salary, are drastically minimized.

From my diverse background, including hosting television shows and tackling high-pressure sales, I understand the emotional pulse of varied workplaces. My podcast, “Don’t Just Manifest, Megafest,” further reinforces the centrality of leveraging positive psychological frameworks, ensuring working moms and others strike a joyous balance between personal and professional demands.

Patty Miller
President & Sr. HR/Business Advisor, MillerNet HR & Business Solutions Inc.

Implement Real Employee Growth Metrics

Employee Growth Metrics – Real Ways to Measure:

  • Skill Acquisition: Implement a competency-based performance framework where employees self-assess their skills against role-specific benchmarks, supplemented by manager evaluations. Track progress in tools like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, or internal training platforms.
  • Training Completion Rates: Monitor participation in professional development programs and correlate these with improved job performance or internal mobility. For example, if an employee completes a leadership development course, track their subsequent performance reviews or leadership opportunities.
  • Career Progression: Use HRIS systems to track role changes, promotions, or project lead assignments. Pair this with data on tenure and performance to identify patterns of growth and success.

Engagement and Alignment Surveys – Real Ways to Measure:

  • Pulse Surveys: Deploy brief, monthly or quarterly surveys focusing on specific aspects of engagement, such as the value of feedback or recognition. Tools like Gallup’s Q12 or Qualtrics provide customizable templates for engagement tracking.
  • Goal-Tracking Platforms: Use software like Lattice, Workday, or 15Five to align individual goals with organizational objectives. These platforms often provide dashboards to visualize how personal achievements contribute to team or company-wide priorities.
  • Recognition Analytics: Track the frequency and impact of recognition using tools like Bonusly or Slack integrations. Measure whether employees who receive regular recognition have higher engagement scores or performance metrics.

Dr. Pramod Solanki
Leadership Coach and Founder, Performance Enablers

Connect Everyone with Organizational Goals

I aspire to make two major changes in the way we manage performance.

1. Connect everyone – directly or indirectly, with the goals that the organization is trying to achieve.

Once we in the top team have agreed on what we plan to accomplish during 2025, we shall ensure the following:

A) Break it down to strategic actions required to achieve them.
B) Ensure clear ownership of those actions.
C) Since there are interdependencies across functions, monthly / quarterly reviews against the set goals will involve all the divisional heads.
D) It’ll be a dynamic plan and corrections in the goals / strategic actions will be made based on the experience / actual achievement for the month or quarter.

In a nutshell, the OKR approach will be followed.

2. The same process will be cascaded across the teams by the respective divisional heads. And more importantly, the managers will be trained and encouraged to keep reinforcing the linkage of the tasks being carried out by grassroot employees with the larger goals of the division and the organization.

Sangeetha Gururaj
Senior VP – People & Talent, Qualitest

Building a Constructive and Tough Feedback Culture

We need to look at leveraging performance management through a sharper lens now. It’s not only about achieving ratings or completion metrics. It’s now a priority to curate a performance-driven culture that a multi-generational workforce is able to connect with and be motivated by. We need to be inclusive and agile enough to suit hybrid work cultures. Managers need to be able to effectively assess and support remote employees.

It is now necessary to build a constructive and tough feedback culture to get the best potential and productivity from team members while ensuring that the right rewards and timely recognition are the foundation. Companies should also be very keen on leveraging the performance management process to assess skill gaps, identify potential future leaders, and create learning and development programs. After all, internal fulfillment through upskilling and grooming future leaders is the most cost-effective; retention of talent is the most efficient hiring!

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

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