Right here’s what corporations on the Greatest Workplaces within the nation informed us are on the high of their to-do lists.
The place are you investing this 12 months?
Maybe AI coaching and instruments are on the high of your listing. Possibly you’re specializing in enhancing government communication or retooling your worker listening applications.
It’s a difficult time to attempt to run a enterprise. Why not take your cue from the Fortune 100 Greatest Corporations to Work For®? They’ve constructed cultures which are driving outstanding efficiency — 3.5 occasions greater inventory market efficiency in comparison with the Russell 1000, for instance, and 8.5 occasions greater income per worker.
What are they doing to attain these features? Briefly: They’ve a tradition the place staff are quicker and extra productive in fixing the immense challenges of the present enterprise panorama.
What are the highest points going through HR leaders?
HR leaders face a lot of essential points, from plummeting international worker engagement to the pressing want for AI transformation.
Nice Place To Work® recognized key tendencies to observe for 2025:
- International low worker engagement. With solely 18% of staff saying they’re “extraordinarily glad” with their function, per Gallup, your most engaged staff can be extra useful than ever.
- AI upskilling turns into extra pressing. If 1 billion folks worldwide must be reskilled by 2030, leaders want to maneuver rather more rapidly to retrain impacted staff. AI can be upending conventional profession paths that must be reexamined.
- Monetary wellness turns into extra elusive. Within the U.S., staff are more and more involved in regards to the economic system. Uncertainty will maintain monetary safety a high difficulty this 12 months.
- Gen Z’s rising affect. For the worldwide workforce, the rise of Gen Z makes demographic change an vital piece of the puzzle for leaders in each market.
For HR leaders, these challenges are blended in with the altering face of the career.
What does the way forward for HR seem like?
The place conventional HR roles may need centered on recruitment or the onboarding course of, managed compliance, or promoted siloed initiatives, at this time’s HR is changing into an “all the above” self-discipline.
HR leaders should embrace roles as innovation champions, shepherding the group into the AI period. They have to change into strategic counselors to the management crew and take duty for change administration.
The simplest HR leaders can have their very own platform, rooted within the objective of the group, with a direct line to enterprise efficiency and key operational outcomes.
Why you need to make investments extra in HR priorities on this market
Too typically, HR is seen as a price driver for the enterprise. Nonetheless, in an unsure market, investing in folks can insulate a corporation from the turmoil of the broader economic system.
Nice Place To Work analysis discovered that corporations with extra inclusive cultures — the place frontline staff, girls, minorities, and long-tenured staff have been having a greater expertise — have been much less more likely to endure losses through the 2008 monetary disaster.
Not solely did 69 “thriving” corporations keep away from the 35.5% lack of the S&P 500 from 2007 to 2009, however in addition they posted a 14.4% acquire.
With mounting indicators of disruption and turmoil because of AI and falling worker well-being, now could be the proper time to reinvest within the worker expertise and construct belief.
What could be realized from the Fortune 100 Greatest Corporations
The Fortune 100 Greatest is a outstanding listing — representing a spread of industries from tech and finance to retail and hospitality — and their instance presents vital classes for leaders of any firm.
On the coronary heart of the matter is belief. These corporations have developed relationships with their staff that enable staff to take higher dangers, lean into change and transformation, and do their finest work even in probably the most making an attempt situations.
Right here’s how these corporations centered their efforts to construct a stronger tradition this 12 months:
1. Future-proofing the workforce with AI coaching
IBM estimated that as a lot as 40% of your workforce may want retraining to satisfy the calls for of an AI-enabled economic system. What does it seem like to do that successfully?
At HP, staff are provided hands-on coaching to familiarize themselves with AI instruments. At Mastercard, staff can make the most of a curated suite of AI sources, in partnership with LinkedIn Studying, to discover the fundamentals in addition to extra superior matters like machine studying.
At Salesforce, staff can take instructor-led AI programs freed from cost, an funding it estimates at $50 million. Workers even have quarterly AI studying days the place they’ll take time to construct their data and expertise. Workers may make the most of the corporate’s profession market to determine new experiences throughout the firm to check and develop their AI savvy.
Try our report on the finest practices driving AI adoption and exploration.
2. Chief and administration growth
The 100 Greatest are additionally closely invested in growing leaders. Leaders bear a heavy duty for the worker expertise, with analysis displaying that they’ll have a fair greater affect on staff’ psychological well being than their well being care suppliers.
Nice Place To Work has discovered that key management behaviors construct the belief that fuels the efficiency of the 100 Greatest. With out leaders who show these behaviors, the businesses on the listing may look very completely different.
To develop and allow their leaders, the highest 200 leaders at Elevance Well being obtain 360-degree assessments and have entry to sources like an government studying collection and a sponsorship program.
At Hilton, crew members can entry a Folks Chief Necessities curriculum, a self-paced program aimed toward strengthening key management expertise important for first-time managers and other people leaders, together with choice making, efficient communication, giving suggestions, delegation and prioritization, teaching, expertise growth, and inclusion and wellness.
At PulteGroup, a “Management Academy” develops leaders with LinkedIn Studying sources and customised growth guides.
3. Upskilling and retraining staff
Studying and growth are a spotlight for each degree of the group, not simply leaders.
At Atlassian, an enhanced efficiency evaluation course of helps form a tradition of excessive efficiency, readability, and steady development. By aligning expectations between staff and managers, and equipping leaders with AI-powered instruments, we’re making efficiency conversations extra significant and actionable — supporting long-term growth throughout the corporate. At Camden Property Belief, an expanded mentor program will assist staff study new expertise and join with leaders throughout the group.
At Tri Pointe Properties, the crew is rolling out a brand new competency mannequin to make sure staff develop the abilities that result in key enterprise outcomes. Important worker experiences from onboarding to annual evaluations can be up to date to suit the brand new competency mannequin and guarantee alignment for each worker.
4. Worker well-being
Most of the corporations on the 100 Greatest listing are growing their investments in well-being. With well-being faltering throughout the U.S., corporations that may supply a greater expertise have the chance to leapfrog their opponents.
Some corporations are centered on addressing burnout and work-life steadiness. At Financial institution of America, a sabbatical is obtainable to long-tenured staff. By the tip of 2024, practically 21,000 crew members took 4 to 6 weeks of paid go away to recharge and refocus.
Others are centered on focused alternatives to enhance well being care entry. At Hilton, elevated sources for crew members impacted by a most cancers analysis are a spotlight in 2025. At The Breakers Palm Seashore, wellness initiatives embody on-site cell providers like mammography, dental care, and a newly added imaginative and prescient screening.
5. Enhance ranges of belonging and inclusion throughout the group
Corporations on the 100 Greatest listing see a profit in enhancing inclusion and acceptance of their organizations, and are doubling down on applications like worker useful resource teams (ERGs).
Corporations like Encore are connecting their useful resource teams to core values like their dedication to worth folks. At DHL Categorical, a dedication to neighborhood engagement and environmental duty is mirrored in its “Go Committees.” Led by worker chairs and vice chairs, these committees empower staff and increase nationwide participation, enabling DHL to make a better affect for communities and the surroundings with over 2000 volunteering hours and 1200 volunteers.
Cadence is constant its work to broaden the expertise pipeline with its fem.ai intitiative. “Alternative for all is a aggressive benefit to get the perfect expertise,” shared Anirudh Devgan, CEO at Cadence on the 2025 For All Summit. “If we construct a tradition the place we entice the perfect folks, we are going to carry out higher for our prospects.”
6. Supply extra flexibility to staff
There’s extra to versatile work than distant work insurance policies.
Versatile work can embody unconventional options like a four-day workweek, or extra incremental steps that enable staff to satisfy their obligations exterior the office.
At Edward Jones, flexibility means permitting their monetary advisors to find out how they are going to run their observe. At Field, empowering staff to be versatile means giving leaders the instruments to successfully handle efficiency throughout the group. The tech chief is launching management dashboards to assist leaders make higher selections and drive crew success in a hybrid work mannequin.
At TP, growing flexibility meant discovering lower-cost medical insurance coverage, enhancing voluntary advantages choices and simplifying attendance insurance policies. Why are advantages an vital a part of the dialogue round versatile work? Issues like a four-day workweek can have unintended penalties on different advantages.
7. Construct a stronger sense of neighborhood for all staff
In an period the place loneliness is on the rise, a number of the 100 Greatest are reinvesting to assist staff discover extra reference to their colleagues.
At Pinnacle Monetary Companions, associates are inspired to get to know each other exterior work with actions like 15-minute walks with a brand new colleague, or an artwork mission exercise the place Pinnacle gives provides, meals, and an teacher. Folks may join throughout wellness occasions just like the Pinnacle 5K or by way of volunteering alternatives.
At Energy Dwelling Reworking, staff can join at a year-end retreat in Mexico with music performances and extra. Different occasions the place staff can join embody management conferences and team-building off-sites, sporting occasions, and extra.
8. Change administration
Managing transformation is a high concern for all corporations. On the 100 Greatest, this entails taking an in depth have a look at worker listening methods.
At Elevance Well being, an enhanced listening technique entails each refining the channels for receiving worker suggestions and bolstering motion plans to make sure the group successfully responds to suggestions. The monetary providers agency Ryan is focusing its annual tradition workshops this 12 months on breaking down foundational parts like belief and exploring how colleagues can course of disagreements and battle — key talents in a fast-paced work surroundings.
9. Investing in expertise
The 100 Greatest are additionally investing in new instruments to permit them to raised meet the wants of their workforce and the enterprise as a complete.
Protiviti has launched an worker expertise app that gathers and shares employee-submitted insights with leaders in actual time, enabling them to rapidly reply. Financial institution of America is investing in new expertise like AI and VR to enhance studying and growth applications with immersive experiences.
And each firm on this listing is profiting from listening expertise, together with Nice Place To Work’s Belief Index™ Survey.
Uncover alternatives in your folks technique with Nice Place To Work
Which of those priorities is probably the most related in your group?
Get the reply by asking your folks. Use Nice Place To Work to search out alternatives in your firm and benchmark your tradition in opposition to leaders just like the 100 Greatest.
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