With two decades of global leadership experience, Tara Furiani is reshaping the future of work. A highly regarded former Chief People Officer for companies around the world, Tara is also a multi-degreed expert in leadership, strategy, and workplace transformation. She’s the developer of CrowsNest, a cutting-edge 360-degree feedback tool, and Periscope, a modern personality assessment designed for leaders.
As the creator of the SAIL Leadership Intensive on Virgin Voyages, a sought-after keynote speaker, and the host of the groundbreaking platform Not the HR Lady, Tara is a recognized thought leader in driving impactful cultural change. She’s the author of Fck Your Office Snacks* and the forthcoming The SAIL Framework for Leaders in Work & Life, a guide to balancing professional success and personal growth.
A mother of five, Tara brings a bold, human-centered perspective to every conversation about work, leadership, and equity. Today, we’ll explore her vision for the future of HR, including the outdated trends she’s eager to see disappear by 2025 and the innovative strategies poised to take their place.
Recruitment & Hiring
What traditional recruitment practices do you hope will be replaced by more inclusive and dynamic approaches in 2025?
Traditional hiring practices are riddled with bias, inefficiency, and outdated thinking. By 2025, I hope the obsession with pedigree... the Ivy League degrees, linear career paths, and cookie-cutter "qualifications"... is dead and buried. Instead, companies need to prioritize skills, adaptability, and lived experience. And let’s be clear: posting jobs with requirements like "10 years of experience in a tool that’s only existed for five" is asinine. Use inclusive job descriptions, expand your talent pipelines, and focus on assessing what actually matters. If your recruitment strategy isn’t pulling from diverse, dynamic talent pools, you’re not innovative... Your recruitment team is lazy and drastic change likely needs to happen within those groups.
Performance Management
Annual performance reviews are often criticized as ineffective. What aspects of traditional performance management do you think will - or should - fade out in favor of more continuous, personalized feedback models?
Annual performance reviews? Please. They’re an outdated relic designed to check a box, not actually help anyone grow. By the time most reviews happen, the feedback is irrelevant, and employees have either disengaged or moved on. Companies need to adopt real-time, personalized feedback loops. Think consistent coaching, clear goals, and measurable impact... not vague ratings like “meets expectations.” Also, scrap the one-size-fits-all templates. A real performance conversation requires nuance, not a form. If your system doesn’t help your people level up or feel valued, it’s broken. Fix it.
DEI Initiatives
Surface-level DEI efforts, like tokenism, remain prevalent. What outdated DEI practices do you hope will be replaced by more meaningful, impactful strategies?
Tokenism isn’t just outdated; it’s insulting. Slapping a few stock photos of diverse faces on your website or hiring a Chief Diversity Officer with no budget or support isn’t DEI... it’s PR. Meaningful DEI requires systemic change, accountability, and measurable results. Want to impress me? Tie executive bonuses to DEI outcomes. Build a workplace where marginalized voices aren’t just included but empowered. And stop hosting performative events like “Diversity Day.” Instead, dismantle inequitable systems, prioritize intersectionality, and ensure everyone has access to opportunities that matter.
Employee wellbeing
Many wellness programs still focus on superficial perks. What wellbeing trends do you hope companies will abandon, and what authentic support systems should take their place?
Foosball tables and free snacks don’t equal wellness. Neither do half-baked EAP programs buried so deep in your benefits portal that employees don’t even know they exist. If you want to support employee wellbeing, invest in programs that actually matter: accessible mental health care, equitable parental leave, and flexibility that lets people live their lives. And let’s stop pretending burnout is a personal failing... it’s a leadership problem. Fix workloads, foster psychological safety, and make wellbeing a company priority, not just a buzzword.
Leadership development
Leadership programs often follow rigid, top-down models. What traditional leadership development practices do you hope will finally die, and how can organizations adopt more agile, people-focused approaches?
The traditional "command-and-control" leadership models are dying... and not a moment too soon. Leaders today need to be agile, emotionally intelligent, and people-focused, not just taskmasters with fancy titles. Leadership development should move away from cookie-cutter programs and focus on building real, human skills: empathy, accountability, and the ability to inspire trust. And for the love of everything, stop promoting people just because they’re good at their technical jobs. Leadership is a skill set, not a reward. Train them, coach them, and hold them accountable... or don’t give them the job.
-
By 2025, the workplace needs to be smarter, more human, and genuinely inclusive. It’s time to bury the old, ineffective practices that hold us back and embrace approaches that drive innovation, equity, and actual results. Leaders have the power to make these changes... not with token gestures, but with bold, deliberate action. Let’s make it happen.
