THE HUMAN FACTOR
SPECIAL EDITION 2026
Berna Öztinaz
President of the European Association of People Management (EAPM), CHRO at Genel Energy PLC, and Board Member of the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA)
Neda
Tamara Stojić Novartis People Partner
Ksenija Radosavljević HR
COMMENT
BETWEEN STRATEGY AND REALITY
How HR leadership is being reshaped by technological change, organisational responsibility and the shifting conditions of work
In an environment shaped by accelerating technological change, shifting workforce expectations and growing pressure on organisations to remain both competitive and humane, the role of HR has moved decisively into the strategic core of business. People management is no longer a supporting function, but a space where leadership, ethics and long-term sustainability are tested every day.
This HR edition opens with a European perspective on the challenges redefin-
HR TODAY IS LESS ABOUT DESIGNING PERFECT SYSTEMS, AND MORE ABOUT NAVIGATING IMPERFECT
REALITIES — WHERE LEADERSHIP
IS MEASURED BY THE ABILITY TO BALANCE AMBITION WITH TRUST, AND INNOVATION WITH ACCOUNTABILITY
ing the profession — from artificial intelligence and trust, to leadership accountability and organisational culture. That strategic framework is followed by voices from global companies operating in Serbia, offering insight into how people strategy is shaped in practice, across different industries and organisational models.
Yet beyond strategy and corporate experience, HR leaders today operate within a broader labour context that is often less visible, but no less influential. Demographic pressures, skills mismatches and new forms of work continue to reshape the realities in which HR decisions are made. Understanding these signals is essential for bridging ambition with feasibility, and values with execution.
Taken together, the contributions in this issue reflect the complexity of modern HR leadership — a space where innovation must coexist with trust, systems with people, and global standards with local realities.
BERNA ÖZTINAZ
President of the European Association of People Management (EAPM), CHRO at Genel Energy PLC, and Board Member of the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA)
WHEN EMPATHY MEETS INNOVATION
Sometimes HR feels like it’s being tugged from both sides: ‘move faster with tech’ on one hand, ‘don’t lose the human bit’ on the other. And honestly, both sides have a point
In a period marked by rapid technological change, workforce uncertainty and growing pressure on HR to reconcile innovation with trust, the role of people leaders has rarely been more complex — or more consequential. As President of the European Association of People Management (EAPM) and a senior HR executive with extensive international experience, Berna Öztinaz opens this year’s HR edition by reflecting on the tensions and choices shaping the profession today. At a moment when questions of automation, authorship and authenticity increasingly frame professional dialogue, this conversation sets the tone for the discussions that follow — exploring how empathy, ethics and human judgement remain central as technology reshapes the workplace.
Across Europe, HR is increasingly expected to balance technological transformation with human-centred leadership. Which HR trends do you see as most defining for 2026, and how transferable are these trends to emerging markets such as Serbia?
— The headline trend for 2026 is this: organisations want the gains of technology, but they can’t afford the cost of mistrust. Not now. AI and automation are reshaping jobs at pace. Fine. But if the ‘new, clever’ HR process feels like a black box, people will resist it, quietly or loudly.
So ethics and transparency aren’t nice-to-haves. They’re the whole game. An AI-enabled HR process only works when employees believe it’s fair, and when they understand what it’s doing (and what it is not doing).
The second big trend is the reskilling scramble. Some skills that look rock-solid today will be stale sooner than people think. That changes HR’s role. Less ‘policy police’, more ‘transition architect’—helping employees move, learn, re-learn, and sometimes start again without losing their footing. Communication matters here. A lot. It’s change with people, not change done to them.
Are these trends transferable to Serbia and similar markets? Yes, largely. Different context, same human wiring. Trust is trust. Skills are skills. HR leaders can adopt tech to speed up the basics, but keep a human in the loop and explain the ‘why’ plainly. And if you invest seriously in people’s future careers, you’ll usually get loyalty and resilience back. Not always perfectly. But more often than not.
The European labour market is facing skills shortages, demographic shifts and rising expectations around purpose, flexibility and career development. How should organisations respond to these pressures in order to remain attractive and resilient employers?
— Europe’s labour market is under pressure from both ends: an ageing workforce, and employees
asking for more than a payslip. With fewer young people coming in—and higher expectations around purpose, flexibility, and development—quick fixes won’t cut it. You need a long view.
One immediate priority is protecting critical know-how before it walks out the door. Too many companies treat experienced employees like a cost line, then act surprised when capability disappears overnight. I’d flip that thinking. Older employees are assets. Invite them to mentor, coach, and transfer judgement, not just tasks.
THE HEADLINE
TREND FOR 2026 IS THIS: ORGANISATIONS WANT THE GAINS OF TECHNOLOGY, BUT THEY CAN’T AFFORD THE COST OF MISTRUST. NOT NOW
Phased retirement is a practical example. Instead of a hard stop, you move seasoned professionals into coaching roles as they approach retirement, so expertise stays inside the organisation. No dramatic skill cliff. No panicked ‘we didn’t realise she knew all that’ moment.
To attract and keep newer talent, organisations also have to walk the talk on purpose and growth. People can spot corporate slogans a mile off. They want real flexibility—hybrid work where it fits, sane boundaries, genuine work-life balance—and they want visible pathways to
progress. Not vague promises. Clear routes.
AI and data-driven decisionmaking are becoming integral to HR functions, from recruitment to workforce planning. Where do you see the biggest opportunities—and the main risks—of this shift for organisations in smaller or developing markets?
— AI brings a lot of upside, especially for smaller organisations that don’t have big HR teams. Tools can scan CVs, spot workforce trends, and support planning—work that used to take weeks. Done well, it speeds things up. It can even improve consistency and reduce some forms of bias. But ‘done well’ is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
DON’T
SILO
and legal together. It’s not glamorous. It’s essential. That’s how smaller organisations get the benefits without gambling with fairness.
Well-being, inclusion and mental health are now central to HR agendas across Europe. How can organisations ensure these priorities are embedded in everyday practice, rather than treated as temporary initiatives or corporate slogans? — The aim is to stitch well-being and inclusion into the fabric of daily work, not paste them on as a poster campaign. Too often, organisations launch mental health or DEI initiatives and—meanwhile—employees still feel nervous about speaking up, or being themselves. That silence is risky.
TALENT, WELL-BEING, AND INNOVATION AS
SEPARATE
PROGRAMMES. THEY FEED EACH OTHER
The risks are real. Algorithms can smuggle in bias. Decisions can become opaque. Trust can evaporate fast if people feel judged by a machine they can’t question. HR can’t stand on the sidelines here; we have to be the conscience of the process. Before rolling out any people analytics or AI tool, I think we should ask blunt questions: What exactly is it deciding? On what data? Who checks it? Could it discriminate without anyone noticing? Could it cross privacy lines? If the answers are fuzzy, stop. Or slow down.
In practice, the safeguard is governance: define what technology can recommend versus what must remain a human judgement, double-check major AI outputs, and audit regularly with HR, IT,
It drains morale. It dents performance. It also hides problems until they become expensive. What works? Cultures that are kind and demanding. Warmth without standards doesn’t last. Standards without warmth doesn’t scale. People should feel safe to raise concerns and offer ideas, and also be clear that disrespect, exclusion, or ‘banter’ that harms others won’t be tolerated. Full stop.
Managers often need help here. Listening sounds simple, but it’s a skill. So is disagreeing constructively. Small routines make a difference too: a short weekly check-in, for instance, where teams can flag pressures, blockers, or ideas. Nothing fancy. Just consistent. Over time it normalises candour—so people
learn that speaking up isn’t punished, it’s valued.
When well-being and inclusion become ‘how we do work’, they stop being initiatives. They become culture.
Looking ahead, what advice would you give to HR leaders in Serbia and the wider region who want to align local business realities with European standards, while still preserving organisational culture and human connection?
— Don’t treat European standards like a compliance scavenger hunt. Use them as principles—then reinterpret them locally. The best approach isn’t copying a model from somewhere else. It’s understanding the values underneath: fairness, transparency, ‘decent work’. Then applying those values in a way that actually fits your people and your reality.
Yes, European trends will keep pushing digitalisation and data-driven policy. But you know your workforce best. If an initiative risks dehumanising the workplace, have the courage to slow it down, reshape it, or say ‘this doesn’t land well here’. For example, if a one-size-fits-all tech mandate from HQ doesn’t suit your teams, speak up and adapt it. Quiet compliance can be the most expensive option. Finally, take a joined-up view. Don’t silo talent, well-being, and innovation as separate programmes. They feed each other. Any tech upgrade should support people’s growth and health, not erode it. HR leaders who weave those threads together can meet global benchmarks while protecting what makes their culture human—and that blend is where competitiveness really comes from.
WHEN CORPORATE CULTURE CARRIES THE COMPANY
Schneider Electric’s HR approach connects business, people and long-term organisational development
NEDA LANG
HR Director for the Western Balkans, Schneider Electric
n an industry where knowledge evolves rapidly and innovation sets the pace of business, people remain Schneider Electric’s most important pillar. As HR Director for the Western Balkans, I navigate on a daily basis the balance between global standards and the specific dynamics of local markets that are fast-moving, demanding, and highly diverse. Across the region, Schneider Electric operates through two fundamentally different organisations – the Western Balkans sales teams and the NS Hub – making local adaptation a key prerequisite for success.
IThe sales teams operate in an environment of constant change, requiring ongoing development of both sales and technical competencies. At the same time, the NS Hub has grown into one of the company’s strategic global software centres, bringing new requirements: different career models, flexible working arrangements, strong employer branding within the tech community, and HR practices designed to support innovation and deep expertise. The Hub's growth has clearly demonstrated how essential it is for HR processes to be aligned with the real needs of the community.
In recent years, we have placed a strong focus on communication, leadership development, wellbeing and a high-quality employee experience. Employees satisfaction indices confirm that we are on the right path. A comprehensive benefits package and flexible working models clearly
differentiate Schneider Electric in the local talent market.
When it comes to talent development, we are guided by the principle of shared responsibility: managers, HR and employees all participate equally in the process. Investment in talent begins well before employment – through the Centre for Young Talents Foundation, established in 2012, which has supported more than 12,500 students to date. During 2024 alone, we organised training programmes for 2,317 participants, delivering more than 500 hours of education. The Foundation is currently undergoing rebranding and methodological improvements, enabling it to continue its work in a modernised format and respond to the needs of new generations. This founda-
WE ARE BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE, LONG-TERM STABLE SYSTEM IN WHICH TALENT IS RECOGNISED, NURTURED AND DEVELOPED, AND WHERE PEOPLE ARE GIVEN THE SPACE TO GROW AT THE SAME PACE AS SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
tion is further complemented by scholarships, internships and cooperation with universities.
We devote equal attention to the development of our employees – through internal learning programmes, certifications, leadership training and clear talent management processes. At Schneider Electric, we believe that true leaders learn from one another, which is why the Elevate Excellence series was created as a platform where managers share experiences, learn from mistakes and strengthen the community.
It is precisely this culture of continuous learning and knowledge exchange that naturally aligns with the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence in HR processes. Today, these tools have a clearly defined role in our environment: to accelerate administrative steps, provide deeper insights and enable personalised learning. Our AI platform, Career Hub, offers employees an overview of potential career paths that are no longer linear, but multidirectional –horizontal, vertical and diagonal – across different teams and geographies. Nevertheless, everything that requires empathy, trust and an understanding of nuance remains firmly in human hands. HR is here to build relationships, not to automate them. Our ambition is simple and long-term: to create a sustainable and stable system where talent is recognized, nurtured, and empowered to grow at the same pace as Schneider Electric itself - locally, globally, and across generations.
CONSISTENCY AS A FOUNDATION OF HR EXCELLENCE
The Top Employer 2026 recognition confirms that Novartis in Serbia and Montenegro is systematically developing a working environment in which people, performance and trust are closely aligned
TAMARA STOJIĆ
Novartis People Partner Serbia and Montenegro
In conversation with Tamara Stojić, People Partner at Novartis Serbia and Montenegro, we explore how HR values translate into measurable outcomes, what stands behind the Top Employer 2026 recognition, and how HR is evolving into a strategic pillar of growth, trust and long-term organisational stability.
Novartis Serbia and Montenegro has been awarded the Top Employer 2026 certificate, recognising its outstanding approach to employees. In your view, which elements of HR culture contributed most to this recognition, and what sets Novartis apart from other employers on the market?
— This prestigious Top Employer status for Novartis in Serbia and Montenegro is a source of great pride for me, confirming our consistent commitment to building a people-centred working environment.
In my view, this recognition stems from actively involving employees in initiatives and programmes, ensuring that change is driven bottom-up rather than through the mere cascading of processes and expectations. We practise genuine two-way communication, ensuring that people are truly heard.
Since the organisational transformation implemented in 2023, our progress has been clearly reflected in measurable results. We have learned to speak openly about them, as data offers a more objective view of where we stand. Continuous double-digit growth, significant organisational expansion and exceptionally low level of employee turnover confirm business stability, cultural strength and the sustainability of our direction.
These results are underpinned by a strong culture of care for associates, clearly defined development and career opportunities, and open, transparent communication. Supported by effective leadership and ways of working that encourage accountability, agility and courage in decision-making, we create a positive and sustainable employee experience that drives motivation and longterm success.
Values are often discussed, but professionalism, as you emphasise, lies in living them within the organisation. How do you ensure in practice that inclusivity, talent development and employee wellbeing are part of everyday work?
— I will answer this question in an unconventional way: we focus on what truly matters and work in an agile, focused manner, with clear priorities. Everyone in the company understands our shared
journey – to be the best in the therapeutic areas in which we operate. This common goal serves as a filter for everyday decisions: how we lead teams, collaborate, recruit and invest.
To ensure that values go beyond paper, we rely on clear expectations and accountability, open and regular communication, development plans and learning through experience, as well as a culture that encourages diversity of thought and supports sustainable performance.
Finally, there is an often intangible but essential element – the feeling with which people come to work. A positive atmosphere, built on trust and respect, becomes part of our external reputation. While values may or may not be written on the walls, what remains clearly visible is the authentic experience of people.
In today’s working environment, HR has an increasingly strategic role. How do you see the evolution of HR at Novartis?
— At Novartis, HR has evolved from a predominantly operational function into one of the organisation’s key strategic roles. Today, HR is expected to deeply understand the business context, market challenges and long-term ambitions, and to support strategy execution through people, culture and organisational design. By leveraging technology and relevant data, HR directly contributes to sustainable growth and strong business performance.
HR today is no longer about hiring. It is about readiness — the readiness of people to grow alongside the business, of leaders to navigate uncertainty, and of organisations to connect different worlds into one coherent whole. In an industry where quality is measured in nuances, HR is what turns those nuances into a sustainable competitive advantage.
A few years ago, during a conversation with a production manager, I asked a question I often pose to leaders: what is your biggest HR challenge today? His answer caught me off guard: “I have great people, but I don’t know how to prepare them for what’s coming.” That moment was an eye-opener. I realised that HR is not just about policies or processes; it is about preparing people for the future. Much like well-crafted chocolate, where each ingredient has its role, but only together do they create the right taste.
In my role as HR Lead for Southeast Europe at Barry Callebaut, I experience this complexity every day. I connect the worlds of manufacturing, R&D and sales — different functions with different perspectives. Manufacturing focuses on continuity and quality, R&D develops new products and technologies, while sales engages with customers and markets in real time. The role of HR is to ensure that these experiences do not run in parallel, but are aligned around a shared vision and direction.
This is why HR questions are changing. We ask less often who should we hire? and far more often how do we develop the people we already have? Across manufac-
PEOPLE AS THE SWEETEST RESOURCE
How HR connects people, leadership and business functions into a sustainable competitive advantage
KSENIJA RADOSAVLJEVIĆ
HR Lead for Southeast Europe, Barry Callebaut
turing, development and sales, critical capabilities are not bought — they are built. Investing in people becomes the foundation of engagement, resilience and longterm talent retention.
The most rewarding moments in my work are when these investments truly come to life. When teams naturally exchange knowledge, HR stops being a function and becomes an experience. In those moments, the power of shared purpose becomes visible, confirming that the organisation is moving in the right direction.
BARRY CALLEBAUT IS THE WORLD’S LEADING MANUFACTURER OF HIGHQUALITY COCOA AND CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS, SERVING INDUSTRIAL FOOD PRODUCERS, ARTISANS AND PROFESSIONAL USERS GLOBALLY. THE COMPANY EMPLOYS OVER 13,000 PEOPLE AND OPERATES
At the heart of it all is leadership. At Barry Callebaut, leaders are not only accountable for results — they are builders of culture. Stable yet agile. Willing to listen, to learn and to lead through change. The best leaders manage to combine discipline with humanity, and it is precisely this combination that makes a difference in challenging times.
The same applies to wellbeing. It is no longer an add-on or a side initiative. In manufacturing, it is inseparably linked to safety, health and quality; in sales, to market pressures, targets and constant change. HR can set the framework, but wellbeing is not managed — it is lived every day, primarily through the behaviour of leaders.
Data is another important part of this picture. On its own, it does not provide answers, but it helps us ask the right questions: why do people stay, why do they leave, and what can we do differently? When used thoughtfully, analytics becomes a shared language between HR and the business.
Looking ahead to 2026, one thing is clear: strategies can be copied. People — and the way they are connected to goals, teams and culture — cannot. This is where HR leaves its deepest mark.
Just like in chocolate making, attention to detail and the right combination of skills ultimately create the perfect result. And when everything flows smoothly, that small “aha moment” of joy appears — like tasting the first piece of chocolate with a perfectly balanced cocoa note.
WHEN WORK STOPS WORKING
Why exhaustion has become a structural feature of modern organisations rather than an individual failure
Exhaustion has quietly become one of the defining conditions of contemporary work. It is no longer limited to crisis periods, peak seasons or moments of organisational stress. Instead, it has settled in as a permanent background state — normalised, rationalised and, in many cases, silently accepted as the cost of performance.
What makes this shift difficult to address is precisely its familiarity. Long working hours, constant availability and overlapping responsibilities are no longer perceived as warning signs, but as indicators of commitment and ambition. In high-performing environments, fatigue is often reframed as resilience, while sustained pressure is mistaken for momentum. Work continues, results are delivered, and yet something fundamental begins to erode.
This is not a story about individual weakness. Nor is it primarily a mental health narrative. The growing prevalence of burnout points to a deeper, structural issue: the way work itself is organised, measured and rewarded. As organisations undergo continuous transformation — digitalisation, restructuring, ex-
pansion, cost optimisation — the cumulative strain of constant change is rarely acknowledged as a systemic risk.
One of the defining characteristics of modern organisations is the compression of time. Strategic cycles have shortened, decision-making has accelerated, and expectations of responsiveness have intensified. Technology, while enabling flexibility, has also dissolved boundaries between work and non-work. The result is a working environment in which urgency becomes permanent and recovery is postponed indefinitely.
At the same time, roles have become increasingly ambiguous. Employees are expected to be autonomous, proactive and adaptable, while still operating within tightly controlled frameworks of performance metrics and reporting lines. Responsibility expands, authority does not always follow, and accountability is often distributed without being clearly anchored. Over time, this misalignment generates frustration, disengagement and fatigue.
Many organisations respond to these signals with individualised solutions. Wellbeing programmes, resilience training and mindfulness initiatives have be-
come standard components of HR strategies. While such measures may offer short-term relief, they often fail to address the underlying causes of exhaustion. When the design of work remains unchanged, individual coping mechanisms can only go so far.
This is where exhaustion reveals itself as an organisational design problem. Incentive systems that reward constant availability, leadership cultures that equate speed with effectiveness, and performance models that prioritise shortterm output over long-term sustainability all contribute to a working environment that systematically depletes energy. In such systems, recovery is treated as an exception rather than a requirement.
The challenge is further compounded by demographic and labour market pressures. Ageing workforces, skills shortages and intensified competition for talent increase the load on existing employees, who are often asked to compensate for gaps in capacity. At the same time, expectations of meaningful work, flexibility and balance continue to rise, creating a widening gap between organisational promises and everyday experience.
For HR leaders, this moment marks a
WHEN EXHAUSTION BECOMES A PERMANENT CONDITION RATHER THAN AN EXCEPTION, THE PROBLEM LIES NOT IN INDIVIDUAL RESILIENCE, BUT IN THE WAY WORK ITSELF IS ORGANISED
critical turning point. The function is increasingly positioned as a strategic partner, yet its influence over core organisational choices — workload allocation, job design, leadership behaviour — remains uneven. Addressing exhaustion at a systemic level requires moving beyond programmes and policies towards more fundamental questions: how work is structured, how performance is defined, and what trade-offs organisations are willing to accept.
This does not imply abandoning ambition or lowering standards. Rather, it calls for a reassessment of what sustainable performance actually means. Organisations that continue to rely on prolonged pressure as a default operating mode may
achieve short-term results, but risk undermining trust, engagement and longterm capability.
Exhaustion, in this sense, is not merely a symptom to be managed. It is a signal — one that reflects the growing tension between strategic aspirations and operational realities. How organisations choose to interpret and respond to that signal will shape not only their productivity, but their credibility as employers.
As labour market data increasingly confirms, the question is no longer whether burnout exists, but whether organisations are prepared to confront its structural roots. Because when work stops working, the issue is not effort — it is design.
LABOUR MARKET SIGNALS
How shifting patterns of work, skills and security are reshaping the labour market beneath today’s HR strategies, revealing pressures that increasingly influence leadership decisions across organisations
The language of HR strategy today is confident and future-oriented. Organisations speak of agility, reskilling, flexibility and purpose with growing fluency. Yet beneath this vocabulary, the labour market itself is sending more ambivalent signals — ones that complicate even the most well-intentioned people strategies.
Across Europe and its periphery, work is becoming simultaneously more flexible and more fragile. New forms of employment have expanded opportunity, but also diluted stability. While digital platforms and remote models promise autonomy, many workers experience declining bargaining power, uneven income and limited long-term security. Flexibility, once framed as empowerment, in-
creasingly feels like a condition rather than a choice.
One of the clearest signals lies in the accelerating pace at which skills lose relevance. Roles that appear secure today are often reshaped within a few years, sometimes within months. This has turned reskilling from a development initiative into a survival mechanism — for individuals and organisations alike. Continuous learning is no longer aspirational; it is structural. For HR leaders, this raises difficult questions about responsibility: how much reskilling can realistically be expected from employees themselves, and where must organisations step in with meaningful investment?
The rise of artificial intelligence adds another layer of complexity. Automation
THE LABOUR MARKET IS NO LONGER SHAPED ONLY BY STRATEGY OR TECHNOLOGY, BUT BY A GROWING GAP BETWEEN FLEXIBILITY AND SECURITY — A TENSION THAT HR LEADERS CAN NEITHER IGNORE NOR FULLY CONTROL
is not only redefining jobs at the margins, but quietly reshaping the middle of the workforce — administrative, analytical and professional roles once considered insulated from disruption. While technology can increase efficiency and consistency, it also compresses timelines for adaptation. Workers are expected to learn faster, pivot sooner and accept greater uncertainty, often without clear signals about what skills will remain valuable in the long term.
Demographic pressures further strain the system. Ageing populations, declining workforce participation and regional imbalances are shrinking the available talent pool, even as expectations around work continue to rise. Younger generations seek meaning, flexibility and development, while experienced employ-
ees hold critical institutional knowledge that organisations can ill afford to lose. Managing this tension requires more than employer branding; it demands thoughtful workforce design and a longer view of capability retention.
Another important signal is the growing divide between visibility and vulnerability. High-skill professionals with scarce expertise often enjoy choice and mobility, while others — including many independent and platform-based workers — face declining rates and reduced leverage. This divergence risks creating a two-speed labour market, where opportunity concentrates at the top and insecurity spreads below. For HR leaders, understanding these dynamics is essential, particularly in markets where informal work
and non-standard employment play a growing role.
Taken together, these signals suggest that HR leadership today operates within narrowing margins. Strategic ambition must contend with labour realities that are increasingly volatile, uneven and externally driven. The challenge is not simply to adopt new tools or frameworks, but to interpret these signals honestly — and to design people strategies that acknowledge limits as well as possibilities.
In this context, effective HR leadership is less about predicting the future with certainty and more about building organisational resilience: investing in transferable skills, maintaining trust through transparency, and recognising that stability, however redefined, remains a core human expectation of work.
THE HR DILEMMA
Why the growing pressure to move faster with technology is colliding with the slower, more fragile work of building trust — and what this tension reveals about the true role of HR leadership today
Modern HR leadership is often described in the language of acceleration. Organisations are urged to adopt new technologies, streamline processes, automate decisions and respond faster to market pressures. At the same time, HR is expected to safeguard trust, culture and human connection — elements that evolve slow-
ly and resist optimisation. This tension is not a temporary challenge. It is the central dilemma of the profession today.
Speed has become an organisational imperative. Competitive pressure, digital transformation and the growing availability of data-driven tools promise efficiency, consistency and scale. In many organisations, HR is now meas-
ured by how quickly it can deliver — faster recruitment cycles, automated assessments, real-time an-
IN AN AGE OF ACCELERATION, HR LEADERSHIP IS TESTED NOT BY HOW FAST SYSTEMS MOVE, BUT BY HOW MUCH TRUST THEY PRESERVE ALONG THE WAY
alytics, instant feedback. From this perspective, hesitation looks like resistance, and caution like inefficiency.
Yet trust operates on a different timeline. It cannot be accelerated without being compromised. Trust is built through transparency, predictability and human judgement — through processes that people understand and believe to be fair. When decisions affecting careers, pay or performance are perceived as opaque or overly automated, confidence erodes quickly. Once lost, it is difficult to restore.
This is where HR finds itself positioned between two legitimate demands. On one side, lead-
THE REAL CHALLENGE FOR HR TODAY IS NOT CHOOSING BETWEEN EFFICIENCY AND EMPATHY, BUT ENSURING THAT PROGRESS DOES NOT OUTPACE UNDERSTANDING
ership teams push for speed, innovation and measurable outcomes. On the other, employees expect fairness, voice and meaningful engagement. Both expectations are reasonable. Neither can simply be dismissed. The dilemma lies in the fact that satisfying one too aggressively often undermines the other.
Technology has intensified this tension. AI-enabled tools promise objectivity and efficiency, but they also introduce distance between decision-makers and those affected by decisions. When algorithms influence hiring, promotion or workforce planning, HR becomes the interpreter — and sometimes the shield — between systems and people. Explaining not only how a decision was made, but why it is legitimate, has become a core leadership task.
The pressure is compounded by broader labour market realities. Skills are becoming obsolete faster, career paths less linear, and employment arrangements more fluid. In such conditions, employees seek reassurance as much as opportunity. They want to know that adaptation will not come at the cost of dignity or security. HR is expected to manage this anxiety while still delivering transformation.
What distinguishes serious HR leadership in this environment is not the ability to resolve the dilemma, but the willingness to acknowledge it openly. Pretending that speed and trust are always aligned weakens credibility. So does positioning HR as a purely humanistic counterweight to business imperatives. The role is more demanding: to slow down
when necessary, to question tools that move too fast, and to insist on clarity when complexity threatens fairness.
This often requires courage. Saying “not yet” or “not this way” in the face of technological enthusiasm is uncomfortable. So is challenging systems that promise efficiency but obscure accountability. Yet these interventions are precisely where HR adds strategic value — not by blocking progress, but by shaping it responsibly. Ultimately, the HR dilemma is not a problem to be solved, but a condition to be managed. Speed will remain essential. So will trust. The organisations that navigate this tension well will not be those that choose one over the other, but those that recognise that leadership today is exercised in the space between them.