The Skills Every HR Professional Should Build This Year

Posted on 07/22/26 By Lorman Team

HR has always been responsible for helping organizations navigate change. Today, however, the pace of that change has accelerated.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how work gets done. Employment laws continue to evolve. Employees expect greater transparency, stronger leadership, and more opportunities for growth. At the same time, HR teams are being asked to support compliance, coach managers, strengthen workplace culture, and help prepare organizations for the future of work.

This expanding role is changing the skills HR professionals need to succeed. According to LinkedIn's 2025 Workplace Learning Report, 49% of learning leaders say executives are concerned employees don't have the skills needed to execute business strategy. As organizations work to close those skills gaps, HR professionals play a critical role in preparing employees—and that starts with investing in their own professional development.

Keeping pace requires more than experience. It requires continuous learning. Here are six areas where HR professionals should be investing in their development this year.

1. AI Literacy

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday HR work—from recruiting and onboarding to employee communications, learning, workforce planning, and administrative tasks.

That shift is expected to continue. According to SHRM's State of AI in HR 2026 report, 92% of CHROs expect AI to become more integrated into the workforce this year, while 87% anticipate greater adoption of AI within HR itself. As AI becomes embedded in more HR processes, HR professionals will need a stronger understanding of where it can improve productivity, where human judgment remains essential, and how to use it responsibly.

At the same time, many organizations are still catching up. SHRM also found that 67% of HR professionals say their organizations have not been proactive in training employees to work alongside AI technologies. That creates an opportunity for HR teams to lead—not only by learning how to use AI effectively themselves, but by helping employees adapt to new ways of working.

Consider building skills in:

• Responsible AI use and governance 
• AI prompting and productivity tools 
• AI policies for the workplace 
• Ethical and legal considerations 
• AI applications for recruiting, onboarding, learning, and employee communications

2. Employment Law & Compliance

Employment law has always required ongoing education, but today's regulatory environment is evolving faster than ever.

Pay transparency requirements, wage and hour guidance, leave regulations, workplace accommodations, AI-related employment laws, and state-specific legislation continue to reshape employer responsibilities.

In fact, SHRM reports that 57% of HR professionals working in states with workplace AI regulations were unaware those regulations existed. That statistic illustrates how quickly new requirements are emerging—and why staying informed can't be treated as an annual exercise.

Continuous education helps HR professionals identify changes early, reduce organizational risk, and confidently advise leaders on evolving workplace requirements.

Key areas to stay current on include:

• Pay transparency 
• Wage and hour compliance 
• Leave management 
• Workplace accommodations 
• AI-related employment regulations 
• Workplace investigations and documentation

3. Manager Coaching

Many workplace challenges don't begin in HR—they begin with managers who haven't been equipped to lead people effectively.

Today's managers are expected to provide meaningful feedback, support employee development, navigate difficult conversations, and help employees build their careers. HR professionals increasingly serve as coaches and advisors who help managers build those capabilities.

This is an area where organizations continue to face challenges. LinkedIn's 2025 Workplace Learning Report found that only 15% of employees say their manager helped them create a career plan within the past six months, highlighting an opportunity for organizations to strengthen manager coaching and development.

Gallup's research reinforces the impact of investing in managers. Teams led by managers who receive coaching and development training are more engaged and better positioned to support employee performance.

HR professionals should continue developing skills in:

• Coaching managers 
• Performance management 
• Giving and receiving feedback 
• Stay interviews 
• Career development conversations 
• Succession planning

4. Employee Relations

Employee relations has become increasingly complex as organizations navigate hybrid work, evolving employee expectations, mental health considerations, and multigenerational workforces.

Today's HR professionals are expected to balance empathy with sound judgment while helping resolve workplace issues fairly and consistently.

Strong employee relations skills help organizations address concerns before they become larger issues while building trust across the workforce.

Professional development in this area may include:

• Workplace investigations 
• Conflict resolution 
• Difficult conversations 
• Documentation best practices 
• Accommodation requests 
• Employee communication 
• Retaliation prevention

5. Workforce Development

Developing employees has become a business priority—not simply an HR initiative.

Organizations are increasingly focused on building the skills needed to adapt to changing technologies, evolving customer expectations, and future workforce demands.

According to LinkedIn, 49% of learning leaders say executives are concerned employees don't have the skills needed to execute business strategy.

As a result, HR professionals are taking a larger role in helping organizations identify skills gaps, support career development, strengthen onboarding, develop leaders, and create learning opportunities that prepare employees for future roles.

Areas worth strengthening include:

• Skills gap analysis 
• Learning strategy 
• Career pathing 
• Leadership development 
• Employee onboarding 
• Upskilling and reskilling

5. Strategic Business & Data Skills

Today's HR professionals are expected to be strategic business partners—not simply administrators.

That means understanding workforce trends, interpreting learning data, measuring the impact of development initiatives, and connecting people strategies to business outcomes.

Rather than asking, Did employees complete their training?, today's HR leaders are asking:

• Do employees have the skills our business needs? 
• Where are our greatest workforce gaps? 
• Which development programs improve retention? 
• How can learning better support business goals? 

Building business acumen helps HR professionals make more informed decisions, communicate more effectively with executives, and demonstrate the value of HR initiatives across the organization.

Continuous Learning Is Becoming a Core HR Competency

The role of HR continues to evolve—and so do the skills required to succeed.

While technical knowledge remains important, today's HR professionals are also expected to guide organizations through technological change, support workforce development, coach leaders, interpret data, and help employees prepare for the future of work.

Investing in continuous learning helps HR professionals stay current, strengthen their strategic impact, and better support employees and leaders across the organization.

How Lorman Can Help

The role of HR continues to evolve, and staying current requires ongoing learning. HR professionals need practical, timely training that helps them build new skills, adapt to workplace changes, and confidently navigate emerging challenges.

Lorman's HR training library offers hundreds of live webinars, on-demand courses, and continuing education opportunities covering the topics HR professionals encounter every day. Whether you're looking to expand your own expertise or provide ongoing development for your HR team, you'll find practical, expert-led training that can be applied immediately on the job.

Explore Lorman's HR training library to find upcoming live programs and on-demand courses designed to help HR professionals stay current, build new skills, and confidently navigate today's workplace challenges. If you're looking for a scalable solution to support ongoing learning across your HR team—or your entire organization—contact us to schedule a demo and see how Lorman's team/enterprise solution can help.

FAQs

Why is continuous learning important for HR professionals?

HR professionals must stay current as employment laws, AI, workplace expectations, and business priorities continue to evolve. Ongoing learning helps HR teams provide better guidance, reduce compliance risk, and support organizational success.

What skills are most important for HR professionals today?

Key areas include AI literacy, employment law, manager coaching, employee relations, workforce development, and strategic business acumen.

How can HR professionals stay current?

Professional development can include live webinars, on-demand training, continuing education, industry conferences, certifications, and staying informed on regulatory and workplace trends.

How can organizations support HR professional development?

Organizations can provide access to ongoing learning through live and on-demand training, role-specific learning paths, continuing education, and opportunities to build practical skills throughout the year.