HR is expected to move beyond administration and take on a strategic role—but is it succeeding? The latest State of HR 2025 study by the German Association for Personnel Management (DGFP) and Gallup explores where HR professionals see progress, where challenges remain, and what it takes for HR to truly influence corporate strategy.
For years, there has been discussion that HR must develop from a purely administrative function to a strategic key role – but implementation remains a challenge. HR is facing a double transformation. To successfully drive change, the department must lead by example – but for this to succeed, the right framework and support from company management are crucial.
The State of HR 2025 study, conducted between November and December 2024, included 314 HR professionals and leaders from a broad range of HR disciplines and career levels. It reveals an ambivalent picture of the HR function among HR professionals: While 87% of respondents would choose a career in HR again, they also see a great need for improvement in their own profession and in the influence of HR on corporate strategies.
HR must transform itself to enable change
Envato/bialasiewicz
HR plays a key role in developing a sustainable corporate culture – but this requires HR to act as a role model for change itself. However, the study shows that HR in Germany often struggles with the same challenges that HR professionals are supposed to solve in the organization as a whole:
Lack of agility: Only 6% of respondents perceive their company as agile.
Lack of decision-making freedom: Only 9% are satisfied with the speed of decision-making.
Emotional commitment in one’s own area is low: Only 33% experience a leadership-driven work environment that motivates them and binds them to the company.
HR as a strategic designer – but not yet universally recognized
The State of HR 2025 makes it clear: Only 17% of respondents experience real acknowledgement of HR’s contribution to corporate success. Although HR is increasingly involved in strategic decision-making – 61% confirm their involvement in corporate strategy – HR often remains a supporting rather than a driving force. 67% of the companies surveyed already have their own HR strategy.
Emotional engagement (employee engagement) as a success factor – with room for improvement
Envato/wichayada69
Gallup’s meta-analysis shows that employee engagement is a crucial lever for business success. It reduces turnover, lowers absenteeism and increases productivity. Furthermore, emotional loyalty increases willingness to change. However, the results show that only 12% of HR experts place the greatest focus in the company on emotional loyalty, but consider it to be one of the biggest challenges in the employee lifecycle.
Dissatisfaction with their own organization
One alarming result of the study: Only 51% of the HR professionals surveyed plan to still be with their current company in one year. This figure shows a significantly higher willingness to change jobs than in other countries: According to Gallup’s global HR database, over 75% of HR professionals worldwide say they want to still be with their current employer in one year.
Recommendations for a future-oriented HR organization
Envato/Olivier_Le_Moal
Based on the results of the State of HR 2025 study, the DGFP and Gallup have formulated specific recommendations for companies:
Systematically quantify the contribution of HR: HR should make its contribution to business success more visible by systematically using “hard and soft” metrics. This will enable HR to gain more recognition for its own contribution and exert greater influence on corporate strategy.
Becoming more agile by focusing on internal customers: To enable companies to respond to rapidly changing markets, a more agile culture is needed within the organization and also in the HR department (in particular, better cross-departmental collaboration, faster decision-making and complexity reduction). The basis for this is the perception of other departments within and outside of HR as internal customers.
Improve leadership quality in HR: On the one hand, HR should focus on improving the leadership experience in its own area. On the other hand, the emotional attachment phase in the employee lifecycle needs more attention in the company. After all, emotional employee loyalty strengthens loyalty to the company and lowers turnover in the long term, thus reducing recruiting and onboarding costs.
Expand learning and development culture: In view of the “Next Level Training” trend identified by HR, companies need to invest in re- and upskilling to develop the potential of employees and better prepare them for future challenges – including in HR. In addition to the quality of leadership experienced, the topic of further development is an important building block for retention.
Use feedback and performance management as central levers: HR must promote and demand a feedback and performance culture that supports regular and helpful feedback, both in its own area and in the company. This not only contributes to individual development, but also improves the company’s performance and competitiveness.
About the State of HR 2025 study
The State of HR 2025 study was conducted in cooperation between the DGFP and Gallup as an online survey using the Gallup Access survey platform. During the survey period from November 8, 2024 to December 13, 2024, 314 people from the DGFP network took part. The survey comprised 61 questions on the topics of HR trends, the strategic role of HR, emotional connection, agility, performance management and the employee lifecycle.
