Hear from Deb Muller, Founder and CEO of HR Acuity, on the shift from a reactive mindset to a proactive strategy built on transparency, measurement and trust.
We need to leave behind this reactive mindset. What happened? What’s happening? And then, how do we deal with it? We’re scrambling around trying to figure it out. That’s been the story for employee relations for a long time.
But in 2026, now that we’ve been through a lot and figured a lot out, we need to start focusing on measurement and trust. How do we use the data that’s already there, those predictive indicators, to understand what’s happening and get ahead of what’s coming? And how do we use that data to start building trust with our employees?
It takes time to build trust in HR. I was in HR, and I felt very trusted. But HR is personal. Nobody works at one organization with a horrible finance department and then moves to another organization thinking, “Oh my God, I hate finance.” But they do that with HR because it’s personal. It’s about you. It’s probably the most personal function in an organization.
So it takes time to build trust. It doesn’t just happen. You build it through transparency, by giving people information, by having clear processes so things aren’t done behind the curtain and by showing consistency. People aren’t always going to like what you do, but are they treated fairly? Are they treated with dignity and respect? Are their issues handled? Are they heard? Those are the little steps that build trust.
I think one of the most important things that helps create that trust is when somebody else, a coworker, says, “Hey, you know, I went to HR with that issue, and they actually helped me.” That’s what’s going to change the conversation.
Look, employee relations has changed over the past decade or two because the workforce and the workplace have changed dramatically. If you think about our workers, the different generations, and the outside world, which is now very much a part of what we’re doing inside organizations, you need a tool like this.
We’re not a case management tool. We’re more of an intelligence platform, really enabling you to gain workforce predictability, intelligence around risk, insight into how you’re building trust and the ability to measure those things across the organization. That’s critical today.
When people ask me what differentiates us, it’s simple: We’re built by ER people. We understand what you’re doing. We have analytics because we understand your work, and those analytics actually help you see what’s happening in your workplace. And we have a community that’s continually making us better and standing behind us.
Other systems help you track incidents. We help you understand what’s underneath them. We help you see what’s trending, understand what’s coming before it happens and predict what’s going on in your workplace. That’s what makes the difference.
