Mid-Year Talent Update

WilliamCharles Executive Search · July 2026

Bill Benson & Jeff McGraw ·  WilliamCharles Executive Search

Mid-Year Talent Update: Thoughts On the Second Half of 2026

Hard to believe we are more than halfway through 2026!

We are hearing our clients ask different questions than they did 18 months ago. The talent conversation has shifted, but having the right leaders has never been more critical. Here are some questions that everyone should be asking.

Can we attract the quality of candidates we will need in the future? How do we fully engage our teams to navigate necessary change? How will we further improve our leadership team’s performance and capacity? How will we retain our best people?

Here are several trends we’re seeing consistently across the executive and professional searches we’re conducting.

Retention Has Become a Leadership or Culture Issue, Not Just an HR Issue

Increasingly, candidates are evaluating the quality of leadership, organizational stability, career growth, and their ability to make a meaningful impact. Strong leaders create environments where people want to contribute. Less effective leaders often spend their time replacing people who leave.

One question we encourage our clients to ask is: “If our best employee received a recruiting call tomorrow, what would convince them to stay?” If the answer is simply compensation, it may be time to look deeper.

Leadership Development Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Many organizations continue to invest heavily in recruiting while underinvesting in developing their top people. The strongest organizations view leadership development as an ongoing business strategy—not an annual training event.

We’re seeing companies gain traction by focusing on:

  • Coaching first-time managers
  • Developing succession plans well beyond the C-suite.
  • Giving high-potential leaders meaningful stretch assignments
  • Teaching leaders how to manage change, conflict, and accountability.

One of the biggest risks in today’s market isn’t losing a senior executive—it’s losing the next generation of leaders because they don’t see a path forward.

The Hiring Market Has Shifted…But It Isn’t Easy

Candidates are moving more cautiously. Hiring timelines have lengthened. Employees are less reactive and more strategic, looking at opportunities more holistically.

The best talent is being highly selective.  They will evaluate organizations on factors such as quality of leadership, financial stability, company culture, flexibility, growth opportunities, and decision-making ability.

Ironically, one of the biggest reasons employers lose candidates today isn’t compensation. It’s slow decision-making. In competitive searches, the best candidates often disappear while organizations continue to schedule another interview or wait for additional approvals.

AI Is Raising the Bar

  • Artificial intelligence continues to dominate business conversations.
  • The organizations benefiting most aren’t replacing people with AI. Adopters are becoming significantly more productive.
  • HR leaders are using it to improve communication and streamline administrative work. Operations leaders are leveraging AI for planning and decision support.
  • The differentiator is no longer whether your organization has access to AI. It’s whether your leaders know how to use it effectively.
  • Human judgment, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and collaboration remain difficult to automate. Leaders who remain genuine while adopting AI to improve their own performance will be successful.

Culture Continues to Matter, Perhaps More Than Ever

One misconception is that candidates care less about culture because of economic uncertainty. Our experience suggests exactly the opposite. Candidates continue asking thoughtful questions about leadership accessibility, decision-making, collaboration, trust, flexibility, employee development, and organizational purpose.

The strongest cultures aren’t necessarily the most relaxed or employee centric. They’re the ones that create clarity, accountability, genuine collaboration, and mutual respect. Understanding where your culture sits and whether it supports your strategy has become an important leadership mandate.

Final Thoughts

The second half of the year presents an excellent opportunity for leadership teams to step back and ask a few important questions:

  • Do we have the leadership bench to support our strategy over the next three to five years?
  • Are our best people growing?
  • Would top talent choose us today?
  • Are we developing leaders with the same urgency as we’re recruiting them?

Organizations that answer “yes” to those questions will be well-positioned regardless of what the economy does next.

At WilliamCharles, we’ve always believed that hiring is rarely just about filling a position. It’s about building leadership teams capable of fulfilling the ownership vision.

Pro-tip – Consider Pondera Advisors and their PVA assessment to help you build and maintain sustaining and tailored leadership development. Through utilization of the PVA assessment and one on one coaching, leaders can address blind spots and improve on weaknesses.

Sources & Research

The observations above are informed by our work with privately held, family-owned, ESOP, and private equity-backed organizations, along with research from:

 

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