Three Rs dominated the HR world in 2016: recruitment, retention, and regulation. Although there wereother important trends as well, experts say competition for goodworkers and the challenges created by new federal rules were at thetop of most employers' list when it came to HR topics.

The election of Donald Trump as president may or may not have animpact on some of those regulatory issues in the long run, but fornow, it's probably safe to assume that workplace regulations won'tbe immediately changed.

Many top issues for HR specialists in 2016 were familiar:wellness programs, wearable technology, and thecontinuing growth of health savings accounts (HSAs), for example.But even familiar trends have developed new wrinkles andinnovations. And some areas, such as attracting employees, havebecome more urgent, as the unemployment rate drops and it becomesmore difficult to find quality workers.