Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo 2025 Sydney: Day 2 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo 2025, taking place this week in Sydney, Australia. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference. You can read the highlights from Day 1 here.

On Day 2 from the conference, we are highlighting sessions on navigating employee value proposition (EVP) challenges in a dynamic labor market; talent strategies in a era of external disruption; and maximizing employee productivity by avoiding efficiency traps.

• Gartner Survey Reveals Poor Manager Quality the Top Driver of Employee Turnover in Australia
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Presented by Shannon Wiest, Senior Principal, Advisory, Gartner

As the labor market shifts, power dynamics between employers and employees change. In this session, Shannon Wiest, Senior Principal, Advisory at Gartner, explored strategies to align leadership and employee perspectives, and outlined how to transform conflicts into opportunities to ensure a balanced employee value proposition (EVP). 

• “EVPs often struggle to keep pace because they’re too slow, too reactive, often outdated and don’t match what’s needed, focusing more on appearances than results.”
• “An EVP isn’t just about what companies offer, it affects how employees listen, handle change and make decisions. HR leaders should create an EVP that works in tough times and considers the different views of the people involved.”
• Listen for what matters: “Shifting from passive data collection to decision-centric listening  enables CHROs to take action, spot risks early and make better choices to guide EVP investments that matter.”
• Anticipate and adapt: “Use scenario planning and work with different teams to anticipate disruption, test EVP choices and adapt quickly. When CHROs plan ahead, they can respond faster, invest wisely and build trust – but it only matters if it leads to real action.”
• Action for impact: “Act quickly and communicate clearly to match EVP promises with what’s delivered. When employees see open and consistent action, they trust the EVP - even when the answer is no, which builds lasting credibility.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Emma Keen at emma.keen@gartner.com.

Presented by Aaron McEwan, Vice President, Advisory, Gartner

Geopolitical flashpoints, extreme weather events and tighter border restrictions are wreaking havoc on the free flow of skilled talent and the ability to maintain a thriving global workforce. In this session, Aaron McEwan, Vice President, Advisory at Gartner, explored how CHROs and their teams can quickly reassess their workforce needs and develop more flexible and resilient talent strategies in the face of constant disruption.

• “The workforce is like a supply chain – fragile in the face of increased disruption. CHROs must move the workforce from a fragile to antifragile state, where value can be gained amidst uncertainty.”
• “To build an antifragile workforce, organizations need to invite disruption, implementing stress-testing plans and running ‘what if’ scenarios to uncover hidden fragility and new opportunities.”
• “Disruption is inevitable, plan for it! Use scenario-based workforce planning to anticipate future disruptions and identify critical, at-risk talent segments.”
• “Resilient workforce plans can survive some disruptions for a certain time and to a certain degree; whereas antifragile plans position the organization to become stronger, deliver more value and thrive, even in turbulent times.” 
• “By holding plans lightly, CHROs aren’t clinging to a plan so tightly that it breaks when the world shifts. They can review, adjust and be ready for whatever the world throws at them.”
  

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Emma Keen at emma.keen@gartner.com.

Presented by Brent Cassell, VP, Advisory, Gartner

Efficiency and productivity are often used interchangeably. However, when organizations become hyper-focused on efficiency, they run the risk of falling into efficiency traps that negatively impact productivity. In this session, Brent Cassell, VP, Advisory at Gartner, examined how HR can work with business leaders to balance efficiency with value creation and maximize employee productivity.

• “When HR productivity strategies only drive efficiency but don’t increase value creation, HR leaders will encounter efficiency traps.”
• Speed trap: “When managers are hyper-focused on the speed of work, employees who work efficiently often just receive more tasks. Instead, using saved time to develop new skills and capabilities can create greater long-term value.”
• Standardization trap: “When processes become overly standardized, employees’ ability to create value can decline by up to 10%. Seeking employee feedback can help identify where standardization may be creating barriers.”
• Evidence trap: “Many HR leaders believe productivity can’t improve without greater investment in measurement, with visibility often taking priority over value. Managers must be trained to track not only productivity metrics but also behaviors that enable success.”
• “To avoid these traps, HR leaders must reinvest saved time in building future capabilities, make room for creativity and design metrics that capture outcomes, not just volume.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Emma Keen at emma.keen@gartner.com.