The start-strong in FY26 checklist for HR

From financial wellbeing to benefit communications, cover your bases and tick off the to-dos that will set you up for a smoother year.

A new financial year means a fresh start—and a golden opportunity for HR leaders to realign, reset, and re-engage their people strategies. FY26 brings its own set of challenges and opportunities, but with the right groundwork in place, you can build momentum early and stay ahead of the curve.

Here’s your ultimate FY26 HR checklist to hit the ground running.

 1. Revisit and refresh policies

Start with the essentials: review key policies and procedures to ensure they reflect the latest compliance standards, workplace trends, and organisational needs.

• Update internal resources: ensure your intranet, onboarding packs, and employee handbooks reflect any changes.

• Re-communicate clearly: changes are only effective when people know about them—make sure your teams are across what’s new and why it matters.

2.  Reassess your benefits strategy

As cost-of-living pressures continue, employee benefits remain a powerful retention and engagement tool, but only as long as they’re relevant.

• Review uptake and feedback: what’s working? What’s underused?

• Map benefits to career and life stages: a one-size-fits-all offer won’t cut it—target communications and support based on employee demographics, life stages and stages of employment.

• Plan a comms calendar: don’t let great benefits go unnoticed. Map key awareness moments across the year.

3. Reconnect with your people data

Now’s the time to audit your HR metrics. What do they tell you about where to focus this year?

• Turn insights into actions: low engagement in one area? Use data to guide program updates or training.

• Clean up your systems: ensure employee records, org charts, and payroll data are current and consolidated.

• Plan quarterly pulse checks: regular, lightweight surveys can keep your finger on the pulse and jump onto issues before they become problems.

4. Lock in your learning and development calendar

Upskilling isn’t just a buzzword it’s a necessity. Get ahead of the game by planning your capability-building efforts early.

• Audit existing programs: what’s still relevant? What needs an upgrade?

• Involve leaders: manager-led development is one of the most impactful ways to drive learning outcomes.

5. Don’t forget wellbeing

Employee wellbeing underpins performance, connection and retention. Treat it as a year-round priority.

First things first: get the intel you need to create a targeted, relevant and 2026-ready financial wellbeing strategy— you’ll find all the latest insights, tactics and tips in our updated financial wellbeing guide.

• Set a proactive wellbeing strategy: go beyond EAPs—think financial education, mental health literacy and workload management.

• Make it visible: integrate wellbeing into leadership conversations, team check-ins and regular comms—not just standalone events.

Looking down the barrel of a whole financial year can feel overwhelming but with the right systems, support and strategies in place, you’ll be ready to make this your strongest year yet.

Related articles

Unlock maximum value from your employee benefits program

Interested to find out more? Fill in your details below.