Setting HR priorities for 2026 when every budget line is questioned
Most HR teams heading into 2026 face the same squeeze. Healthcare costs keep climbing, rewards budgets are under scrutiny, and the AI tools that looked exciting a year or two ago now need to show they were worth the effort. Business leaders also want evidence that people programs move the numbers they care about. Setting your HR priorities for 2026 takes more than a list of trends. You need a clear view of where your team's limited time and money will do the most good.
Top HR Priorities for 2026: What's Keeping HR Up at Night is a short briefing from Mercer for HR and total rewards leaders who are building next year's plan. It narrows the latest insights to five priorities. For each one, it explains in practical terms why it matters and what acting on it can look like inside your organization.
Five HR trends that should shape your plan for next year
The briefing doesn't try to cover everything new. It concentrates on the areas where HR effort tends to pay off. It looks at how the conversation around HR automation has become more measured, and why the order in which you fix processes and introduce technology changes the result. It also addresses who gets what. A one-size-fits-all rewards package can miss the mark with a varied workforce, and the briefing shows how data and employee feedback help you put money where each group will value it.
Employee engagement gets attention where it is hardest to sustain. Remote employees often experience work differently from colleagues on-site. Mercer points to the areas where that gap tends to appear and the program choices that help close it. Generational expectations come up too, including what younger employees such as Gen Z expect from their rewards experience.
Turning total rewards into a business case leaders will back
One idea runs through the whole document: HR gains influence when it speaks the language of the business. You'll see how to frame spending on rewards, retirement and wellness around outcomes leaders already track, such as productivity, hiring costs and absenteeism. That shifts the discussion from cost cutting toward growth.
Mercer also makes the case for closer partnerships with IT, Finance and business leaders. It explains why clean, connected people data is the foundation for personalizing benefits and showing how rewards connect to results. Many organizations know far more about their customers than their own employees, and the briefing describes what changes when that gap closes.
After reading, you'll be better placed to:
- Decide where simplifying processes should come before HR automation
- Shape total rewards around what different employee groups value
- Strengthen engagement across a remote or hybrid workforce
- Present rewards investments in terms of business impact
Expert guidance you can put next to your own plan
The briefing is useful because it is focused. You won't have to dig through a long report to find the takeaways. Mercer's expert guidance is organized around five priorities you can check directly against your own roadmap. Each section pairs the reasoning with realistic examples, from cleaning up benefits policies to using retirement programs to support workforce transitions. That makes it easy to share with colleagues and use to start planning conversations.
It suits HR directors, total rewards and benefits managers, and compensation teams who want an outside view before they lock in next year's goals. It's a quick read, so you can finish it before your next planning meeting and come away knowing where to focus.
Download Top HR Priorities for 2026 to get Mercer's full perspective on all five priorities, with the practical examples and recommendations behind each one, and see how your 2026 plan lines up.