SHRM scraps annual conference

SHRM, the professional society for human resources practitioners, has announced that it is retiring its long-running Annual Conference & Expo brand and replacing it with a new flagship event called SHRM HR-X Live!

The new event is set to debut June 27–30, 2027, at Chicago's McCormick Place.

The change marks a significant structural departure from the traditional conference format. Rather than allowing attendees to self-select from hundreds of sessions, the new event will route participants through a curated four-day learning track tied to their specific area of HR practice, culminating in a formal credential.

"For decades, SHRM's annual conference has been where HR professionals came together to learn, connect and exchange ideas. But the demands on HR have fundamentally changed," said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of SHRM. "Today, HR leaders must harness AI, solve complex workforce challenges and, most importantly, demonstrate the measurable impact they have on the business. HR-X Live! is built for this new reality."

Research behind rebrand

At the centre of the new event is SHRM's HR Excellence Framework, known as HR-X — a maturity model the organization says was developed over five years of research across more than 1,250 organizations.

The framework identifies four dimensions it describes as separating HR functions that drive business outcomes from those that primarily manage day-to-day operations: Talent Optimization, Organizational Impact, Functional Acceleration, and Market Discernment.

The four dimensions each encompass multiple practice areas: Talent Optimization covers leadership development, learning and development, performance management, employee experience, inclusion and diversity, talent analytics, talent management, and labour and employee relations. Market Discernment addresses total rewards and recruiting. Functional Acceleration covers HR function strategy and HR technology. Organizational Impact spans C-suite and board relations, ethics and compliance, future of work, and organizational design and change management.

SHRM says its research found that nearly 90 per cent of organizations currently operate at average or low HR maturity. The organization also reported a financial correlation tied to that gap: in one industry it studied, every one-point improvement in HR maturity was associated with $62,000 more revenue per full-time employee.

How the event will work

Before arriving in Chicago, registered attendees will complete a dimension-placement questionnaire designed to assess the nature of their work — what a typical week looks like, what kinds of decisions they make, and the scope of their role. SHRM describes the questionnaire as a placement tool rather than a test, and says it will assign each participant to one of the four HR-X dimensions and one of three experience levels.

From there, attendees will follow a structured track within their assigned dimension across all four days, with elective sessions available to explore areas outside their primary track. The event culminates in what SHRM calls a capstone lab — described as a human-plus-AI environment — where participants demonstrate applied competency before earning a SHRM HR-X Credential specific to their dimension and level.

SHRM describes the credential as proof of capability rather than attendance, and says it is intended to be portable to LinkedIn profiles, résumés, and leadership conversations.

Taylor added that the new format moves professional development "beyond simply gaining knowledge to building capabilities, applying them in real-world situations, and proving what you can do."

SHRM has nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries.