Start by collecting data from employee surveys and HR information system records to help identify patterns related to shocks. Also pay attention to what workers say in exit interviews and to their bosses when they quit. Relationships between managers and their direct reports can be very telling.

Most HR professionals recognize the importance of workflex and family-friendly policies. But they also noted in SHRM’s 2017 Strategic Benefits survey report that their companies lag the market in those areas, and their organizations generally aren’t changing their policies. This is too bad given that there’s evidence to suggest that companies that offer better quality of life, by giving workers a high level of flexibility and permission to unplug, have employees who are more engaged, more satisfied with their jobs, less likely to leave, and in better physical and mental health.

To guide additional program refinements, keep in mind the leadership training methods that HR professionals in the SHRM survey expect to be the most important in the next two to three years:

• Coaching.

• Leader-to-leader development.

• On-the-job/in-role learning.

• Mentoring.

• Social media.

Maybe it has been so incremental that you haven’t really noticed, but it’s likely that your business isn’t the same as it was just a few short years ago. Technology, which has played a huge role in shaping the world of work, is just one factor contributing to this change. The dynamic nature of 21st century organizations is another: They acquire other companies, expand to other parts of the world, shrink product offerings, outsource projects and so on. Through it all, though, the demand on the employees remains the same: They must adapt.

To create agile, competitive companies, HR’s people strategy must constantly evolve. That requires detailed knowledge of the business, along with collaboration and vision. Despite the profession’s longtime focus on such strategic practices, a recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey report found that only 28 percent of C-suite executives viewed human resources as purely strategic. Thirty-seven percent said Leadership & Navigation, while critical to their organizations, are qualities lacking in the labor pool for HR.

For busy HR professionals, it can be tempting to maintain the same benefits year after year or to think employees’ preferences don’t change. Instead, challenge yourself to evaluate the return the organization is getting on benefits. If you’re considering offering paid parental leave, take a broader, tactical look at your rewards strategy to make sure it targets your top talent. Can you afford to lose that bright young person to a competitor that provides paid parental leave? Your parental-leave policy might just convince her to stay on board.

In part thanks to increased attention on business outcomes (or lack thereof) of traditional performance appraisal systems, organizations are responding to an overwhelming imbalance between what they invest in appraisal systems and the outcomes they receive by eliminating or significantly re-conceptualizing performance management (e.g., General Electric, Deloitte, Adobe, Microsoft, Gap, Inc.). Despite overwhelming frustration with appraisal systems, they are here to stay. HR professionals will have to take on new ways of designing these systems to move beyond administrative processes to business impact. The most successful organizations will focus on strengthening the performance culture to embed performance management behaviors such as feedback and coaching into the day-to-day work rather than crafting it as a separate and administrative process.

To be strong, effective strategic partners, HR practitioners need to stay abreast of what's working well and what isn't, keeping solutions at the ready before organizational leaders issue a mandate for change. The application of HR competencies, especially ongoing critical evaluation through approaches such as program evaluation, is one way to make that happen.