Employee compensation is entering a new phase. The market is moving quickly, and expectations are shifting, while many organizations are still operating with structures, processes, and assumptions built for a very different market.

Financial literacy for employees goes beyond education. Learn how HR leaders can improve decision-making, benefits utilization, and financial wellness across the workforce.

Explore the 2026 Radical Simplification Checklist—a practical tool for HR leaders to identify unnecessary complexity in roles, rewards, processes, and AI.

The best thing HR leaders can do this year is also the hardest: make things radically simple. Stripping HR back to what actually holds the system together: clear roles, understandable pay, clean decision-making, and an HR operating model that works under pressure.

As the year winds down, it’s tempting to look back at everything we didn’t get to. Instead, this piece focuses on what HR teams can do now to make 2026 feel calmer, clearer, and more achievable.

Years after COVID-19, location-based pay is in flux. Remote work narrowed geographic pay differentials, but return-to-office mandates and rising costs in once “affordable” hubs are reshaping the landscape. What does this mean for HR leaders planning compensation strategies in a hybrid world?