Leveraging Research and Expertise to Strengthen Your HR Strategy for 2025 and Beyond

November 8, 2023 5 mins

Leveraging Research and Expertise to Strengthen Your HR Strategy for 2025 and Beyond

Five trends that will dominate the HR landscape across workplaces in APAC for the coming year.

As workforce and talent challenges keep evolving, it’s crucial for HR teams to identify which trends are important to incorporate into their strategies and programmes. Drawing from the forthcoming Human Capital Employee Sentiment Report 2025, as well as insights from Aon experts, we examine the main themes that will likely be prioritised for HR professionals over the next 12 to 18 months.

1. Driving benefits satisfaction for your whole workforce

It is widely recognised that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work for employee benefits. The Human Capital Employee Sentiment Report 2025 highlights this reality, revealing a considerable gap in satisfaction with employee benefits across different income levels. Affordable healthcare, financial wellness programs, and access to mental health resources are seen as a priority by employees on lower wages, giving HR teams a steer on what to prioritise in their benefits budget.

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Designing employee benefits with the needs of all employees in mind is not just a nice-to-have. It's essential for fostering a satisfied and engaged workforce.

Susan Fanning

Head of Wellbeing Solutions, Asia Pacific

2. Taking action on pay transparency

As regulatory requirements and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies mature across APAC, we see a convergence between government action and employee expectations on pay transparency. According to the Human Capital Employee Sentiment Report 2025, 81% of employees consider pay transparency as essential for fairness and equity and in other research, it has been found that nearly 80% of organisations agree. This highlights the importance of transparent compensation practices and businesses can get on board with pay equity audits, job leveling frameworks, and clear communication plans as the first steps to building trust and walking the talk on fair pay.

3. Solving the wellbeing paradox starts at the top

Many organisations, in APAC and globally, are facing a ‘wellbeing paradox’ - they are struggling to move the needle on employee satisfaction and engagement in spite of increased investment in their programs. Leadership plays a critical role here – employees are more likely to stay with an employer who genuinely cares about their wellbeing.

Investing in a resilient workforce requires a shift from building complex and mutli-layered programs to implementing meaningful, data-informed and outcome-driven strategies.

Rice Loh

Head of Total Benefits Advisory & Management, Health Solutions, Asia, Aon

4. How workplace location impact costs and turnover

A whole range of factors and costs come into play when choosing where to workforce locations. These decisions are becoming ever more complex with rising healthcare costs and differences in regulation and access to skills across the APAC region. Data and insights on these are key if organisations are to make strategic, informed decisions on employee locations in order to balance costs and keep turnover in check.

5. Finding the sweet spot for healthcare spending and employee wellbeing

With rising healthcare benefit costs, balancing budget considerations with better health outcomes for employees will become even more critical. Value-based healthcare models, focusing on prevention and chronic disease management, can offer reduced potential for poor health while keeping costs in check.

As healthcare costs rise, health-related benefits are becoming a larger component of HR budgets. Exploring a range of flexible options across insurance and medical care models, can inform solutions that manage risks delivering better outcomes.

Susan Fanning

Head of Wellbeing Solutions, Asia Pacific

If organisations are to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market, it is imperative that they take up policies and use effective communication to foster a culture where everyone feels respected and valued.

Lambros Lambrou

CEO of Human Capital, Aon

Guided by these insights, organisations can navigate the growing complexity of skills and technology development, employee wellbeing and engagement and succeed in building a resilient workforce.

This document is not intended to address any specific situation or to provide legal, regulatory, financial, or other advice. While care has been taken in the production of this document, Aon does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the document or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this document. This document has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication and is subject to any qualifications made in the document.

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