Forbes Kazakhstan featured the HUMANRISE Award in its BRAND VOICE section, dedicated to companies and projects setting standards for their industries. The piece, titled “Culture of Growth,” covers the first-ever professional award and case conference HUMANRISE, held on June 4 in Almaty, which brought together HR leaders, business representatives, and industry experts from across Central Asia.
The article’s central argument is a fundamental shift in the role of HR in Kazakhstan over the past five years. A function once limited to hiring and personnel administration now spans five strategic areas: corporate culture, employer value proposition (EVP), motivation systems, employee engagement, and retention. HR has moved beyond a support function to become one of the defining drivers of business performance.
The authors also note a shift in candidate priorities amid the talent shortage: salary is giving way to development opportunities and team psychological climate as the deciding factors. For Eclectic Talents Group, these findings align with a core principle of our own value proposition — treating talent as a carrier of value whose potential is unlocked only within the right environment. Removing the talent shortage as a barrier to business growth is one of the core objectives the Group solves for its partners.
A significant part of the article addresses corporate culture as a business asset: according to a panel discussion featuring executives from international companies, an organization’s resilience to local crises comes not from isolated HR decisions but from systemic support — coordinated collaboration between partners and processes under shared quality standards. This principle mirrors the ecosystem approach ETG consistently advances in the market: a shift from a “vendor–client” model toward a shared growth environment that benefits every participant.
The article also lists the full roster of Award winners across all categories. HUMANRISE is positioned as a platform that gives the HR industry a tool for recognizing best practices, building professional networks, and exchanging expertise — reinforcing HR’s role as a lever for capitalizing on human capital in the region.
Strategic HR partner of the Award — Smart Solutions in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Organizer of the Award — Eclectic Talents Group.
Full article: Forbes Kazakhstan, issue No. 07 (179), July 2026, pp. 44–45.
Watch the video: how it happened — the first HUMANRISE Award conference and ceremony
