What’s in it for HR? Turning
AI-powered leadership into practice

Why now? The urgent need
for AI-powered leadership

AI-powered leadership: The blueprint for uniting human insight with intelligent technology to drive organisational performance 

People Summit South Africa 2025: Shaping the Future of HR Through Collaboration

On 4 September 2025, Top Employers Institute hosted its first People Summit South Africa at Vodacom Office Park in Johannesburg. In partnership with Vodacom Group and Accenture South Africa, the summit convened more than 160 HR leaders, experts, and certified Top Employers from across the region to share insights, best practices, and bold ideas shaping the future of work.

Building on the momentum of the inaugural People Summit in Egypt, the Johannesburg edition was anchored on two timely themes: AI-Powered Leadership and Skills-Based Talent Management. The day underscored the power of partnership, with Vodacom Group and Accenture South Africa demonstrating how technology, community, and human-centered strategies can transform both workplaces and society at large.

Our latest research paper, Building a skills-first workforce, reveals how a growing number of forward-thinking companies are adopting a skills-first mindset, recognising that competencies, not degrees or job titles, drive agility, innovation and business growth. The next wave of workforce performance will be defined by how organisations embed skills-first practices into strategy and culture. Leaders who invest now in skills transparency, career mobility and integrated workforce planning will be better able to meet the needs of their business while planning for the future of talent management. Download the research paper for free today and start building a skills-first workforce: https://go.top-employers.com/l/463762/2025-09-25/6jywrg

Setting the Stage: A Vision for HR in Africa

In his opening remarks, Nathier Jappie, Regional Manager for Africa at Top Employers Institute, emphasised the summit’s purpose: creating a platform for HR leaders to learn, collaborate, and collectively drive a better world of work. Sandra Botha, Global HR Auditor at Top Employers Institute, followed with an opening keynote exploring how organisations can align HR practices to global benchmarks while adapting to Africa’s unique market realities.

From the outset, the summit positioned itself not just as a conference, but as a catalyst for action – highlighting how certified Top Employers across the continent are leading the charge in employee experience, leadership development, and transformation.

Vodacom: Harnessing AI for People-Centric Impact

As Africa and South Africa’s #1 Top Employer for two consecutive years, Vodacom set the tone with a series of powerful contributions.

• Welcome Address: Matimba Mbungela, CHRO of Vodacom Group, highlighted how Vodacom’s HR strategy is rooted in people-first leadership, continuous learning, and technological innovation. His message framed Vodacom not only as a telecoms leader, but as a people leader driving progress across Africa.
• Case Study – Churn Prediction Model: Tando Mkosi, Managing Executive of Talent, Capabilities and Organisational Development, demonstrated how Vodacom leverages AI to predict and prevent employee churn. By combining predictive analytics with real-time insights, Vodacom is strengthening its ability to retain talent, boost engagement, and maintain its competitive edge as a certified Top Employer.
• Case Study – Human-Centered IoT: Njabulo Mashigo, HR Director at Vodacom South Africa, presented a forward-looking case study on how intelligent connectivity is enabling organisations to design human-centered IoT solutions. These tools empower employees with smarter, more personalised experiences – reinforcing Vodacom’s belief that technology must serve people, not replace them.

Together, Vodacom’s contributions highlighted how AI can be ethically and effectively applied to HR, creating systems that are predictive, inclusive, and anchored in trust.

Accenture: Community, Creativity, and Social Impact

Accenture South Africa brought a unique perspective to the summit, showcasing how HR and corporate purpose can intersect to drive both business and societal impact.

• Case Study – The Philipstown Wire Car Grand Prix: Presented by Vanessa Goonahsylin and Leandi van den Berg, this case study told the inspiring story of how a small-town pastime – children racing handmade wire cars – was transformed into a global platform for creativity and resilience.

By elevating the race to an international stage, Accenture demonstrated how storytelling, technology, and social investment can reframe community traditions into powerful symbols of inclusion and innovation. Beyond showcasing corporate creativity, the initiative supports the Philipstown Wire Car Foundation, proving that HR strategies can extend far beyond office walls into real-world impact. Accenture’s session reinforced the summit’s central message: leadership in HR requires both technological advancement and deep human connection.

The Power of Dialogue: Panel on AI-Powered Leadership

The highlight of the day was the panel discussion, “Leading with Intelligence: How HR Leaders Are Using AI to Unlock Human Potential”. Moderated by Karen Muller from Top Employers Institute, the panel convened executives from Vodacom, Accenture, Schneider Electric, Tsebo Solutions Group, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, and others.

Across four themes—Strategy & Integration, Ethics & Human-Centric Leadership, Impact & Results, and The Future of AI in HR; the discussion explored pressing questions:

• How can AI enhance decision-making without replacing human judgment?
• What ethical safeguards are needed to ensure fairness and trust in AI-driven HR?
• How do organisations measure ROI on AI in talent management?
• What lessons can global HR leaders learn from African organisations pioneering AI adoption?

The panellists agreed that while AI offers immense promise, from predictive analytics to skills-based workforce planning—it must be guided by ethical frameworks, cultural values, and an unwavering focus on human dignity. This dialogue reflected a broader truth: Africa is not simply adopting global trends but shaping them with locally grounded, globally relevant insights.

A Platform for Connection and Recognition

Beyond its formal sessions, the People Summit South Africa created an environment for meaningful networking. Over 160 attendees engaged in peer-to-peer learning, sharing case studies, and exploring opportunities for collaboration. The event closed with a prize draw to an exclusive HR Ignite session with our Client Success team and a call to action: for HR leaders to continue the conversations sparked during the summit and take practical steps toward embedding AI-powered, skills-based leadership within their organisations.

Why Collaboration Matters

The success of the Johannesburg summit underscores the power of strategic partnerships. Top Employers Institute, Vodacom, and Accenture together showcased what’s possible when global standards, corporate innovation, and local community insights converge.

• For Top Employers Institute, the summit reinforced its role as the global authority on HR certification, benchmarking, and best practice sharing.
• For Vodacom, it was an opportunity to demonstrate leadership not just in telecommunications, but in building inclusive, people-driven workplaces.
• For Accenture, it highlighted how HR strategies can extend impact into communities, fostering resilience and creativity at scale.

Together, these collaborations illustrate how African HR leaders are at the forefront of building smarter, more inclusive, and more sustainable workplaces.

Looking Ahead

The 2025 People Summit South Africa marked a milestone: the first of its kind in the country, powered by collaboration with Vodacom and Accenture. As we look forward, the summit’s themes—AI-powered leadership, skills-based talent management, and human-centered innovation—will continue to shape HR conversations across Africa and beyond.

For Top Employers Institute, the summit reaffirmed its mission: to support organisations in creating better workplaces, to spotlight those achieving certification excellence, and to convene leaders who are transforming the world of work.

Relive the moments and discover the energy of the People Summit South Africa through our official photo gallery here. If you would like more information, or wish to collaborate on any future initiatives, please contact our Regional Marketing Manager, Nazia Osman on Nazia.osman@top-employers.com

Top trends in employee engagement for 2025

Employee engagement strategies are changing rapidly as organisations navigate shifting workforce expectations, hybrid models, global political changes and purpose-driven cultures. While the employee engagement definition once centred on satisfaction and productivity, today’s organisations recognise that engagement is deeply intertwined with wellbeing, belonging, and growth.

Employee engagement is, according to Gallup, ‘the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in both their work and workplace.’ It is this enthusiasm and involvement in their work that enable highly engaged employees to outperform less engaged employees in businesses that are critical to an organisation’s success. Gallup found that in 2024, 21% of employees across the globe were described as engaged, down from an all-time high of 23% in 2023. That only highlights the continued importance of prioritising and implementing practices and policies that for

In our World of Work Trends 2025 report, we found that transforming the employee experience is crucial for blue-collar workers in a way that had previously been underestimated, highlighting that employee experience is more important than ever.

In this article, we explore the top employee engagement trends shaping the future of work and how leading companies are utilising more holistic employee engagement models to drive performance and maintain employee retention.

What is employee engagement

Understanding the definition of employee engagement is essential before exploring the trends that impact this critical metric. Employee engagement is when employees feel a strong, emotional connection to their work and the company. It is more than just being happy or content in their work; employee engagement relates more to how deeply an employee feels invested in contributing to an organisation’s overall business success. It is with this deeper connection that we see an employee’s emotional commitment, cognitive focus and behavioural dedication to their workplace.

Purpose and meaning are at the core of it all

The desire to work for an organisation with a clear commitment to creating a ‘positive impact’ on the world is not new. In our 2023 World of Work Trends report, we found that employees are no longer driven solely by financial rewards, but rather by a sense of purpose. Harvard Business Corporate Learning also found that 52% of job seekers would not accept a job offer if they did not agree with a company’s values or purpose.

High employee engagement is increasingly linked to a strong sense of purpose, and organisations have taken this information to help them rebuild how they communicate their values to potential and current employees. Employees who believe their role makes a positive impact are significantly more likely to be committed and motivated. Organisations are embedding purpose into everyday work through values-driven leadership, transparent communication, and societal impact initiatives.

Aligning purpose with performance is a key differentiator in today’s employee experience and engagement strategies.

Flexibility is no longer negotiable

The last five years of work have been marked by disruption, with many organisations rethinking how they allow their people to structure their time. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of flexibility that employees readily adopted, as evidenced by their increased employee engagement scores. When employees have more flexibility in their schedules, they tend to be more engaged.

Employees who feel they have control over when and how they work report higher employee engagement, improved wellbeing, and stronger performance. Yet, poor employee engagement often correlates with rigid scheduling and a lack of autonomy. In response, many companies are reimagining roles, workflows, and expectations to increase adaptability.

While flexibility may have seemed like a pandemic-era trend, its impact on employee wellbeing proves that it is untrue. It is no longer a perk but a necessity. Flexibility is not just about remote work; it’s about trust, choice, and designing roles around people, not just processes.

Wellbeing as a strategic pillar

The impact of wellbeing extends beyond how people feel, encompassing the number of sick days a person takes, their performance at work, burnout, and the likelihood of leaving the organisation. Wellbeing is interlinked with employee engagement in a way that should not be underestimated.

When comparing employees who are engaged but not thriving with those who are engaged and thriving, Gallup found that those who aren’t thriving report the following risks:

• 61% had a higher likelihood of burnout often or always;
• 48% higher probability of daily stress;
• 66% higher likelihood of daily worry;  
• Double the rate of daily sadness and anger.

Research like this shows that burnout, stress, and mental health challenges continue to be critical issues affecting employee engagement. Companies that integrate wellbeing into their culture, not as a separate initiative but as a strategic driver, are seeing measurable improvements in retention and performance.

Organisations that aim to enhance their employee wellbeing efforts will adopt a holistic approach by examining career wellbeing, social wellbeing, financial wellbeing, physical wellbeing, and community wellbeing. This can be achieved through the offering of mental health resources, financial health resources, and more.

Wellbeing is being redefined as a business-critical investment, and organisations that are working towards improving their offerings are looking at it holistically, from psychological safety and manageable workloads to access to mental health resources.

Skills development and career progression

Career stagnation is a leading cause of poor employee engagement. A 2022 study found that 74% of employees feel they aren’t reaching their full potential at work due to a lack of available development opportunities, indicating that organisations that do not invest in skills development for their people may be losing out.

In contrast, companies that foster continuous learning, transparent growth paths, and internal mobility report stronger loyalty and discretionary effort, leading to enhanced employee engagement scores.

Organisations that want to integrate skills development into their workplace can consider microlearning platforms, coaching cultures, and cross-functional development experiences, as these have been shown to help employees see a future within the business, rather than outside it, thereby improving their employee engagement.

Final thoughts

Employee engagement trends are in constant evolution, and for forward-thinking organisations, this evolution occurs alongside the workforce. Successful organisations are investing in people-first, data-driven and purpose-led strategies rather than relying on outdated practices and policies. These companies are focusing on what matters most – their people, and this drives them to constantly improve their policies to build a work culture that is successful and sustainable.

Building a skills-first workforce

Skills are the new currency of work. In the current climate of talent scarcity, technological disruption and shifting workforce expectations, HR teams are finding that traditional, credential-based approaches are not enough.  

Our latest research paper, Building a skills-first workforce, reveals how a growing number of forward-thinking companies are adopting a skills-first mindset, recognising that competencies, not degrees or job titles, drive agility, innovation and business growth. 

The report offers you:

•  Insight into how Top Employers are embedding skills-first practices across the talent lifecycle. 

• A practical roadmap for building an agile and resilient future-ready workforce. 

Our research shows that organisations embracing skills-first practices are already seeing tangible results: improved internal mobility, reduced turnover, and stronger diversity outcomes.

Why it matters 

The next wave of workforce performance will be defined by how organisations embed skills-first practices into strategy and culture. Leaders who invest now in skills transparency, career mobility and integrated workforce planning will be better able to meet the needs of their business while planning for the future of talent management. 

Sign up to download the research paper for free today and start building a skills-first workforce.

Türkiye Top Employers step forward: celebrating a stronger culture of change readiness in HR 

In a rapidly evolving world marked by digital transformation, geopolitical shifts, and an increasingly dynamic workforce, our data at Top Employers Institute reveals that Top Employers in Türkiye are making impressive strides in preparing their organisations for change. Recent year-over-year data from Top Employers’ shows meaningful improvements across several key HR practices, signalling a growing national emphasis on adaptive, forward-thinking workplace strategies. 

Measurable progress in change management 

Based on Top Employers Institute’s survey data, here are the standout areas of improvement in Turkish HR practices: 

• Change champions (+10%) 

• Adaptable change management methodology (+9%) 

• Engage employees in change (+7%) 

• Post-change follow-up (+7%) 

• Change management as a core capability (+6%) 

• Managers supported to mitigate negative change impact (+3%) 

These improvements are more than just numbers—they reflect a growing maturity in how Turkish organisations approach transformation. 

Why these improvements matter 

1. Build resilience through change champions. 

With a 10% boost, the use of change champions—employees who actively promote and support transformation—has been a standout area of growth. This is crucial in Turkish organisations, especially where hierarchical structures and traditional leadership models can sometimes slow adoption. A meta-analysis of 54 studies encompassing 13,914 teams reveals that hierarchy can hinder the effectiveness of teams in terms of collaboration and performance over time. Champions bridge the gap between leadership and employees, fostering trust and faster alignment with change initiatives. A McKinsey report also stated that transformations are more successful when employees take initiative and voluntarily step into roles during the change process, rather than waiting for top-down direction. 

2. Flexible change methodologies help in a dynamic working world. 

An adaptable methodology (+9%) ensures that organisations can respond to unforeseen challenges, be it economic volatility, regulatory shifts, or a global crisis like a pandemic. In a country like Türkiye, navigating both regional geopolitical tension and a young, tech-savvy workforce demands agility. Flexible change frameworks give organisations the tools to pivot effectively. Similarly, according to the Agile Türkiye 10th Agility Report, 89% of respondents stated that agile practices positively contributed to their ability to manage changing priorities. 

3. Inclusive engagement enhances morale and retention. 

Engaging employees in change (+7%) reflects a cultural shift toward participatory leadership. Involving employees in decision-making processes not only reduces resistance but also boosts morale and loyalty. On a global level, Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace Report highlights serious challenges: employee engagement in Türkiye is at just 10%, placing the country among the five lowest in its region. Additionally, with 69% of employees experiencing daily stress—the highest rate in the Middle East region—it’s no surprise that Top Employers stand out by actively improving employee engagement, which directly supports morale and retention. 

4. Sustained success through follow-up is essential. 

Post-change follow-up (+7%) indicates that organisations are no longer stopping at implementation; they are evaluating outcomes, learning from the process, and continuously improving. As noted by McKinsey & Company, an organisation’s effort continues even after implementation. Research from both Harvard Business Review and McKinsey & Company confirms that this cyclical feedback approach is crucial for sustaining a competitive advantage and operational efficiency.  

5. Strategic support for managers matters. 

Supporting managers (+3%) to mitigate adverse impacts ensures that mid-level leaders, often the most stressed during transitions, are equipped to manage their teams compassionately and effectively. As highlighted by Harvard Business Review, empowering mid-level managers with the right tools and authority enables them to lead transformation efforts more effectively and support their teams with empathy and clarity. 

6. Institutionalising change readiness helps long-term sustainability. 

Finally, defining change management as a core capability (+6%) signifies that transformation is no longer seen as a one-off project, but rather as an ongoing organisational priority. In Türkiye’s dynamic economic landscape, this shift is vital for long-term sustainability. On a global scale, the relevance of change management is further reinforced, as it continues to rank among the top five priorities for HR leaders, according to Gartner’s Top 5 HR Trends and Priorities Report. 

Conclusion – a broader reflection of Turkish growth 

These gains are especially significant considering Türkiye’s increasing push toward digitalisation, labour market reform, and EU-aligned labour practices. As organisations face talent shortages, generational shifts, and rising employee expectations, a proactive stance on change has become essential, not optional. 

By embedding change-readiness into the heart of HR strategy, our Top Employers Institute’s data shows that Turkish employers are not just keeping pace—they’re helping set the pace. And that is something worth celebrating. 

Find more strategies and trends to improve your workplace for all your employees in our World of Work Trends 2025. 

Embedding Transparency and Building Resilience

What does it take to build a resilient workforce in a time of constant change? How can organisations balance transparency with trust, or use AI while staying human-centred? And what does career growth look like in a flatter, more agile world?

These questions reflect the real tensions that HR leaders are grappling with globally. In fact, trust in HR has declined by 11 percentage points since 2022, according to the World of Work Trends 2025 report by Top Employers Institute. This signals a growing need for people practices that are transparent, inclusive, and grounded in purpose.

During her recent visit to Singapore, Nicole Pieterse, Global Head of HR and Property & Casualty at Top Employer Swiss Re, shared how the organisation is responding to these shifts—investing in trust, adaptability, and long-term sustainability to better serve both employees and business goals.

Swiss Re’s approach offers valuable, real-world learnings for HR teams seeking to future-proof their people strategies amid continued disruption.

Let’s get inspired by how Swiss Re is approaching some of the most urgent priorities facing HR today:

• Embedding global pay transparency as a trust-building practice supported by manager capability and open dialogue.
• Reframing career development for a flatter world—moving beyond vertical promotions to focus on skills, exposure, and agility.
• Equipping future leaders with adaptability, ambition and emotional intelligence needed in a rapidly changing, tech-enabled environment.
• Evolving workplace culture through distributed ownership and real-time employee listening, rather than relying on top-down cascades.
• Introducing AI gradually and purposefully, helping employees shift from fear to empowerment through productivity gains and clear communication.

Making Pay Transparency a Global Standard

Swiss Re is ahead of the curve in responding to upcoming EU pay transparency regulations. Going beyond taking a regional compliance approach, the company is implementing full pay transparency across all major global locations. The aim is twofold: ensure fairness, and foster trust. Employees are now able to see how their pay compares to market benchmarks. This has opened the door for more honest, informed conversations about remuneration, recognition, and career progression.

To support this shift, Swiss Re developed dedicated dashboards for line managers and delivered tailored training to help them navigate complex discussions. This was essential, particularly when addressing sensitive topics such as employees reaching the top of a pay band or those starting at the lower end.

Transparency in pay, when done thoughtfully, becomes a catalyst for deeper conversations about value, growth and retention. As Nicole shared, “It’s not just about the numbers—it’s about what those numbers mean to people.”

Building Line Manager Confidence

Swiss Re recognised early on that transparency would only be meaningful if line managers were confident and skilled in discussing it. To ensure readiness, the organisation took a pragmatic approach by investing in capability-building.

Managers received not only tools, but training sessions grounded in Swiss Re’s overall pay philosophy. Designed as a holistic learning journey. managers gained deeper understanding about the link between reward and development, and how transparency can strengthen employee trust. By treating transparency as a relational practice, the company ensured it was embedded across the employee experience.

This directly addresses a broader challenge identified in the World of Work Trends 2025 report: rebuilding trust in HR and leadership through open dialogue and systems that employees feel are fair and human-centred.

Redesigning Careers for a Flatter World

With fewer layers in the organisation, traditional hierarchical career paths no longer apply. At Swiss Re, this challenge became an opportunity to reframe how growth and development are understood. Employees are now encouraged to build a “skills portfolio” through lateral moves, project-based work, and cross-functional exposure. This is supported by learning opportunities and performance conversations that focus on future potential—not just role-based performance.

Nicole pointed out that employees are still looking for the same fundamental things: growth, good leadership, and purpose. But delivering those experiences now requires more agility and personalisation.

This approach resonates with the shift described in the Trends report – meaningful development is no longer tied to a job title, but rather the accumulation of experience, learning, and capability.

A Future-Ready Leadership Approach

Swiss Re continues to prioritise leadership development, particularly in preparing talent for bigger roles amid growing complexity. The organisation uses a structured assessment framework that goes beyond performance to evaluate ambition, agility, emotional intelligence, and cultural alignment. Importantly, leadership development is tailored to different career stages and integrated into succession planning — ensuring leaders are identified and nurtured well before key roles become vacant.

In parallel, Swiss Re is exploring how AI can complement leadership. Early efforts focus on using AI to improve productivity and data-driven insights, while preserving the role of human leaders as sense-makers and culture carriers.

This hybrid approach reflects an emerging trend: the rise of AI-powered leadership, where leaders use intelligent systems to support strategy and team development — without replacing emotional intelligence and ethical judgment.

Embracing AI with Clarity and Care

Swiss Re has taken a deliberate, phased approach to introducing AI into the workplace. The first phase focused on workplace productivity—giving employees access to tools that save time and reduce manual tasks.

This lowered anxiety and built confidence, laying the foundation for more transformative AI adoption in the future.

Importantly, Swiss Re has framed AI not as a threat, but as a co-pilot. This narrative shift—supported by education and clear communication—has allowed the organisation to introduce new technologies while maintaining trust.

The World of Work Trends 2025 report reinforces this as a best practice: organisations that embrace AI as a partner rather than a disruptor are seeing improved employee engagement and internal promotion rates.

Evolving Culture through Distributed Ownership

Swiss Re has opted for cultural evolution rooted in lived experience. Since the arrival of its new Group CEO in 2024, the company has focused on enhancing what’s already working, while being clear about new expectations for speed, collaboration, and impact.

Key to this effort is the activation of “culture movers”— employees embedded across the business who act as champions of culture and practice. Combined with regular pulse surveys, this approach ensures Swiss Re can respond to local realities without losing global coherence.

Culture, as Nicole puts it, “isn’t about sameness. It’s about alignment between our stated values and how people actually experience the workplace.”

This model aligns closely with insights from the World of Work Trends 2025 report, which highlights how organisations must design cultures that are inclusive of diverse experiences and that extend beyond the organisational boundary.

Responding to Generational Shifts with Inclusive Design

With Gen Z becoming the dominant demographic in many organisations, there’s pressure to tailor workplace strategies to their expectations. But Swiss Re has taken a more inclusive view by creating policies that resonate across generations.

While Gen Z may value flexibility, purpose and sustainability, these are increasingly universal desires. Swiss Re’s approach is to meet those needs in ways that also support mid- and late-career employees.

This is a core message in the Trends report: that building sustainable workplaces requires designing for all life stages, not just the loudest demographic. By doing so, organisations build cultures of trust, equity and long-term retention.

Advice to the HR Community

Reflecting on her own journey, Nicole shared one piece of advice for HR professionals that stood out: “Stop being apologetic. Claim your space.”

HR, she emphasised, must confidently take its place at the strategic table. That means understanding the business deeply, speaking its language, and demonstrating value through data and action.

It’s a timely reminder that HR’s influence grows when it delivers both care and clarity, and when it acts as both an advocate for people and a steward of business performance.

Closing Thought

Swiss Re’s example offers a practical roadmap for any organisation aiming to align its people strategy with the realities of the modern workforce. From transparency and culture to AI and careers, the emphasis is on intentionality—designing systems that are human, fair, and future-ready.

As the world of work continues to shift, these lessons serve as a benchmark for what forward-thinking, principle-driven HR can look like in practice.

How neuroinclusion drives a thriving team environment

Neurodiversity is gaining increasing attention in workplace discussions. A non-medical umbrella term that includes the conditions autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and ADHD, neurodivergence is evident in around 10-20% of the population. 

As the workforce becomes more diverse, many employees will be working alongside a neurodivergent colleague in the coming years. And so, in this age of the collective workforce – the central theme of our newly launched World of Work Trends 2025 report – the ability to design workplaces that are intentionally neuroinclusive has become essential. 

Our latest research paper, Neuroinclusive by Design, builds on this theme and explores how leading HR teams are embracing a systems-thinking approach to inclusion, building team environments that are collaborative, adaptive, and resilient by design. 

The research offers a blueprint for organisations ready to move beyond isolated DEI efforts toward truly integrated talent strategies that ultimately tap into collective strength through individual empowerment. 

What the research tells us 

Neuroinclusion is good news for organisational productivity. It supports diverse thinking styles and can improve collaboration, creativity and productivity. For example, those with autism have been shown to be up to 140% more productive than neurotypical employees in certain roles. And teams with neurodivergent employees can experience up to a 30% increase in overall success. 

Organisations could and should therefore be seeking a positive step change in productivity through their recruitment and retention strategies for neuroinclusion. Even so, many struggle with where to begin. So, to understand what makes neurodiverse teams excel, Top Employers Institute conducted in-depth interviews with neurodivergent employees and organisations, to offer guidance on how HR professionals can take immediate actions for the benefit of both. 

Our resulting neurodiversity research paper, Neuroinclusive by design, explores the steps organisations can take to build truly inclusive workplaces.  

Three things HR can do right now 

Here are three actions that HR can take immediately to create a culture of neuroinclusion by design in their organisation: 

1. Harness individual talents for collective success. Many neurodivergent individuals value opportunities to explore different roles, projects and responsibilities. By building teams where individual strengths are recognised and supported by colleagues with different skill sets, HR can ensure that everyone can contribute meaningfully to the team’s success.  

2. Define and commit to consistent ways of working. This practice involves HR establishing explicit behaviours and rules, creating clarity and allowing all employees – neurodivergent and neurotypical alike – to contribute effectively.  

3. Embrace empathy and nurture interpersonal trust. HR needs to create a culture where empathy is prioritised, and assumptions are avoided. When colleagues approach interactions with neurodivergent employees with patience and willingness to understand their perspective, they foster a more inclusive and supportive environment.  

From accommodation to acceleration 

HR leaders can apply these three practices to better support neurodivergent employees and unlock their full potential as a strength within their organisation. If they can, they will cultivate workplaces that embrace diverse ways of thinking, communicating, and working. This in turn encourages ongoing reflection on how work gets done — and whether there might be better ways.

What we can learn from high-performing neurodiverse teams

Neurodiversity research tells us that teams that leverage individual strengths, co-create clarity in how they work, and prioritise empathy form a strong blueprint for building more inclusive, high-performing teams across the organisation. They lead to more adaptable, resilient, innovative – and yes, more productive – organisations.  

By championing neurodiversity best practices research within teams, companies are not just creating better workplaces, they are shaping the future of work itself and creating a thriving environment for all. 

Download the full research paper to find out how leading organisations are putting neuroinclusion into action.

Neuroinclusion in practice: From awareness to action

Our recent webinar, Neuroinclusion in the workplace: From awareness to action, showed HR leaders how to take a giant leap forward from understanding the importance of neuroinclusivity to embedding it across leadership and teams at every level of an organisation. 

Sarah Andresen, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Top Employers Institute discussed best practice neuroinclusivity with Eline Jammaers, Assistant Professor at Hasselt University and Tristan Lavender, Founder & Chair of Philips Neurodiversity Network.  

The case is made, so let’s move to action. 

HR leaders should already know that neuroinclusion helps organisations widen their talent pool, unlock latent potential and create stronger, more connected teams. There is no shortage of research showing that inclusive organisations have a better chance of meeting the expectations of socially-conscious consumers, while employees working there are more likely to feel engaged – and stick around. 

Top Employers Institute’s new paper Neuroinclusive by design: Creative and thriving team environment for all echoes these findings and goes much further. It identifies three features of thriving, inclusive teams: harnessing individual talents, co-creating clarity and embracing empathy to drive better business performance. 

Below are just some of the practices that the webinar looked at to show best practice inclusivity in action. 

1. Start with leadership: Role models set the tone. 

Senior leaders play a pivotal role in introducing neuroinclusive practices. When leaders are open about their own neurodivergence, it sends a powerful and positive message. It normalises differences and encourages psychological safety, especially among younger employees and others unsure about disclosing their neurodivergence. 

Line managers are also vital role models. Their ability to sit and to listen, respond with flexibility and ask the normal day-to-day questions, such as ‘What support would help you do your best work?’ can be transformative. 

One enduring myth that the webinar also explored is when neurodiversity is billed as bringing ‘superpowers’ to the workplace. While neurodivergent employees do bring unique strengths, these must be wholeheartedly supported. The true value of neurodivergence is only unlocked with the active encouragement of leaders and managers; a passive acceptance that we are all different is simply not enough. 

2. Continue with teams: Embed psychological safety as an everyday instinct. 

To move inclusion beyond good intentions means teams must also play their full part. Psychological safety needs to be a daily given, built through small, consistent behaviours. Both leaders and their teams should, for example, ask new hires about communication preferences, environmental needs or work styles as an instinct, without the need for a formal diagnosis. Simple common-sense actions like these have a wider purpose – they reduce barriers and improve collaboration among not only neurodivergent employees but everyone. 

Inclusion happens in these ‘micro-moments’ of work: how to run meetings, give feedback, and handle discussions. Leaders and teams need to model empathy and openness, not just in policy but in day-to-day behaviour, until it becomes deeply embedded. 

This needs to be visible externally, to attract future talent. Personal stories of neuroinclusion attract the job candidates of the future, as well strengthening internal alignment. 

3. Reinforce through ERGs and metrics: A key role for HR. 

Our Neuroinclusive by Design research describes a necessary mindset shift from ‘accommodation’ to ‘intentional inclusion’, building flexibility, clarity and empathy proactively into team culture from the outset. And HR has a key role to play in driving this forward in several ways. 

For example, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are a powerful tool for accelerating inclusion. They provide safe spaces for connection, education and advocacy. For them to flourish, HR leaders must support them in a similarly active way, with funding, time and clear links to organisational strategy. 

The webinar showed how companies like Philips have introduced formal neuroinclusion policies at a national level to make sure that ERG insights translate into organisation-wide support. And this is the kind of structural reinforcement that Top Employers’ new platform, HREdge | NeuroInclusion, has been designed to support. It provides the necessary tools, insights and expert guidance for embedding inclusion across the employee lifecycle. 

Measuring neuroinclusivity also remains a challenge for many employers. One practical way for HR to play a role is to embed questions within existing wellbeing or engagement surveys, to align with key desired outcomes like job satisfaction or a sense of belonging. This requires trust, with participants needing to believe that their responses will not only be anonymous but used constructively. ERGs can play a unique role here too, for example through running pulse surveys or providing qualitative insights from neurodivergent communities. 

Final word… 

Neuroinclusion by design in 2025 is no longer only for the neurodivergent. It is a journey from awareness to action for all, a framework for designing better work for everyone, at every level of an organisation.  

To explore how to start or scale your neuroinclusive practices, download our research paper or for tailored business recommendations and benchmarking solutions, find out more about our new platform, HREdge | NeuroInclusion. 

Neuroinclusion by design: Progressive HR strategies to drive team success

Organisations today face growing pressure to create environments that embrace all forms of human diversity – including the need to accommodate diverse ways of thinking. In a recent LinkedIn Live webinar, Dr Emily Cook, Senior Researcher and Paola Bottaro, People Director, both from Top Employers Institute, explored the insights behind our new paper, Neuroinclusive by Design: Creating a Thriving Team Environment for All.

The session offered a compelling blueprint for HR leaders seeking to embed neuroinclusion into the way work gets done – not just as a reactive set of accommodations, but as a proactive principle of workplace design.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with neurodivergent professionals and the experiences of certified Top Employers such as Tata Consultancy Services and Bentley, the research identifies three essential traits of high-performing neurodiverse teams: harnessing individual talents, co-creating clarity, and embracing empathy.

From accommodation to intentional inclusion

The concept of intentional neuroinclusion is gaining traction, shifting focus from making adjustments for individuals to proactively structuring work environments to both expect and support a wide range of cognitive and behavioural styles. This not only benefits neurodivergent employees, but also enhances the working experience for all.

Rather than responding to challenges as they arise, this proactive approach integrates flexibility, clarity and empathy from the outset. This in turn enables a more inclusive and productive culture that supports differing ways of thinking, communicating and working.

Unlock collective success by harnessing individual talents

Many neurodivergent employees bring distinctive strengths, such as pattern recognition, that employers are in danger of overlooking when using traditional role definitions and job descriptions.

Our research encourages HR teams to look out for new skills. Techniques like skills profiling, using internal marketplaces for talent and more intentional performance conversations can help uncover and leverage these often-hidden strengths.

Neurodivergent professionals also frequently contribute beyond their formal roles, engaging in innovation projects and employee resource groups (ERGs). Supporting and celebrating this kind of engagement is one way that organisations can help fully unlock individual potential and elevate team performance.

Define and commit to consistent ways of working

The research found that inconsistent or mismatched expectations around how work gets done – whether in meetings, communication styles or collaborative processes – can become significant barriers for neurodivergent individuals.

Flexible and inclusive ways of working can be achieved by co-creating team norms, rather than imposing top-down rules. For example, teams might need to agree on meeting cadences, notification boundaries, or which tasks are best tackled together versus independently.

This shared clarity creates an environment where all team members, regardless of their cognitive profile, understand what’s expected and feel able to contribute effectively.

Embrace empathy to build trust

Our research showed that trust and psychological safety emerged as foundational to neuroinclusive teams. Neurodivergent employees often feel pressure to conform to behavioural expectations, such as direct eye contact or small talk, that may not align with how they naturally interact. This “masking” can take a toll on mental health over time.

Empathy, in this context, involves understanding and accepting diverse forms of communication and engagement. Employers can reinforce this through formal systems like manager training and inclusive policies, and through everyday signals – such as how to deliver feedback or how to understand alternative working styles.

Regular check-ins that focus on employee experience, not just outputs, can play a vital role in normalising support-seeking and creating space for authenticity.

Adapt neuroinclusion for differing cultures and contexts

In response to a question from the webinar audience, it was acknowledged that while in this instance our research interviews did not cover all geographic regions, the broader research we do at Top Employers Institute draws on data and insights from organisations across multiple continents. The principles highlighted in the paper – flexibility, clarity, and empathy – are designed to be adaptable to local context and nuance.

Neuroinclusion strategies should never follow a “one-size-fits-all” model. Different regions, industries, and cultures bring varying approaches, vocabularies and challenges to the topic. The key lies in building environments that are fundamentally inclusive by design, yet flexible enough to reflect local norms and realities.

A strategic blueprint for a better world of work

The overarching takeaway from our webinar was that neuroinclusion should not be seen as an adjustment to existing systems, but rather as a framework for the design of modern work. Through intentional design, organisations can build environments that both expect and celebrate diversity.

Along with this research paper, we’ve introduced a new platform, HREdge | NeuroInclusion, as a practical support tool for organisations at any stage of their neuroinclusion journey, providing access to tailored insights, expert guidance and a global network of HR leaders. And as the research makes clear, organisations that commit to neuroinclusion are not just improving workplace culture – they are positioning themselves for greater adaptability, innovation and long-term success.

Download the full research paper to explore the detailed findings.

Neuroinclusive by design: A future blueprint for a thriving team environment

With an estimated 10-20% of the population identifying as neurodivergent, many organisations are seeking ways to harness their untapped potential. However, there is a paradox at the heart of the current debate around neurodiversity in the workplace. Research shows that teams with neurodivergent members experience up to a 30% increase in overall success, and individuals with ADHD score 41% higher in creativity tests. Yet many neurodivergent employees still face barriers, with over 50% fearing workplace stigma or discrimination.

Why is this – and what can be done about it for the benefit of businesses and employees alike?

Building inclusive workplaces

At Top Employers Institute we’ve been delving deep into what makes neurodiverse teams thrive. Our latest research paper, Neuroinclusive by design: Creating a thriving team environment for all, explores the steps organisations can take to build truly inclusive workplaces. It provides key statistics, and practical recommendations that HR can implement to create a more neuroinclusive workplace.

Download the full research paper

Traditional workplace structures are changing, and neuroinclusive practices are forming the blueprint for the future of work. For a true neuroinclusive workplace, however, HR leaders must shift from providing piecemeal adjustments to embedding systemic inclusivity into their hiring, team collaboration, and leadership development practices. Organisations that embrace neurodiversity in this way will not only enhance employee wellbeing but also gain a vital competitive edge.

Through extensive research and interviews with neurodivergent employees, we have identified three critical traits shared by successful neurodiverse teams:

1. Harnessing individual talents for collective success. Neurodivergent employees excel when given flexibility and autonomy, allowing them to leverage their unique strengths in a way that benefits the entire organisation.
2. Defining and committing to consistent ways of working. High-performing teams find the right balance between structure and flexibility, co-creating communication methods that work for everyone.
3. Embracing empathy and nurturing interpersonal trust. A culture of psychological safety, where employees feel understood and valued, fosters collaboration and engagement.

Being ‘neuroinclusive by design’ is about reshaping the workplace so that diverse ways of thinking, processing information and collaborating are naturally supported. This approach benefits everyone, leading to more innovative, adaptable, and high-performing teams.

Can your business afford to ignore the benefits of creating a thriving team environment for all? By championing neurodiversity within teams, companies are not just creating better workplaces—they are shaping the future of work itself.

Fill in the form below to access the full research paper and explore how leading organisations are putting neuroinclusion into action.

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