Getting Ahead of 2026’s Trending Professional Challenges

2025 was an especially challenging year for professionals at all levels, and 2026 has come in hot with continued shifting dynamics that leaders must be able to navigate. No matter your business industry or size, everyone is feeling the strain of this space we currently find ourselves in… somewhere in between the remote but culture-packed environments of the pandemic and the in-office, hustle and bustle of life after.

Here’s a snapshot of what we’re seeing right now. Wiley Workplace Intelligence did some digging, surveying over 1,000 human resource and leadership and development professionals to get a feel for what’s coming our way. They identified five main challenges, many of which likely won’t surprise you, and I’m going to tell you how to get ahead of them.

Workplace Change and Leadership

Let’s start with the harshest news: change isn’t slowing down. It’s uncomfortable. And we often forget that it can be hard even for the individual(s) deciding on or making the change and delivering the news.

What’s different about today’s world is simply, it wasn’t like this before. Historically, even the largest organizations would really only have to implement one big change per year. And while that’s no small feat on its own, it still allows more time to plan and prepare for it. But now that change is constant and faster, we have to learn to ride the wave.

David Michaels compares managing the fluctuations of change to surfing. Even if you’ve never been on a board, you’ve seen the images of eager surfers floating about while they wait for the perfect wave. While they wait, they navigate smaller, perhaps disruptive waves that get in the way first. In this analogy, those smaller waves represent change. Sometimes it tosses us around a bit. Sometimes it’s annoying and discouraging. But it’s small fries compared to what we feel from the big wins (or big waves) that we do all the waiting for.

It’s also important for leaders to face change front on. Acknowledge it with your employees and inform them as much as you can. Don’t tip toe around it. Do they have questions you can’t answer? Let them know you may have already been thinking those same questions and/or you don’t have the answers to them. Directly or indirectly communicating that you’re in this change together and you’ll figure it out, together, sends a message to your team they can trust you and that ripple effect is endless.

Organizational Culture Challenges

The “c” word of 2020 and beyond has certainly been “culture” and I don’t foresee the enormous focus on it changing in 2026. Many businesses now employ a mix of employees hired pre-, mid- and post-pandemic as they consider or implement returns to office. That in itself demands a unique approach for making everyone feel included and informed. And if we learned anything from the innovative ways we connected digitally through 2020, there are certainly ways to weave culture into office spaces.

Don’t even prioritize the birthday and holiday celebration planning. You can get to it later. The biggest impact will come when you think first about those smaller, special pockets of working in person like the social norms of the office kitchen or lounge space, the break policies, or where to sit or not. For your mid- or post-pandemic hires this means everything, as a return to office could almost feel like starting over in a new job. You’re bringing them along, and that matters.

What else builds culture? Grace and flexibility. Telling less and coaching more. Something special I think many of us gained from the lockdown era of the pandemic is a refreshed lens of the mundane and challenging parts of our working day–from traffic to childcare to extreme weather and more. This fresh insight reminds us to give space to employees to adapt, settle and problem solve independently.

Considerate Communication

There’s so many mediums we can communicate through now with seemingly endless digital options and in person, but how do you make sure it lands as a leader?

Whether it’s an email, phone call or in office discussion, the key here is planning ahead a bit:

• Establish an internal communications plan: Just like businesses often do for external communications, build a high-level roadmap for internal conversations. You can’t assume everyone on your team, even in higher leadership roles, knows how to start, deliver or follow up on critical communications and having a guide makes everything feel way less transactional for everyone involved.
  
• Know your objective(s): With a clear picture of what you want the outcome to be after communicating something, you can personalize the messaging with motivation, inspiration and any relevant urgency. Don’t let it feel empty. Reinforce the value. Both parties in the discussion should leave it feeling informed and ready to execute.
  
• Overcommunicate: Even when you don’t know or necessarily have an answer. There’s value in sharing with your team if you don’t have an answer because it establishes an authenticity, and gives you the chance to confirm if you too want those answers or are actively already working to get them. And on the flip side, remember that undercommunicating is still communicating something to those you oversee.

Making Technology Work in the Workplace

As I’ve touched on before, you don’t have to choose between technology and humanity, but you can’t run from weaving in new tech resources that are changing the game for businesses everywhere. This is a part of our lives now personally and professionally that we simply have to learn how and when to use, in the smartest ways.

That’s where training comes in, especially with multi-generational workforces. This has to be a top priority when you’re introducing new programs or processes because beyond being educational, it’s the right time to touch on acceptable spaces for technology/AI to be used or not as well as the value of human ideas. It is a delicate dance, but it’s completely possible to balance the use of these modern-day tools while keeping it human and not jumping to AI or a program for answers before putting in the real-life work.

Elevating Engagement

The good news is that despite the pace of change, professionals are still carrying real optimism and that’s something that leaders need to capitalize on now. Like, find ways to celebrate your team’s successes. Yes, even the small ones. You don’t have to wait for something big to happen to create big energy–even when you’re limited by budgets, remote limitations or company policies.

For this to be effective, the hardest part is you have to take a pause. We can all relate to feeling like we don’t have time for that but the reality is: you do and you must. Slowing down is non-negotiable in being an effective leader.

That pause gives you a chance to see the smaller contributions that often get overlooked but still lead to small and big wins. Recognizing and celebrating that effort sets a tone with your staff, builds more of a connection with their roles and work and gets their buy-in easier. They feel the momentum and that can really be contagious in the best way.

Also consider letting your employee(s) share wins, big or small, directly with leadership as opposed to you funneling information between both groups, as appropriate. Let them flex and lend their voice to the success they made happen in front of people who likely don’t get to connect the work or wins to names and faces as often as they’d like. This also sends a message from you to your employee(s) that you’re proud and this win is worthy of showing off, which can put a metaphorical battery in their back to keep this winning energy going. But remember, everyone likes to be recognized differently. Check out some methods I recommend to customize that acknowledgement, even when your resources are limited.

Coaching Versus Telling

Many businesses have already earmarked new budgets this year and are prioritizing investing in leadership and development coaching in response to these expert predictions for 2026. That alone shows an eagerness to improve and that really matters to employees and teams that count on you for guidance and growth.

Whether you’re actively in a program, researching training options or still limited to grass roots resources, 2026 is about coaching versus telling as a leader. While you still have to do both, you must recognize the impact of those tones and know when and where the right time for it is.
Jennifer Maxson & Associates has a vast offering of accessible and custom leadership and development training programs. Learn more about them here and when you’re ready for leadership development that makes sense for your situation, connect with me here.