South Africa, Feb. 16 -- People have changed. Work has changed. Workspaces have changed. And leadership must follow.

Globally, employees are signalling a clear shift. Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace report shows that stress remains stubbornly high, engagement is flat, and only 23% of workers strongly agree that their organisation cares about their well-being. This number should make every leader pause.

Employees aren't asking for perks, but they are asking for places where they can think, contribute, grow and feel psychologically safe doing so.

Here are the six HR trends that will shape 2026, along with what leaders and HR teams need to do next.

1. Manager well-being becomes a business risk + a strategy

Middle managers ha...