Economic shifts, workforce changes and political turbulence will make employee signals more important than ever.
In 2026, employee relations will be put squarely in the spotlight, much like during the COVID-19 era. Employee relations teams will be the “diagnostic partner,” spotting stress points early and helping leaders stabilize the organization.
As Sara Burkhalter, Lead ER Solutions Consultant at HR Acuity, says:
In 2026, I see the employee relations function becoming more visible. We’re seeing that organizations and leaders are increasingly recognizing that employee relations has long driven the employee experience behind the scenes — it’s now relied upon for strategic guidance.
Employee relations touches every corner of HR: Benefits, talent, learning and compliance. No other function sees patterns across performance, accommodations, manager escalations and employee sentiment the way ER does. That perspective makes the team essential for informed, strategic decisions.
In 2026, employee relations will need to be proactive. By spotting trends, like rising turnover in a high-performing team, repeated conflicts with a manager or spikes in accommodation requests, employee relations can make a tangible strategic impact. For instance, it can advise leaders early, helping prevent small issues from becoming major disruptions.
Teams that succeed in this shape organizational resilience, influencing workforce planning, leadership development and employee engagement, not just managing individual cases. This insight provides stability and helps the organization act before problems escalate.
Your Move: How to Elevate Employee Relations’ Impact
In 2026, Employee Relations moves beyond reactive case handling to shaping outcomes and strategy. Here’s how to elevate your impact:
- Have summaries ready to go: Have executive-ready summaries on hand so you can quickly provide updates and involve leadership when needed — no scrambling when executives ask for insights.
- Benchmark performance: Compare your employee relations function to peers in the same industry, region or size to identify strengths, gaps and areas for improvement.
- Use data to act proactively: Visualize key metrics to spot emerging risks, recurring issues and opportunities before they escalate.
- Influence culture and policy: Provide insights to business leaders on a regular cadence to guide policies, training and employee engagement initiatives.
- Build credibility and influence: Use insights and benchmarks to advocate for resources, guide decisions and strengthen trust with employees and leaders.
How HR Case Management Platforms Can Help Showcase Employee Relations as Leadership’s Strategic Partner
Elevating employee relations means giving your team the tools to move beyond reactive case management and become a strategic partner. The right HR case management platform can make that shift easier:
- Benchmark performance: Compare your employee relations function to peers by industry, region or size. Benchmarking enables your team to identify gaps, highlight strengths and uncover opportunities to improve your team’s impact.
- Generate executive summaries: With executive summaries, you’re ready to provide leadership updates anytime, supporting faster, data-informed decision-making.
- Enable easy visualization of metrics: Use AI-powered solutions to turn complex case and employee feedback data into clear, digestible visuals. Spot emerging risks, recurring issues and opportunities before they escalate — and present them in ways that resonate with executives and business leaders.
Ready to begin? HR Acuity’s AI-powered companion, olivER™, can help you do all that — and more.
Want to see HR Acuity’s HR case management platform in action? Get a demo today.
