HR leaders need to adopt new strategies in 2026 to boost business resilience, according to a new global report from the Top Employers Institute.
This report says that the speed and scale are no longer sufficient when it comes to maximising the performance of companies and organisations.
The Institute, which offers certification and benchmarking tools alongside advisory services, says firms will need to prioritise more coherent, ‘deliberately designed’ management systems that can adapt to a complex and fast-moving environment.
Its ‘World of Work Trends’ report draws on research from more than 2,000 organisations globally, and seeks to identify trends that will determine which organisations will outperform in the years ahead.
The Institute’s CEO Adrian Seligman says: “2026 is where speed gives way to intentional design. Our data shows that performance under pressure now depends on how deliberately organisations structure work, decision-making and leadership focus.
The report identified the following five trends which it says will help HR leaders outperform in the years ahead.
1. Purpose in Practice
The report says: “Purpose statements will no longer be enough in the year ahead. Stakeholders will demand tangible evidence that purpose shapes behaviours and outcomes. HR leaders must now embed purpose into decision-making systems, leadership expectations and scorecards that trigger early intervention”
It adds that organisations with higher revenue growth and profitability are 8 per cent more likely to have deployed a purpose measurement scorecard. This includes 96 per cent aligning strategy to purpose and 55 per cent actively monitoring alignment.
2. AI with Intent
The report says that 2026 marks the end of AI adoption for adoption’s sake. “With nearly half of AI projects scrapped between pilot and deployment and only 37 per cent of teams reporting productivity gains, organisations can no longer afford to implement without clear governance.
“The 40 per cent of Top Employers continuously evaluating how AI balances organisational needs with employee impact show what intentional deployment looks like. HR leaders entering 2026 must establish transparent frameworks for where AI is used, who remains accountable, and how fairness is protected.”
3. Structured Flexibility
The report found that while 87 per cent of organisations already have remote work policies, what will distinguish performance in 2026 will be how deliberately flexibility is structured.
“Organisations with low turnover are 13 per cent more likely to have equipped leaders to manage hybrid teams effectively. HR leaders can no longer expand flexibility by default – they must design it with boundaries that protect fairness, performance and wellbeing, or watch disengagement and inconsistency undermine results.”
4. Designing for Productivity
The report says: “This is the year organisations must accept that productivity cannot come from working people harder. With HR budgets shrinking – just 35 per cent planning increases versus 66 per cent in 2022 – and burnout mentions in Glassdoor reviews up by 32 per cent, the path forward needs to be a new one.
“HR leaders must direct time, energy and resources to the highest-impact work, protect focus through clear boundaries, and build renewable workforce capability through redeployment and reskilling. Organisations reporting higher revenue growth are 12 per cent more likely, and those reporting stronger customer satisfaction are 27 per cent more likely, to use iterative planning and feedback loops to stay responsive to change. Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent ) of organisations now use these practices, reinforcing the role of deliberate organisational design in sustainable productivity.
5. The Stability Paradox
Finally the report adds that while only 17 per cent of organisations surveyed currently prioritise job security in their Employee Value Proposition (EVP), those that do have voluntary turnover 9 per cent lower than average. “In the year ahead, as workforce shortages intensify and labour markets tighten, HR leaders must redesign stability as a platform for continuous learning and internal mobility, not just retention. The 67 per cent prioritising career advancement recognise that competitive advantage in 2026 depends on their ability to continuously redeploy and reskill existing talent.”
