What great hiring leadership looks like in 2026
Eden Anthony
In 2026, the best hiring managers won’t be rethinking their approach because its broken.
They’ll be re-evaluating it because the old way of working – and what talent expects from leadership – has evolved.
We spend every day inside conversations with hiring managers who are deeply committed to their teams, under pressure to deliver, and trying to make smart people decisions in a landscape that keeps moving.
What we’ve learned is this:
The future of talent acquisition is less about tools – and more about how leaders show up in the hiring process.
Here’s what that looks like.
From “We need someone now” to “What do we actually need?”
A familiar moment:
Someone resigns. Deadlines are tight. Pressure is high. The instinct is to replace them as quickly as possible – same role, same spec, same expectations.
But the strongest hiring managers in 2026 will pause here.
They’ll ask:
What’s changed since this role was last hired?
What will this role need to handle 12–18 months from now?
What skills are critical – and which ones can be learned?
LinkedIn reports that 52% of job seekers have declined a job offer due to a poor candidate experience – which is exactly why slowing down for clarity (before you rush to “replace”) is increasingly a competitive advantage.
According to a labour market analysis, average time to hire reached around 68.5 days in 2025 – up from about 36–44 days previously.
This small pause often saves months of misalignment later.
Practical shift:
Instead of briefing your TA partner on who you want, brief them on the problems you need solved. Let the role design come from there.
Candidates aren’t just evaluating the job – they’re evaluating you
We’ve seen a consistent pattern throughout 2025: strong candidates now ask deeper questions.
Not about salary first.
Not about title.
But about leadership.
How decisions get made.
How feedback is given.
How mistakes are handled.
How visible growth really is.
In 2026, your behaviour during the hiring process is your employer brand.
Research by MSH indicates that a positive candidate experience directly affects hiring success – with up to 78% of candidates saying the experience they receive is an indicator of how a company values its people.
Practical shift:
Treat every interview as a two-way discovery conversation. Be honest about challenges. Explain how you lead. Show how success is actually measured.
Clarity builds trust.
Trust attracts better talent.
AI will speed up hiring – but only humans will make it meaningful
AI will absolutely streamline sourcing, screening, and scheduling. That’s a given.
What it won’t do is:
Read ambition
Sense hesitation
Spot potential
Build confidence
Create belonging
The most effective leaders won’t try to “out-automate” technology.
They’ll use it to buy back time – and reinvest that time into better conversations, clearer expectations, and stronger onboarding.
Practical shift:
Ask your TA partner: Where can AI remove admin – so I can spend more time with people?
Retention starts long before day one
Most leaders think about retention after someone joins.
But in reality, it starts in the interview.
Candidates are quietly asking:
Will I grow here?
Will I be supported?
Will my work matter?
Will I be trusted?
Five generations are now working together — the first time this has happened in modern workplaces. Each generation brings distinct expectations, making adaptability essential for hiring managers.
For example, research by Deloitte shows that up to 89% of Gen Z workers prioritize purpose-driven work and meaningful impact – reshaping what talent looks for in roles and in leadership.
This means leaders must articulate real growth pathways and tailor how they describe roles, mentorship, and leadership expectations, considering the different motivators across generational cohorts.
Hiring managers who can’t answer these questions clearly will struggle to compete – not because they lack good people, but because candidates have more information and choice than ever.
Practical shift:
In every interview, explain what growth looks like in real terms:
What they’ll learn
What success looks like
How the role could evolve
This doesn’t lock you in – it gives people confidence.
The future of hiring doesn’t require a complete reinvention of how you lead.
It asks for small, intentional shifts – in how you brief roles, how you interview, how you communicate, and how you partner.
None of this happens overnight.
And none of it needs to.
What matters is not perfection – but progress.
The best hiring managers we work with aren’t perfect.
But they are:
Curious
Reflective
Clear
Open to partnership
Willing to rethink old assumptions
And the leaders who will succeed in 2026 aren’t those who predicted every change.
They’re the ones who stay open to learning as those changes unfold.