Most UK people professionals see improved organisational performance as a priority, yet many lack the specialist capabilities and measurement systems needed to influence it over the longer term. New research from the CIPD, supported by Talking Talent, found that 91% of respondents regarded improving organisational performance as a priority for their people function. The findings expose a substantial difference between what HR departments are expected to achieve and their confidence in the tools available to do it.
The HR Pulse Report 2026 is based on an online survey of 883 UK people professionals conducted between 1 May and 3 June using YouGov and the CIPD’s research panel. While 78% said workforce planning to build future talent pipelines was a priority, only 61% reported being able to identify proactively the skills their organisation would need over the next one or two years. The contrast is particularly relevant as companies evaluate automation, reorganise teams and reconsider which capabilities they should develop internally rather than recruit.
The report also identifies limited specialist expertise inside the people profession. Only 14% of respondents described themselves as having specialist workforce planning skills, 13% talent management skills and 12% organisational development and design skills. These figures refer to specialist expertise reported by surveyed professionals, not the share of businesses with any workforce planning provision. Even so, they suggest that many teams tasked with preparing their organisations for change rely on relatively narrow pools of advanced expertise.
Measurement is another weakness. Only 61% said they had clear success measures in place for their people function. Without agreed metrics, it can be difficult to connect recruitment, retention, development and management interventions to outcomes such as productivity, workforce stability or service performance. An employer might track course attendance without assessing whether the training improved task performance, or report vacancies filled without examining the cost of repeated recruitment caused by weak retention.
Neil Carberry, chief executive of the CIPD, said: “The first step is an honest assessment of current skills, so people teams can prioritise training, set clear measures of success, and make the business case for investment.” He also called for organisational backing, arguing that people planning belongs at the centre of building sustainable businesses. His comments place responsibility beyond the HR department: senior executives determine whether time, budgets and access to business information are made available for longer-range planning.
The research identifies line management as a substantial component of that challenge. Some 91% of respondents considered support for managers’ people-management responsibilities a priority. Better-equipped line managers can handle routine performance discussions and development needs, allowing specialist HR teams to concentrate on organisational design, succession planning and changing skills requirements. That division of responsibility requires consistent standards and management training rather than assuming experience in a technical role automatically translates into people leadership.
Workforce planning becomes more complicated when roles change faster than traditional recruitment cycles. Companies considering AI-supported processes need to distinguish tasks likely to be automated from judgement, supervision and relationship work that will remain with employees. That analysis can shape training budgets, recruitment specifications and succession arrangements. It also requires finance, operations and HR teams to share a sufficiently detailed understanding of business plans. The new survey does not measure organisations’ actual future skills shortages, but it identifies a confidence and capability gap among the professionals expected to undertake that work. Its findings may therefore provide a useful starting point for internal skills audits.
Dr Mary-Clare Race, chief executive of Talking Talent, emphasised the need to connect specialist capabilities with confidence among junior professionals and greater clarity about HR’s impact. The research calls for stronger business partnerships, better measures and deliberate investment in future-facing skills. The survey records participants’ assessments of their teams rather than independently measured workforce outcomes. Its findings put a clear responsibility on employers to compare their people teams’ capabilities with upcoming changes in their own organisation, identify gaps in specialist knowledge, and agree measures that demonstrate whether training and workforce planning are improving delivery.
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