5 wishes for HR in 2025:

🎧The season finale of the I Hate it Here podcast covered wishes for 2025. 

Before we dive into those wishes, I have ONE ASK for you. 

✏️Grab a pen, paper and optimism. 

I want you to write down THREE wishes you have for HR in 2025. 

And if you need a lil inspo that what’s this newsletter is!!! 

And if you feel compelled – YOU CAN SHARE THEM WITH ME.  

❤️I’ll be your wish keeper. 

#1: Defy gravity 

“I’M THROUGH WITH PLAYING BY THE RULES OF SOMEONE ELSE’S GAME.” 

Tara Turk-Haynes drops this wish for HR teams: Defy gravity. 

If you haven’t seen Wicked, here’s what defy gravity means:

✅Doing what’s right 

✅Being true to yourself 

✅Breaking free from what’s considered the norm 

✅Believeing anything is possible 

Sounds kind of perfect for HR, no?

#2: Level up compensation practices 

Sarika Lamont’s wish for 2025: For HR teams to pay closer attention to compensation practices. 

📣There’s so much opportunity in aligning your compensation strategy with the business strategy. 

As she notes, compensation impacts:

• Engagement
• Retention 
• The bottom line 
• Scaling responsibly 

Read her post on compensation philosophy and hear more about what this looks like to have better compensation practices in 2025.  

#3: Embrace disruptive compassion 

Cassidy Edwards may be recovering from creative burnout but that didn’t stop her from dropping this GEM of a 2025 wish: 

For HR to meet other parts of the business with disruptive compassion. 

What does that mean exactly? 

📣Blending empathy + action (compassion) to drive meaningful change (disruption). 

Cassidy breaks it down further: 

Compassion because we have more in common than we think (shared vision, mission, goals). 

Disruptive because we need to use our voices. (YES, WE DO!!!) 

Some examples she gave:

• Understanding marketing can help deliver better people programs 
• Building a relationship with finance to ask if values alignment & financial objectives are being met
• Understanding how product approaches design thinking to build a better employee experience

You can do this in 2025, I believe in you!!

#4: Elevating the candidate experience 

Noah Warder is back with the same wish for 2025 elevate the candidate experience. 

📣CAN WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN IN 2025??

He gives a gentle reminder – this is the first impression you’re giving a potential employee. 

So, wouldn’t you want it to be a good one??? 

Here are some areas to start:

• Streamline the application process – is it time to retire the cover letter? YES!!! 
• Clear job descriptions that state how to be successful in the role 
• Consistent comms throughout the interview process 
• Interview processes that aren’t hours long
• Consider how to make the process more inclusive 

#5: HR is believed 

If I had a dollar for every time I wanted to say I told you so – i’d be on an island right now with a stack of books sipping iced coffee. 

While that sounds lovely, it’s not a great experience to constantly feel like your judgement is being questioned and no one believes you! 

📣So Cassandra Babilya wishes that in 2025 HR leaders are believed when they bring things to the table. 

Drawing inspiration from her name Cassandra talks about the impact of HR not being believed for their perspective, judgement and experience. 

If you’re curious just look up Greek mythology & Cassandra… I went down a rabbit hole on this one! 

Your perspective deserved to be valued, trusted and believed. 

🎧Listen to the full episode!