January often brings an expectation that HR professionals should have everything mapped out. Goals set. Plans agreed. Direction decided.
But for many experienced HR practitioners, that pressure feels slightly out of step with reality.
After years of responsibility, complexity and constant decision making, the question is rarely “what targets should I hit this year?” and more often “what do I actually want my working life to feel like now?”
This article opens our January series by taking a different approach to identifying your HR goals for 2026. Less about lists and metrics. More about clarity, intention and designing a career that works for you.
Our December series explored purpose, alignment and what a meaningful HR career looks like at this stage. This is the natural next step. Turning reflection into direction.
Why traditional goal setting often falls flat in HR
Senior HR professionals are not short of discipline or drive. You have spent years planning, forecasting and delivering against organisational goals.
The challenge is that many January goal-setting frameworks focus on output rather than experience. They ask:
- What do you want to achieve?
- What will success look like?
- What milestones will you hit?
They rarely ask:
- How do you want your days to feel?
- What drains your energy now?
- What are you ready to leave behind?
If you skip these questions, even a carefully planned year can feel misaligned. This is why identifying your HR goals for 2026 needs to start from a different place.
Start with what you are stepping away from
Before deciding what you want more of, it can be powerful to name what you want less of.
In our December series, we explored how purpose shifts as your HR career evolves and how frustrations can quietly build over time. Try completing these sentences honestly:
- In 2026 I want less time spent on…
- I am no longer willing to accept…
- The parts of my role that feel heaviest are…
This is not about complaining. It is about recognising patterns. Your HR goals should help prevent the same frustrations repeating year after year.
Reframing HR goals around energy not just ambition
One useful shift when identifying HR goals for 2026 is to think in terms of energy rather than ambition.
Ambition asks how far can I go.
Energy asks what sustains me.
Reflect on:
- Which parts of HR work give you energy now?
- Where do you feel most confident and effective?
- What conversations do you enjoy having most?
In December we talked about moving from progression to alignment. This is where that alignment becomes practical.
An energy-based goal might be:
- Spending more time advising leaders rather than administering process.
- Working with fewer organisations but building deeper relationships.
- Having greater control over how and when you work.
These are meaningful professional goals, even if they do not fit neatly into a traditional framework.
Designing your year before defining your objectives
Instead of starting with goals, try designing your ideal working year first:
- How many days a week do you want to work?
- How much variety do you want in your work?
- How visible or behind the scenes do you want to be?
- How much autonomy matters to you now?
This links directly to our December article on creating a more life-friendly HR career. Once you understand the shape you want your year to take, your goals can support that design rather than undermine it.
Turning reflection into practical HR goals for 2026
Clarity without action can feel frustrating, so the next step is gentle structure.
Rather than a long list of objectives, consider three intention-led goals:
- One professional focus
- One lifestyle focus
- One learning or development focus
For example:
- Professional focus: to specialise more deeply where you add the most value.
- Lifestyle focus: to create clearer boundaries around availability.
- Learning focus: to refresh commercial or consultancy skills.
These give direction without pressure and can evolve as the year unfolds.
Giving yourself permission to explore
A strong theme from our December series was permission. Permission to question. Permission to want something different.
Identifying your HR goals for 2026 may involve exploration rather than commitment. This could include:
- Having exploratory conversations with others who have made different career moves.
- Researching alternative HR career paths, such as independent consultancy, portfolio working or established HR franchise models like face2faceHR, to understand the different levels of support, structure and flexibility available.
- Testing what different ways of working might feel like in practice, rather than committing to a big career decision too quickly, i.e. taking on advisory work or exploring consultancy alongside your current role.
These are not signs of indecision. They are signs of thoughtful career management.
Final thoughts and next steps
As this January series continues, we will explore finding your HR niche and planning a move into HR consultancy in more detail.
For now, the most valuable outcome is not a perfect plan, but a clearer sense of direction. Your HR goals for 2026 should reflect who you are now, not who you were earlier in your career.
If this has prompted reflection about what you want next, you may find it helpful to download our prospectus or get in touch for an informal conversation about your options and what a more life-friendly HR career could look like.