The Human-Centric Imperative: Why Your Talent Strategy Needs a Heart

In this article we discuss:

• The evolving employee landscape amid the rise of AI
• Where data-driven approaches to talent management fall short
• The role that empathy plays in the future of work

My life's work is to awaken the full potential of organizations through their people. I bring to this a balance of sound science, with a Ph.D. in industrial-organizational psychology, and personal growth, with three decades of leadership experience driving business strategy through talent strategy. My goal for this blog series is to engage with you—practitioner-to-practitioner—around the HR challenges and opportunities that matter most for moving business forever forward. 

Talent professionals in the modern work environment have evolved into strategic partners who enable new levels of productivity and build a culture of trust in a polarized world. Today our role is expanding even further to include technology implementation. In a recent study by SHRM, 90% of CHROs said they expect AI integration in the workplace to become more or much more prevalent in 2025. 

This presents a unique opportunity: We can now shape employee experiences in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. This is a pivotal moment in the talent space. The rise of AI isn't just changing how we work, it's forcing us to redefine why we work. And an essential part of the answer lies in social connection.

Setting your employees up to thrive in an environment that’s rich with social connection creates lasting effects for both your workforce and your organization alike. Leading organizations are guiding their workforces through this shift, with human connection at its heart. Here’s how.

A Competitive Edge in the Shifting Employee Landscape

AI is impacting everything we know about work and how to build thriving workplaces. For people leaders, AI is spurring us to reimagine our roles and drive the workforce forward in completely new ways.

Our focus is shifting. In the past, we gathered insights to drive decisions. For example, HR business partners might have manually collected feedback to understand emerging skill gaps and then collaboratively worked with department heads to design development plans for employees. Now, with agentic AI, a system might autonomously identify these skill gaps without direct human intervention or input from the employees themselves. In this example, we’re moving from insight gathering straight to implementing changes, which leaves a critical variable out of the equation: your people. 

What happens when work is increasingly done for you and your employees, and not in collaboration with them? We miss an opportunity to build trust, participation, and transparency essential to maintaining a strong foundation of social connection. 

In our recent global study, “Elevating Human Potential, the AI Skills Revolution,” we found that while 82% of individual contributors agree with the statement that “employees will crave more human connection as AI usage grows,” only 65% of managers say the same. It appears that managers are underestimating the growing need for human connection as AI adoption increases. 

This isn't just a number; it's a loud and clear message from our employees that reveals a big disconnect. When we stop prioritizing building social connection, organizations risk leaving tremendous value for their employees—and businesses—on the table. 

Technology enables efficiency, but human interaction drives engagement and ultimately, your bottom line.

Feeling heard, seen, and validated is a critical component to positive emotional experiences that employees can have at work. In fact, a recent study conducted by HP reported that workers are willing to take an 11% pay cut to work somewhere with empathetic, emotionally intelligent leadership and healthy employee engagement and fulfillment. 

While organizations in every industry are implementing new technologies that are improving experiences behind the scenes, the competitive edge that will create lasting effects—and emotions—for your employees is putting people at the center of change. Trust, collaboration, and shared values are the keys to creating an environment rich with social connection.

A Human-Centric Workforce Is the New Data-Driven Workforce

Here at Workday, a company founded on driving HR excellence and impact, we revisited the core principals behind our approach to talent. Doing this helped us understand how we’re creating a lasting impact that will serve our employees and, in turn, our business. 

In a recent partnership with the Talent Strategy Group (TSG), our people and purpose organization led a process with the executive team to define our Talent Philosophy, our “true north” for every talent practice across the business. You can think of this as a commitment between Workday and our employees for how best to grow and manage talent to achieve our business strategy. It provides guidance to hire, develop, recognize, reward, and engage talent.

Using TSG’s methodology as a guide, we identified the elements that come together to form this foundation and applied them in a way that was unique to our culture and business needs:

• Performance: How do we define and measure success and underperformance?

• Behaviors: What values and actions are essential to our culture? 

• Differentiation: How do we recognize and reward exceptional contributions? 

• Transparency: What information do we share with employees, and how open are we about performance and career progression? 

• Accountability: What are the roles and responsibilities of managers and employees in driving performance and development?

• Development: How can we drive clarity on the skills or experiences needed for career growth at our company?

With a clear Talent Philosophy, you can unlock human-centric practices to make smarter decisions, empower leaders, build trust and transparency, spur human potential, and attract the right talent. 

Not all organizations will be able to fully adopt this way of thinking and apply it to their workforce, but those that do will be poised to realize these and other benefits, both now and in the future.

Empathy in the Age of Digital Transformation

In practice, empathy seems straightforward. Caring for employees is a good baseline for any effective organization. But with the depth and breadth of data at our fingertips, organizations have an opportunity to capture meaningful talent engagement beyond the baseline. 

Putting an emphasis on the six factors outlined above required us to go beyond the standard idea of a workforce that “gets the job done,” and pushed us to a new view of performance that brings the human to the forefront. We can’t do this without empathy. 

In our Global Workforce Report published in 2024, 45% of all industries saw a drop in overall engagement. This isn’t a shock, considering the lingering impacts from layoffs, divisive return to office (RTO) policies, and slower growth. However, it uncovers an uncomfortable truth: loyalty is at risk.

The key drivers of loyalty include growth, belief in a clear strategy, and fair compensation—which are all relevant and prioritized in our Talent Philosophy. However, accomplishment is a clear secondary driver and highly dependent on providing employees with meaningful work. Workers who feel they have meaningful work reported feeling 37% more accomplished than those who don’t, even under “unmanageable” workloads. This suggests that meaningful work and feelings of accomplishment are critical for employees to remain engaged and loyal. 

Moreover, HP's recent study also portrayed a connection between a leader’s ability to show empathy at work greatly impacting their employees’ well being, professional growth, and retention. Responses related to the question around “Senior leadership's ability to show empathy” scores are:

• 72% of respondents agreed that it positively impacts their well being.

• 71% of respondents agreed that it positively impacts their professional growth.

• 72% of respondents agreed that it positively impacts their desire to stay at their company.

Put simply, a more engaged workforce is more productive. At work, you’re not just engaging your employees. You’re also engaging the human behind the employee.

Key Takeaways

Establishing a Talent Philosophy empowers your people leaders to balance their priorities across people development and business objectives. As you think about implementing this in your own organization, consider these actions:

• Prioritize human connection as a core business strategy.

• Develop a Talent Philosophy that bridges your company’s values and business strategy to how you attract, develop, retain, and maximize the performance of talent.

• Empower leaders to create inclusive environments through empathy. 

Via these key strategies, the human connection between an organization and its employees is a non-negotiable for success, trust, and engagement. Read the full story of our work with the Talent Strategy Group today to build your workforce of tomorrow.