Top HR trends 2025: Enhancing employee wellbeing and retention strategies

Developing an effective employee wellbeing strategy has never been more difficult or more critical. As organizations face new retention challenges, traditional employee wellbeing tactics lose effectiveness, and the cost of healthcare soars, organizations need to rethink how they approach employee wellbeing to achieve business objectives. Yet, with these challenges, organizations can evolve beyond conventional playbooks.

In our People First podcast, we’ve explored this evolution with human resources and subject matter experts who are writing new rules for sustainable business growth. From employee wellbeing as an HR initiative to organizational imperative to the rise of career pathing, their insights reveal how successful organizations adapt to rapid change.

Here are key lessons from industry experts on building resilient, people-first wellbeing strategies, drawn from our podcast series.

Employee wellbeing in 2025: Where are we now?

Employee wellbeing isn’t just about keeping people healthy—it’s about building stronger organizations. According to Robin Bouvier, Vice President and Wellbeing Subject Matter Expert at AON, employee wellbeing programs have become a crucial part of business strategy. With rising healthcare costs, tighter benefits budgets, and limited resources, companies must prioritize efforts that deliver real results for both employees and employers. Robin offers a straightforward approach: 

 

Start with the end in mind. Focus on the behavior changes and programs that directly support the business goals your leaders care about.

Robin Bouvier, Vice President and Wellbeing Subject Matter Expert at AON

Robin outlined the top five outcomes she observes across organizations when they work to align their wellbeing strategies with business goals:

  1. Reducing health risks

  2. Mitigating healthcare cost increases

  3. Improving employee engagement

  4. Aligning with company purpose, values, and mission

  5. Retaining top talent

Why does this matter? Many health issues driving healthcare costs—like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers—are largely preventable with healthier lifestyles and early interventions. But even the best programs won’t work if employees face barriers like lack of time, effort, or money.

To tackle these challenges, Robin emphasizes creating a culture of care and trust, which involves:

  • Understanding that feelings drive results. If employees don't feel that programs are designed for them, they won't utilize the benefits
  • Asking employees about their struggles and where they need help from their employer
  • Using data to inform investments in these areas and responding promptly to employees
  • Continuously nurturing this cycle, fostering trust

Success happens when we reduce the barriers that prevent people from making healthy choices.

Robin Bouvier, Vice President and Wellbeing Subject Matter Expert at AON

From tradition to transformation in 2025: Building a workforce ready for growth

“In today’s rapidly changing work environment, employers must embrace emerging workplace trends that are here to stay,” shared Julie Develin, Senior Partner at UKG’s HCM Advisory, during her appearance on our People First podcast. Rather than viewing these changes as a crisis, Julie sees them as an opportunity for growth—a natural progression informed by lessons from the past five years.

Julie highlights three critical areas shaping organizational culture in 2025:

  1. Shifting focus from recruitment to retention
    Retention challenges are taking center stage as employees become stagnant in roles without clear growth opportunities. This stagnation impacts both individual and organizational health. To address this, organizations must offer defined development paths and advancement opportunities, with learning and development becoming a shared responsibility at all levels.

  2. A skills-driven approach to job requirements
    Instead of prioritizing degrees in job advertisements, employers should focus on the specific skills and experiences necessary to succeed. A pragmatic evaluation of requirements can lead to a more inclusive and effective hiring process.

  3. Building transparency around AI
    Transparency about AI’s role, decision-making processes, and impact on the workforce is crucial for fostering trust and positivity. A well-thought-out communication plan is essential for the success of any project, especially those involving generative AI.

Julie also underscores the significance of employee experience, emphasizing that HR professionals, too, are employees whose wellbeing matters. “That’s not something we in HR often think about because we’re so focused on everyone else,” Julie observed.

For HR leaders, Julie offers practical advice to prioritize their mental health and wellbeing: build relationships through networking and attend both virtual and in-person conferences. 

Recognizing that you’re not alone—and that no one in HR has it all figured out—is incredibly important.

Julie Develin, Senior Partner at UKG’s HCM Advisory

Stay ahead of workplace wellbeing in 2025

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