HR Trends and Challenges for 2026

What trends and developments can we expect in the field of HRM in 2026? And how can all of hrmforce’s specialized questionnaires and development tools help organizations with this? We asked Floor Hendriks (managing partner) to share his outlook for the future. With a special focus on, among other things: the consequences of the tight labor market, measuring job satisfaction, and new needs arising from hybrid work. As is tradition, the turn of the year is the perfect time to look back and look ahead. Before we look at the trends and new tools for 2026, let’s first take a brief look back at the past year. At hrmforce, a lot has happened again to help clients work even better, smarter, and more efficiently in the field of HRM.

What stands out most to you from 2026?

“First and foremost, we launched a great many new features for our questionnaires, reports, and HR tools. Every two weeks, we released an update featuring an average of ten new features-ranging from small improvements to major ones, such as the launch of new questionnaires like the one for Diversity & Inclusion. All told, that adds up to about 250 new features. We’re quite proud that we were able to deliver this for our clients once again. This includes new color-coded reports for our questionnaires, specialized leadership reports, new components for the development cycle, and a valuable feature that translates IQ test results into targeted actions. In addition, the design of our portal has been updated and improved. I’m also pleased with that.”

Have many preparations already been made for 2026?

“Definitely. First and foremost, on the technical side. That might sound less exciting, but it’s very important. We’ve been preparing our new server and security environment, which will go live on January 1. With the increasing use of our tools, this is crucial for improving performance. Users will notice this because they’ll be able to work faster with our tools. In addition, we’re ensuring that all data remains secure.”

What are the key HR trends for 2026?

“Recruitment and selection remain a major challenge due to the tight labor market. As a result, workplace happiness and employee retention are becoming even more important issues. To address this, employers will increasingly conduct small-scale surveys to regularly gauge employee sentiment. This allows them to anticipate issues in a timely manner and make adjustments where necessary. In 2026, we also took additional steps to monitor job satisfaction, so that employers can take targeted, data-driven actions in this area. To address various challenges holistically, the (API) integration capabilities of different systems are becoming even more important. We have further developed this capability so that users can continue to work with our specialized questionnaires on their own central platform. The substantive quality and validity of the results remain our key value proposition for clients. Furthermore, hybrid work remains a key theme. Organizations have been practicing this for some time now but continue to evolve in this area. Key areas of focus include remote leadership and continuing to support employee development within the hybrid work environment.”

What do you expect from AI tools for HR in 2026?

“That’s obviously a trend no one can ignore, but you have to use it as a tool and based on your specific needs. We’ve already taken steps in this direction and will certainly continue to do so. For example, for analyzing test results and translating them into recommendations. An ‘AI coach’—with a chat function-will help employees, managers, and HR professionals translate the results into actions tailored to individual employees and teams. That Q&A and recommendation feature is what makes it valuable. For example, if an employee wants to start working on competency development after taking a test, it can be very helpful if they can immediately see which training videos, courses, or modules are recommended for their development plan. Of course, when it comes to data analysis and AI, we take great care to ensure the data privacy that is so important in this context.”

How do you help organizations now that more and more data is available?

“That’s a key focus area, because data only becomes valuable when you use it purposefully to advance your organization’s mission. This means we’re increasingly tailoring measurement results and reports to users’ roles and objectives. For example, we’re introducing updated dashboards for the organizational level, managers, and individual employees. This way, everyone can see the most relevant results at a glance, but in addition to that basic overview, we’ll also be offering expert reports for further analysis. This allows an HR professional, for example, to prepare for an interview based on test results. Or a manager can discover which questions to ask during conversations with employees. For example, if someone scores low on agreeableness and high on directness in a personality assessment, this could cause tension in the workplace. A relevant question might then be how that person handles resistance within the team. Or how the employee convinces others when presenting their ideas.”

So you’ll continue to actively develop all the questionnaires, reports, and tools in 2026?

“Absolutely. People sometimes ask why we do so much. But we’ll definitely keep doing it because we want to and because we find it so important. You can always get more out of the quality of questionnaires and reports to achieve the best measurement results and predictions. In that area, we absolutely cannot and will not stand still. We’re starting the new year full of new energy.”