SHRM 25: 3 Strategies We’re Taking After Day 1

SHRM 25, one of the largest HR conferences in the world, kicked off this weekend. We landed in the beautiful town of San Diego on Sunday in time for the initial events, sparking the conversations around HR professionals’ biggest challenges.

After day one, we’ve found 3 strategies all HR leaders need to take back home. The experts have listened, and now they’ve spoken.

Roundtables Are The Best Tables

Orientation kicked off the journey for many first-time SHRM attendees, and while the intro served to explain the conference, our conversation with SHRM’s speakers afterwords spoke to the heart of HR gatherings.

Felix Massey, Senior Director of Customer Experience at SHRM urged all to seek out their community, whether that be by industry, age, or interest, and start conversations. While we go to these conversations for the expert opinions and the big stages, the real value comes from those connections we make with each other. Advice will guide you forward, but a strong network will see you rise throughout your career.

Following that up, Keren Maldonado, Director of Total Rewards for SHRM, said the most valuable sessions in her opinion were the round tables, where HR leaders sit beside their cohorts and actually talk through big issues. They’re conversations, not a class, Keren expressed. It’s an important recommendation for conference attendees, sure— but it’s strong guidance for how you should approach HR in your workplace as well.

Does a strong HR leader lecture their team, or do they have conversations to solve issues? If you’re still unsure, maybe you should talk to your team about it…

Employee Engagement: One Size Actually Just Fits One

The most anticipated first session—filling up so fast that some attendees had to be turned away once the room reached overflow—was an in-depth look at tanking employee engagement with Dick Finnegan, CEO of C-Suite Analytics.

2025 has been a record dip in employee engagement, the reasons for which are many and varied. Economic uncertainty, constant world-changing events, rapidly developing technology—the list goes on. While some may see that as too many issues, too large to handle, Dick argues that the variables are always changing, and so too should your HR approach.

Each situation requires its own set of solutions to be successful. One of the only consistent factors Dick shares that harms engagement is the quality of your managers. A statistic he cited from Gallup stated that “70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager.” An employee that feels their manager cares is one that will stay in their role, and engage with their work.

So, how can you guide your managers then? The big item Dick recommends are “Stay Interviews,” opening the door between employee and manager and actually asking how they feel about their position, what currently makes them want to leave, and what would get them to stay. The 5 questions Dick says are key to a good Stay Interview are:

1. When you travel to work each day, what things do you look forward to?
2. What are you learning here?
3. Why do you stay here?
4. When was the last time you thought about leaving our team? What prompted it?
5. What can I do to make your experience at work better for you?

Ted Lasso: HR Pro

Rounding out the event, actor, comedian, writer, and star of the hit tv show Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis joined SHRM Board of Directors Chair, Betty Thompson, to discuss his growth as a storyteller and creative, and how HR professionals could learn from both him and his characters.

In between the hilarious life stories, Sudeikis talked about how the character of Ted Lasso stemmed from a desire for an honest and good lead in a world of TV anti-heroes. In trying to do his best, and being humble while facing obstacles, Ted Lasso became a character many, especially within the HR world, should emulate.

His advice simplifies to these key points:

1. Be a goldfish: forget the mistake, hold on to the lesson
2. Work hard, stay humble: there’s always more to improve, and an ego only gets in the way
3. Believe: Sometimes you need someone to believe in you. Sometimes someone needs you to believe in them. Sometimes, all you have is yourself to believe. Either way, it’s always the first step to success.

Stay tuned for the biggest takeaways and best HR strategies from SHRM 25!

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