Traditionally, HR was seen as a support function, making sure that there would be the right number of employees in the business in the right roles. They were responsible for making sure that all the administration was in place and that people got paid and were provided with training. They wouldn’t always have a seat at the head table and were often used reactively to deal with people ‘problems’. Fast forward to 2026 and HR deservedly has a seat at the top table. This means they are involved in developing new strategies and business objectives – not just reacting. This is essential for organisations as people are at the centre of the business, and often the key source of competitive advantage.
Driving business growth
HR needs to ensure that the appropriate people strategies are in place that will take the business in the direction it is aiming for. This means ensuring that the business has the right mix of people, skills and knowledge not just for the present but also for the future. This is more complicated than it sounds as with the speed at which technological advances are growing, we don’t know what future jobs might look like.
Globally we see a trend in increasingly complex organisation structures, many of which operate across different territories with different laws and regulations. The HR team are responsible for ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations and that the relevant organisational policies are appropriately mapped. A further layer of nuance can exist where there is global mobility in roles.
Shaping organisational resilience
During the covid pandemic, HR really had to come to the forefront as many businesses had to pivot some or all of their operations. Whilst focusing on the wellbeing of employees is always a priority, during the pandemic the speed of change and uncertainty illuminated these needs. HR teams were also responsible for drawing up revisions to policies at a much quicker pace than usual. They were also responsible for supporting leadership teams who may never have had to deal with such scenarios before. One of the key lessons that can be taken forwards from this is the need to be agile and ideally businesses will have taken time post-pandemic to reflect on their experiences.
Talent, leadership and culture
Three key things for HR to lead on are talent, leadership and culture and arguably if you get the first two right, a positive culture emerges. Identifying talent through the recruitment and selection process relies on having clearly defined expectations. Whilst the ever-growing number of platforms for advertising posts may appear advantageous, the downside is that organisations can get besieged by applications – so targeted recruitment is key. It can be easy to fall into the trap of running the same types of interviews that have always been used, but HR can support in piloting alternatives.
To retain good employees there needs to be appropriate development opportunities for growth. Then the next step is for HR to think about how best to try and retain the employees, particularly where they have significant organisational knowledge and may be headhunted. Having clear career paths can be motivating for employees but also thinking about how they can have opportunities to shine – perhaps through project work or involvement in new initiatives.
Leaders shape the business and have responsibility for both setting the direction, and accountability for meeting performance targets. It is crucial they exhibit the organisation’s values and operate in a fair and transparent way. Sometimes leaders are promoted due to their technical expertise, in these instances HR have an important job in supporting them to develop people management skills.
Navigating AI transformation
There is no doubting the benefits that AI have brought to businesses and the capabilities will continue to grow. Whether this is redefining processes or opening new avenues, it signifies a period of significant change. The HR team should be playing a leading role in managing and embracing these changes to enable business growth.
The introduction of AI can be daunting for employees, especially when they fear that their roles may become redundant. Wherever possible HR should be identifying if there are opportunities to retrain and redeploy people. This will require skills analysis and being able to provide appropriate training and development.
As well as thinking about interaction with AI, HR teams should be developing policies for how and when it is appropriate to use AI within everyday operations. For example; to what extent can AI be used to inform reports written by employees and what information can they share with AI tools such as Chat GPT?
The HR team could use AI to help automate some of their processes that would free up staff resource to work on more strategic issues. For example; many parts of the initial recruitment and selection processes could be automated and achieve significant time-savings. It would also be prudent to undertake a general review of HR policies to see where AI should be specifically mentioned.
Addressing skills shortages
A key role of the HR team is to identify what the skills shortages are now and then try to forecast what they might look like in the future. This will involve keeping up to date with predictions for future trends and doing gap analyses against the current skills and knowledge. Traditionally, where new specialist skills were needed, organisations might try to poach these experts from their competitors, however this is no longer the most viable option where demand outstrips supply. Focusing on developing staff internally will become increasingly important; as will retaining them.
In summary
People sit at the heart of every business, without them performing at a consistent and high level, organisations are unlikely to achieve their potential. For HR to have maximum impact, they need the time, space and resources to be future-facing, ensuring that as far as possible the business is well equipped for an increasingly complex external environment. AI brings fantastic possibilities for innovation, but the human side can’t be forgotten about and with the support of HR, the future has many exciting opportunities.
