HR Leadership in 2026: Jobs, Strategies, and Career Guide

Key takeaways

• Human resources (HR) leadership involves various strategies, such as building teams that align with your organizational goals and enhancing team collaboration, to support your business.

• HR leadership is a practice that requires improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, connecting teams to your organization’s purpose, and incorporating data analysis to better understand employee engagement, performance, and turnover rates.

• HR leadership is a category that includes positions such as HR manager, chief people officer, and HR business partner.

Effective HR leadership skills include talent acquisition, compliance, employee relations management, and employment law. Discover effective strategies that HR leaders use to bring more value to organizations, explore HR leadership jobs, and learn the steps you can take to qualify for leadership positions.

If you’re ready to develop your HR skills, consider enrolling in the HRCI Human Resource Associate Professional Certificate. In as little as five months, you’ll have the opportunity to learn how to recruit and retain talent and how to use performance management techniques to enhance employee relations. By the end, you’ll have earned a shareable certificate for your resume and LinkedIn profile.

What is HR leadership?

HR leadership refers to professionals who hold leadership positions within a human resources department. Leadership in HR can also refer to the approaches any professional in this field can use to help organizations build strong relationships with employees.

Effective HR leadership starts with understanding an organization’s priorities, such as building brand equity or responding to market shifts, and then connecting those priorities to developing talent.

What are the latest HR trends?

According to Gartner, some of the current trends defining HR include transforming HR using artificial intelligence (AI), mobilizing HR leaders for growth during uncertain times, and shaping work in the human-machine era [1].

Keep reading to discover strategies that HR leaders are using to bring more value to organizations, jobs that may be available to you, and steps you can take to become a leader at your organization.

How to be a good HR manager: HR leadership strategies

Strategic HR leadership refers to aligning employees' work with an organization's business goals. HR leaders or departments can take specific approaches to be more strategic, including:

Improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Creating the experience of safety and belonging within your organization can greatly impact employee performance. DEI programs might include diverse recruitment, cultural sensitivity training, and setting up employee resource groups (ERGs) to facilitate connections among employees with common interests or characteristics.

Connect teams to an organization’s purpose.

Communicating an organization’s mission and values can inspire employees to see the societal impact of their work and, thus, be more committed to their roles. Ways to connect teams to an organization’s purpose include:

• Updating employees on the organization’s achievements

• Involving employees in discussions about the organization’s future

• Making sure employees understand how their daily tasks contribute to the organization’s goals

Improve collaboration within teams.

When teams collaborate effectively, individual members can perform better and contribute to the organization's goals. HR leaders can foster team collaboration by implementing team-building activities, providing communication tools and technology, and facilitating brainstorming sessions.

Design teams to match organizational strategy.

When HR leaders understand an organization’s strategic goals, they can recruit talent accordingly. This approach entails recruiting individuals with skills corresponding to a team’s specific tasks and objectives.

Implement Agile project management.

Agile focuses on delivering value in short iterations, with team members setting goals and offering feedback continuously. Applying Agile project management practices to HR leadership can help to foster a culture of collaboration, adaptability, and performance management.

Implement data analysis.

Data analysis can help HR leaders improve organizational processes and plan for the future. Employee data that HR leaders might collect and analyze includes:

• Engagement

• Performance

• Tenure

• Turnover rate

• Feedback from employee surveys and interviews

HR leadership jobs

When considering a future as a human resources leader within an organization, take some time to investigate current job listings. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for HR management positions is 5 percent between 2024 and 2034, which is faster than the average for all occupations [2].

Explore common HR leadership roles that may come up in your job search. Salary averages represent median total pay, including base salaries and additional pay such as profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

Chief people officer

Median annual US salary (Glassdoor): $541,000 [3]

Responsibilities: Plan programs within an HR department; ensure compliance with regulations; coordinate employee onboarding and training

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree or higher in business, HR, or a related field; experience developing talent campaigns using HR software and data analytics methods

Human resources manager

Median annual US salary (Glassdoor): $106,000 [4]

Responsibilities: Evaluate recruiting, interviewing, and hiring processes within an HR department; coordinate onboarding and training; oversee benefits programs

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in business, HR, or a related field; experience in recruiting exceptional talent and using HR software

HR business partner

Median annual US salary (Glassdoor): $128,000 [5]

Responsibilities: Maximize employee performance; assist other leaders with hiring and terminations; investigate employee complaints; guide conflict resolution

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in HR or a related field; Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) or other relevant certification and experience offering training and development programs

Additional HR leadership job titles include chief human resources officer, head of employee success, and VP of human resources.

Human resource leadership skills

At all points along your HR career path, it’s important to stay abreast of the human resources skills employers look for in HR leaders. Having in-demand skills may make you a more attractive job candidate, lead to greater success in your current role, and increase your earning potential.

Common skills listed for HR roles include:

• Collaboration

• Communication skills

• HR technology

• HR experience

• Talent acquisition

• Compliance

• Performance management

• Recruiting

• Employee engagement

• Employee relations management

• Employment law

• Onboarding management

• Microsoft Office

HR leadership development: Steps to take to be a leader in HR

After gaining the specific skills needed to succeed in HR, you may want to advance in your career by applying for leadership positions. Explore specific actions you may take to level up your career in human resources.

1. Build HR leadership skills.

Read individual job descriptions on other career sites to prioritize which HR leadership skills to build. Consider signing up for courses, seminars, or training to build technical skills like data-driven decision-making, organizational change management, and using HR software like Workday or Bamboo.

At the same time that you build technical skills, it’s a good idea to cultivate workplace skills like empathy, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution. These skills can help you understand employees better and create a productive environment for everyone in your organization.

2. Obtain advanced HR credentials.

Along with a degree in HR, HR management, business, or a related field, holding an additional credential, such as an advanced certification in HR, may enhance your application for a promotion within your organization or a leadership position elsewhere. Advanced HR certifications include:

• Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)

• Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR)

• SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)

Credentials in other disciplines, such as project management or data analysis, may also expand your HR leadership opportunities.

Read more: How to Get a Human Resources Certification

3. Take on complex projects related to organizational goals.

When preparing for HR career advancement, consider taking the lead on a more complex project than those you’ve completed before. Doing so can demonstrate your leadership potential and expertise in the field while helping your organization achieve its goals. Here are some examples:

• Start a DEI initiative.

• Lead HR efforts for your organization’s merger with another entity.

• Launch a project to improve employee experience.

• Design a training program to help employees use new technologies.

4. Look for thought leadership opportunities.

Thought leadership can be a great way to share your ideas about HR with an audience outside your organization. Thought leadership can take the form of speaking publicly at professional events, being a guest on a podcast, writing blog articles, or creating social media content. Topics you might cover include:

• HR trends

• Your take on different HR software and solutions

• Best practices in the field

• Your insights into current HR challenges and how to overcome them

• Suggestions on how HR professionals can network more effectively

Through quality thought leadership content, you can inspire colleagues to develop their own HR careers and add more value to their organizations.

5. Pursue HR leadership roles.

As you build new skills, gain credentials, and complete advanced projects underway, consider applying for HR leadership jobs. Look for job openings in industries or with organizations that interest you. For example, you might want to work for a large tech company and lead efforts to attract the best talent.

Once you’re ready to apply, take some time to research organizations, build interviewing skills, and brainstorm specific ways you can make a difference for potential employers.

Reading is a great way to glean wisdom for your HR career. Check out these five HR leadership books:

• Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

• Bring Your Human To Work: 10 Surefire Ways to Design a Workplace That is Good for People, Great for Business, and Just Might Change the World

• Irresistible: The Seven Secrets of the World’s Most Enduring, Employee-Focused Organizations

• Built for People: Transform Your Employee Experience Using Product Management Principles

• Rituals for Work: 50 Ways to Create Engagement, Shared Purpose, and a Culture That Can Adapt to Change

Explore HR resources for your career

Subscribe to Career Chat on LinkedIn, where you can stay up-to-date on emerging industry trends. Then, explore these free resources for your HR career:

• Read our Career Chat issue: GenAI for HR: Use Cases and Benefits

• Watch on YouTube: Top HR Skills for Career Growth

• Test your skills: Microsoft Excel Skill Assessment

Accelerate your career growth with a Coursera Plus subscription. When you enroll in either the monthly or annual option, you’ll get access to over 10,000 courses.

Build job-ready skills with Coursera Plus

Start 7-day free trial

• 
• 
• 
• 

Start 7-day free trial