With HR undergoing major transformation, Carlie Bell of Citation Canada urges leaders to stop chasing trends and start reconnecting with purpose
Rapid change is the new normal, with shifting strategies, AI integration and evolving employee expectations pushing HR leaders into a space where waiting for stability is no longer realistic, says Carlie Bell, director of consulting at HR and health and safety solutions provider Citation Canada.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents in Avature’s State of the HR Landscape in 2025 study say HR has experienced significant or complete transformation over the past five years.
In response, HR leaders should focus on core principles instead of scrambling to adopt every new trend or tool, Bell says.
“It comes down to remembering that you are dealing with people; people require belonging, and they resist uncertainty. So, the more you can foster a sense of belonging, the more likely you are to easily adapt in times of uncertainty; it's ultimately about the people, and people keep forgetting that,” she says.
Building a culture that can withstand constant disruption begins by questioning how leadership shows up during uncertainty. Bell challenges the traditional model where leaders are expected to project unwavering confidence and top-down direction at all times.
“In times of uncertainty, the best thing that organizations can do is actually acknowledge the humanity of their leadership and allow the leaders to very openly communicate that they don't have all the answers and they're looking for input and insights from the people that are actually doing the work,” she says.
That openness, Bell argues, is what breeds true belonging, but the formalities of corporate structure often get in the way, she says.
So how do HR leaders push back against that erosion of human connection? Start with communication, and not just from the top.
“One of the weaknesses of leadership is that they often try to tackle the uncertainty at the top and amongst themselves so that they can come up with the plan in order to direct those below,” Bell says. “And by definition, what that actually does is isolates those below and leaves them out of the process.”
She advocates for “more communications rather than less, especially in times of uncertainty.” That includes creating space for feedback, co-creation and idea sharing, even if it means encouraging offbeat suggestions that challenge the norm.
“Sometimes it's through the examination of the craziest ideas that you actually can tap into things that starts to work, and you get other people thinking outside the box,” she says.
The idea isn’t just to communicate more – it’s to reconnect with purpose. According to Bell, long-term strategies are now at odds with business reality.
“Change is happening so fast that what you decide is strategic today may, in fact, be completely inappropriate tomorrow,” she says. “Leadership really needs to come back to their core. What is their ultimate goal? What is the value and the mission and the sense of purpose of the organization as a whole?”
That alignment to purpose is what allows strategy to flex without losing focus. Leaders, she adds, also need to redefine what leadership looks like.
“The strategy has to be a strategy of change,” Bell says. “We need to invert the pyramid; they need to let go of some of the power and authority; [we need] more delegation, more communications, more brainstorming meetings, more idea discovery conversations.”
For HR professionals feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change, accepting that change is the new norm and learning how to function regardless is key because “the reality is that staying ahead of change is impossible,” Bell says.
“Ultimately, organizations tend to exist in order to serve a very particular purpose, and their purpose tends to be codified in their mission statement and their values,” she says. “If leaders remember to keep their mission statement and values in mind and look at change as opportunities to enable them to serve their mission, then that should create a level of guidance as well as some calm.”
Bell adds that this clarity helps organizations avoid getting pulled into every new trend or reactive shift.
“We very often get caught up in these tornadoes or cyclones – there's all this stuff going on, and we're just always feeling like we're fighting fires,” she says. “Now is a really good time for organizations to be very clear on what their mission, purpose their vision statements are."
“HR leaders are uniquely positioned to help organizations ground themselves in purpose and build the conditions for adaptability — not just respond to change but guide others through it," Bell says.
