Meg Dunphy
HR Policy and Engagement Manager, CIPD
The real future of work question isn’t how we make people work harder, faster or differently, but how we design organisations to create sustainable value.
The forces shaping work are moving faster than many organisations can respond. The World Economic Forum estimates that 39% of workers’ core skills will change by 2030, while Gartner reports that only 1 in 50 AI initiatives delivers transformative value.
HR can drive successful AI adoption
Our HR Practices in Ireland 2026 research reflects the scale of this challenge. AI, automation and technology are now the leading drivers of organisational change for 65% of organisations, while 91% are experiencing skills shortages. These are often framed as people issues, but they’re fundamentally business issues, directly affecting an organisation’s ability to adapt, deliver strategy and create value.
Technology alone doesn’t create value; how we redesign work around it does. This is where HR plays a critical role. Through workforce planning, organisation design, skills development, leadership and performance, HR helps build the capabilities needed for effective AI adoption, organisational resilience and sustainable growth.
Wellbeing isn’t separate from business performance;
it’s one of the conditions that enables it
Wellbeing and sustainable business performance
The same focus should shape how we think about employee wellbeing. Productivity can’t be sustained by continually asking people to absorb more change and work at greater pace. Trust, effective leadership and good work design all influence whether people can perform well over time. Wellbeing isn’t separate from business performance; it’s one of the conditions that enables it. This is reflected in October’s Thrive Conference, which brings together productivity, performance, trust and wellbeing.
HR turning uncertainty into opportunity
Across the CIPD community and through the CIPD HR Awards, we’re seeing organisations demonstrate what sustainable business success looks like in practice. People teams are redesigning work around future skills, using technology to improve how work is done, building career pathways to retain critical capability and connecting culture and wellbeing to organisational outcomes. With applications open until 21 October, I’m excited to see how this year’s awards entries showcase HR’s role in turning uncertainty into opportunity. Through my work connecting research, policy and practitioners across Ireland, I see that HR’s greatest contribution is creating the conditions where people and performance can thrive together.
