What leadership asks of leaders: our takeaways from Ibec's HR Leadership Summit 2026
On 21 October the Fitvision team spent the day on the exhibition floor at the RDS for Ibec’s HR Leadership Summit. This year’s programme centred on trust: how leaders build it, hold it and grow it as AI changes the way people work.
Being on the stand meant we missed most of the sessions. What follows is what the programme told us, and the question it left us with: what does all of this ask of leaders themselves?
What the summit asked of leaders
Almost every session on the agenda gave leaders another job to do. The day opened with Edelman and Gallup on “the trust imperative”, and DCU’s Professor Lisa van der Werff was on the programme for “Building and managing trust as HR leaders”.
Accenture, HEC Paris and Trinity College Dublin had sessions on how AI will change the workforce, and whether it will change leadership itself.
Psychotherapist Colman Noctor had a session on “Creating belonging in a culture of disconnection”, and Irish Life looked at what living to 100 means for employers.
Each is a fair ask. Build trust. Lead through AI. Create belonging. Plan for longer working lives. But they all land on the same people: managers. And very few of the sessions asked who looks after the people doing all of this.
The demands on leaders themselves
We talk a lot about what leaders need to give their teams, and much less about what leadership asks of the leaders themselves. Our CEO Mark O’Reilly looked at this in his MSc research: the behaviours we encourage in transformational leaders can create psychological demands that affect their own wellbeing.
The data points the same way. In Ireland, 61% of HR teams say manager capacity is the biggest limit on what HR can achieve, the top answer every year since 2020 (CIPD Ireland, HR Practices in Ireland 2026). Globally, manager engagement fell from 31% in 2022 to 22% in 2025, and leaders reported more stress and loneliness than the people they manage (Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026).
Why this matters for 2027
Our Ireland at Work 2027 report found the same pressure building from another direction. Recruiting gets easier next year, but the capability gap employers name themselves does not close on its own. Most of the work of closing it falls to managers, the same group already at capacity.
So the question for 2027 is less about what to add, and more about what managers need to carry what’s already there. That’s the thinking behind our work to improve manager capability and to reduce burnout and improve productivity.
Three questions to ask your managers this month
You don’t need a survey to start. A five-minute conversation can tell you a lot.
What’s taking up more of your time than it should?
If we added one more thing this quarter, what would slip?
What would help you switch off properly at the end of the week?
The answers give you a clearer picture of manager capacity than most engagement scores. They also show managers that someone is asking.
Three things to take into 2027
Check capacity before adding anything. Before you roll out a new initiative, ask how your managers are doing and what they’d drop to make room. Manager training rose from 57% to 87% in a year (CIPD Ireland), yet capacity is still the top constraint, so the gap is time. Leadership performance coaching works best when it helps managers decide what to stop, not only what to start.
Let people see leaders look after themselves. Teams take their cue from their manager. A leader who takes a proper break, books focus time or logs off on time gives everyone else permission to do the same. Small, visible habits matter more than a policy, whether that’s a lunchtime run club or a regular coaching session.
Build trust through steady habits. One-off wellbeing days don’t change outcomes on their own. Trust grows from regular check-ins and following through on what you said. Our guide to corporate wellbeing programmes in Ireland sets out what makes a programme stick, and our leadership workshops help teams turn good intentions into routine. This is how a high performance culture gets built.
If we didn’t get to talk on the day
Our work sits across three connected areas: corporate gym management, corporate wellbeing, and leadership and team development. If you’re planning for 2027 and want to talk any of this through, get in touch and we’ll set up a time. Or start with our plan builder to see what fits your team.
