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.
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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.
