Empowering People Teams; Navigating 2025 and beyond

Your employees are your most valuable asset.

They differentiate the service you provide to your customers and stakeholders, drive efficiencies and innovation, and ensure your purpose, ambition and strategy can be realised successfully, to deliver improved financial performance. In a time of rapid workplace change, the role of the People Team has never been more critical to enabling a positive employee experience.

To better understand how the profession is evolving, we spoke with 1,500 HR and People professionals across 9 markets in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam), to map the shifting landscape of the People Team. Our aim was simple: to uncover the experiences of People teams in APAC today, exploring how they are navigating shifting organisational priorities, the challenges they face in talent and capability, and the evolving role of Employee Experience (EX) as a driver of organisational success.

Download the Empowering People Teams Report

Key Findings

• The People Team’s strategic influence is growing. 47% of People leaders report a shift into more strategic roles, with greater influence in business decisions.
• The talent market is stabilising, but quality gaps persist. Recruitment and retention momentum is holding steady or improving for most, yet skills gaps, AI readiness, and competition for top talent remain pressing challenges.
• Employee Experience is on the agenda, but maturity varies. 72% of organisations are fully committed to enhancing Employee Experience, yet only 55% have a formal listening programme in place.

The report provides you with insight on:

• The current landscape of the people team. How do People Teams across the Asia-Pacific region feel and what are the priorities, influences and talent realities shaping 2025.
• The current spotlight on employee experience. How are organisations looking and monitoring employee experience from leadership commitment to listening practices across the employee lifecycle.
• The future outlook for people teams. What do people teams foresee as the opportunities and risks on the horizon for themselves and their organisations.

Additional Information and Resources

Ipsos

At Ipsos, we help to create environments where employees and organisations thrive. By delivering employee research, strategy and activation programmes, we enable you to create an organisation that is people-oriented, agile and resilient; driving a positive employee experience and powering your people outcomes, customer and stakeholder satisfaction and commercial performance.

Research

We help you to create truly actionable insight, from research that cuts through the noise and focuses on what matters most.

Strategy

We shape data-driven people strategies that combine fundamental human truths with fresh strategic and creative thinking.

Activation

We develop communications and change programmes that shift behaviours, tackle challenges and engage the hearts and minds of your people.

Our services span the entire ecosystem of Employee Experience from traditional Employee Engagement research to advanced People Analytics and Data Science to Employer Value Proposition and Employer Brand.

We are insight-led in everything that we do, coupling innovative research with deep expertise in storytelling and creative, backed by market-leading technology.

Our approach ensures your leaders understand the critical priorities for your people, with recommendations and activation that helps you to create fast, positive change.

Ready to learn more? Contact us using the link below to discuss how we can help you empower your people team and transform employee experience in your organisation.