As we look ahead to the rest of 2025, we’re sharing a curated list of high-impact resources to help you stay on top of the trends shaping our work. Whether you’re exploring AI, refining comp strategy, or designing more people-centered systems, there’s something here to dig into.
📅 January 2026
📌 6 HR Predictions for 2026 – (By Camille Hogg, Lattice)
As HR enters 2026, leaders are being asked to navigate more complexity than ever — from AI governance and performance management to political polarization, tighter budgets, and growing managerial strain. This article outlines six key trends shaping HR strategy this year, with a central theme emerging throughout: intentionality matters more than ever.
Rather than chasing every new tool or reacting to constant change, the most effective teams are focusing on building clear systems, responsible AI governance, and high-trust communities that support performance, engagement, and decision-making. The piece offers practical insight into where HR leaders should focus — and what they may need to let go of — to lead with purpose in an increasingly unpredictable environment.
The takeaway: 2026 will reward leaders who design processes and systems that balance humanity, accountability, and adaptability — not just speed or scale. Read the full piece above.
📌 Why Lean Teams Are Turning to Outsourcing for Compensation & Benefits – (By Sequoia, Compensations Team)
As organizations grow and evolve, compensation and benefits work can quietly become a drag on momentum—complex, high-stakes, and increasingly time-consuming. Sequoia’s latest piece explores why more lean teams are turning to outsourcing as a way to stay accurate, compliant, and focused on business outcomes.
Rather than framing outsourcing as a cost-cutting move, the article positions it as an operating model decision—one that helps teams manage risk, reduce rework, and create cleaner collaboration between HR, Finance, and leadership.
The piece highlights where outsourcing can add the most value, including improving predictability during merit cycles, reducing execution risk, and freeing internal leaders to focus on strategy instead of day-to-day administration.
The takeaway: When compensation and benefits operations are designed thoughtfully, teams move faster, decisions become clearer, and leaders gain back time to focus on what matters most. Read the full guide above.
📌 HR Trends to Watch in 2026 — (By Korn Ferry)
As organizations enter 2026, HR is facing a convergence of forces that are reshaping how work gets done: return-to-office pressures, rapid AI adoption, flatter org structures, tighter budgets, and rising expectations for leadership. This piece outlines five key HR trends that will define how organizations compete, perform, and retain trust in the year ahead.
Rather than treating these shifts as isolated challenges, the article emphasizes the importance of intentional system design—from job architecture and performance management to AI governance and leadership pipelines. It highlights the growing role HR leaders play in connecting people strategy to business outcomes, especially as complexity and uncertainty increase.
The takeaway: The organizations that win in 2026 will be those that design work, leadership, and technology with clarity and purpose—balancing efficiency with sustainability, and innovation with trust. Read the full article above.
And people . . .
We’re always looking to spotlight folks in our community who bring energy, depth, and authenticity into their work and relationships. Here are two people who absolutely deserve a spot on your radar:
Elisabeth is a Talent & People leader who brings rare depth, clarity, and execution to everything she touches. With 12+ years of experience building and scaling recruiting and People Ops functions—from high-growth startups to global organizations of 40,000+—she’s known for turning vision into systems that actually work.
Elisabeth thrives at the intersection of talent, people, and strategy, having built recruiting engines from the ground up, led international expansion, and scaled teams from 2 to 40+ while partnering closely with executives on growth and organizational design.
As StartupExperts’ Director of the Leadership Team, Elisabeth brings that same thoughtfulness and energy into the community—helping leaders show up better for one another and building the connective tissue that makes this group thrive. She’s someone to follow for her insight, her generosity, and her commitment to building organizations (and communities) that last. If you are ever traveling through the Salt Lake City area, you should grab coffee with her!
Sophie Barbier is the kind of operator every founder hopes to have by their side—and exactly why she was recently recognized as StartupExperts Volunteer of the Quarter.
With 15+ years as a trusted partner to C-level executives in startup environments, Sophie has built systems from scratch, made high-stakes decisions under pressure, and scaled operations globally. As a founding team member at Holberton School, she helped launch the first San Francisco campus and grow the organization into a network of 22 campuses worldwide, supporting hundreds of engineers along the way.
What truly sets Sophie apart is her ability to see gaps others overlook—and do something about them. After repeatedly noticing that technically strong graduates struggled to position themselves and navigate the job market, she founded OctoPrep, an 8-week program designed to bridge the gap between education and employment. Through curriculum, live coaching, AI tools, peer learning, and accountability, Sophie helps people move forward with clarity, confidence, and real strategy.
Sophie brings heart, rigor, and deep operational insight into everything she does. And she’s volunteered here at StartupExperts on multiple projects through the years including created our first Knowledge Library. She’s someone to follow because of the way she shows up for others—both inside and beyond the StartupExperts community.
