🚀 UNLEASH CHRO SUCCESS | Speaking the CEO's Language | People + Strategy (2025)

The credibility gap between HR and the C-suite isn't about competence—it's about communication.

In boardrooms across the globe, talented CHROs face a persistent challenge: whilst they champion engagement, culture, and well-being, CEOs and CFOs obsess over profitability, cash flow, and margin expansion. This linguistic divide relegates HR to cost-centre status rather than strategic partner. By translating people initiatives into financial outcomes and speaking the language of investment returns, CHROs can unlock executive buy-in, secure meaningful budgets, and transform their influence from tactical support to strategic driver of organisational growth.

📊 DID YOU KNOW?

👀 DID YOU SEE?

The article presents a comprehensive "CHRO Checklist: Business and Financial Acumen" framework outlining seven critical questions every CHRO should answer fluently. This diagnostic tool reveals the gap between HR's people expertise and the financial literacy required to influence C-suite decision-making, demonstrating that strategic credibility requires bilingual fluency in both people and profit.

✨ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Published in People + Strategy magazine, this article by Bob Goodwin, president of Career Club, confronts a persistent challenge facing HR leaders: the perception of HR as a cost centre rather than a strategic investment partner. Goodwin argues that whilst CHROs possess deep expertise in people strategy, many struggle to secure executive buy-in because they fail to translate initiatives into the financial metrics that CEOs and CFOs prioritise. As Peter Cappelli, director of the Centre for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, observes: "Everybody thinks turnover costs are an important metric, but unless you can put a number on it and show it to them, nobody higher up is going to care." Goodwin provides a practical roadmap for CHROs to develop financial fluency, quantify hidden costs like turnover and disengagement, and reframe HR proposals as strategic investments with measurable returns.

🔍 WHY IT MATTERS

↳ The credibility crisis threatens HR's strategic influence. Despite decades of advocacy for a seat at the strategic table, many CHROs remain sidelined from core business conversations about growth, profitability, and investment. This fundamental communication breakdown results in missed opportunities for both people and business outcomes.

↳ Hidden costs remain invisible without financial translation. Turnover, unfilled positions, burnout, and disengagement exact massive financial tolls that CEOs never see on balance sheets. Studies estimate turnover costs between 30% and 200% of annual salary, yet without quantification in CFO-friendly terms, these critical workforce issues remain abstract concepts rather than urgent business problems demanding investment.

↳ The financial literacy gap undermines HR's business case. Whilst HR leaders excel at people strategy, their ability to influence investment decisions is dramatically compromised when they cannot fluently discuss EBITDA, operating margins, revenue per employee, or cost of capital. This positions HR initiatives as "nice to have" rather than essential investments with measurable ROI.

↳ Competitive advantage awaits CHROs who bridge the divide. Research from Oxford University economist Jan-Emmanuel De Neve demonstrates that workplace well-being is a leading indicator of business performance—predictive of customer satisfaction and share price. A World Economic Forum-McKinsey report estimates that improving workplace well-being could unlock $11.7 trillion in global economic output.

💡 KEY INSIGHTS

↳ Language misalignment creates strategic blindness. The article's analysis reveals a fundamental disconnect in vocabulary and priorities. HR content emphasises qualitative areas whilst CEO/CFO content focuses relentlessly on financial metrics. This linguistic gap means HR initiatives often feel "worlds apart" from business strategy, even when fundamentally aligned with organisational goals.

↳ Five metrics transform HR from cost centre to value driver. The article identifies turnover costs, reasons for attrition, internal mobility, employee well-being, and HR data ownership as critical areas where quantification unlocks executive attention. Internal promotions can save 30% to 50% in costs compared to external hires whilst simultaneously improving retention.

↳ Real-world examples prove the financial impact. Hilton Worldwide reduced global employee turnover to 26% through same-day pay and upskilling pathways. Amazon's Career Choice programme enrolled over 140,000 employees, with participants twice as likely to receive internal promotions. Pfizer's Skills Radar saved $8 million by redeploying 300 scientists instead of hiring externally.

↳ Financial fluency doesn't require finance expertise. CHROs needn't become CFOs, but they must understand fundamental economic drivers: how the company generates revenue and profit, which metrics analysts prioritise, why private equity firms obsess over EBITDA, and how workforce metrics connect to operating margins.

🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS

↳ Develop immediate financial literacy through targeted learning. CHROs should invest in understanding their organisation's pricing models, customer acquisition strategies, and market expansion plans. For publicly traded companies, study how analysts evaluate performance through earnings per share, operating margins, and revenue growth rates to transform how you frame every HR initiative.

↳ Quantify turnover costs using structured calculation frameworks. Implement systematic tracking of separation costs, replacement costs, training expenses, and lost productivity. Use the formula: Total Turnover Cost = Separation + Replacement + Training + Lost Productivity. Apply the 150% of salary benchmark as a CFO-friendly starting point, then refine with organisation-specific data.

↳ Reframe HR proposals as strategic investments with projected returns. Abandon the traditional "HR needs more budget" appeal that positions your function as a cost centre. Lead with business outcomes first—cost savings, margin impact, revenue protection—then describe the HR lever that delivers results using the five-step template: problem statement, proposed initiative, expected outcome, implementation plan, and risks with contingencies.

↳ Build internal dashboards linking workforce data to business KPIs. Audit your data systems, negotiate structured quarterly exports from vendors, and create executive-ready visualisations connecting people metrics to financial performance. Follow Pfizer's example by unifying disparate systems to provide real-time insights into skills gaps and cost savings.

↳ Master the art of brief, bold, businesslike communication. Deliver your business case in a single-slide summary or one-page memo. Open with your strongest insight, use defensible data points, and anticipate objections with prepared responses. This brevity signals confidence, preparation, and respect for executive time constraints.

💬 QUESTION FOR THE BOARDROOM

🔗 CONCLUSION

Goodwin's article delivers a pragmatic roadmap for elevating HR from functional support to strategic driver of organisational success. The core insight is refreshingly direct: the credibility gap isn't about HR's competence but about communication fluency. By mastering financial metrics, quantifying hidden costs, and framing initiatives as investments with measurable returns, CHROs can fundamentally transform their influence in the C-suite. The article's practical tools—from turnover cost calculations to investment pitch templates—provide immediately actionable frameworks. The most compelling aspect is the evidence base: real organisations achieving measurable financial outcomes through people investments. For CHROs feeling frustrated by their exclusion from strategic conversations, this article offers both diagnosis and cure—proving that the seat at the table isn't given but earned through speaking the language of impact.

🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY

The future belongs to CHROs who can translate people strategies into financial results and articulate them with the clarity and confidence that CEOs demand—transforming HR from cost centre to revenue enabler through the power of financial fluency.

🚀 UNLEASH CHRO SUCCESS | The CHRO of the Future | Russell Reynolds Associates (2025)

The CHRO role is no longer just about managing human capital—it's about unleashing the potential of your workforce, whether they're a human or a bot.

As AI reshapes work, hybrid models become normalised, and employee experience takes centre stage, the CHRO role demands an unprecedented blend of technological innovation, strategic vision, and human insight. With trust in institutions at all-time lows, businesses are uniquely positioned as both competent and ethical, and CHROs hold the power to elevate leadership through their pivotal role in C-suite succession. This report examines how the CHRO role is transforming, what future success requires, and why today's CHROs are becoming architects of organisational models as agile and innovative as the markets they serve.

📊 DID YOU KNOW?

👀 DID YOU SEE?

The report presents a comprehensive framework mapping CHRO stakeholders, roles, and key areas of responsibility today. This visualisation reveals the dramatic expansion of the CHRO function, showing how today's HR leaders spend 80% or more of their time working with the most senior stakeholders on sensitive issues such as C-suite succession, future of work preparation, and organisational transformation.

✨ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Published by Russell Reynolds Associates, this report examines the dramatic evolution of the CHRO role through analysis of publicly listed companies and interviews with 21 global CHROs in 2024. Authors Anna Penfold, Ted Moore, Michelle Chan Crouse, and Brad Pugh explore how CHROs have transcended traditional HR boundaries to become strategic confidants, transformation leaders, and workforce architects. The report reveals that CHROs now oversee expanded remits including transformation, sustainability, brand, marketing, operations, and technology. As Penfold notes: "Success in 2025 and beyond will belong to CHROs who can turn human potential into competitive advantage—creating organisational models as agile and innovative as the markets they serve." With average CHRO tenure increasing to 4.5 years in 2024 and 15% of new appointments coming from roles outside HR altogether, the research demonstrates how the function is becoming more strategic, commercial, and technologically sophisticated.

🔍 WHY IT MATTERS

↳ The CHRO has become the organisation's stability anchor. Amidst record CEO and CFO turnover and rapid technological change, organisations are deliberately prioritising CHRO stability. Companies recognise that CHROs are critical to navigating transformation, ensuring smooth leadership transitions, and maintaining organisational health during disruption—making retention of top HR talent a strategic imperative.

↳ Workforce transformation represents the number one organisational threat. CHROs identified workforce transformation as their top concern for 2025, reflecting the unprecedented challenge of redesigning work itself as AI scales. This demands CHROs become transformation architects who can envision, sell, and implement fundamental changes to workforce composition and task allocation between humans and AI.

↳ Trust dynamics position CHROs as guardians of responsible leadership. With trust in governments, media, and NGOs declining whilst businesses are viewed as both competent and ethical, CHROs hold unique power through their role in C-suite succession. They have the responsibility to elevate leadership quality and positively impact society through strategic talent decisions.

↳ AI integration creates both opportunity and existential challenge. AI presents CHROs with the chance to unlock value from previously unanalysable data, free themselves for higher-value human activities like coaching, and fundamentally reimagine HR operations. However, it also demands new capabilities and approaches to managing hybrid human-AI workforces.

💡 KEY INSIGHTS

↳ The CHRO role has expanded into uncharted territory. Analysis reveals that nearly 50% of CHROs now hold responsibilities beyond traditional HR, including transformation, sustainability, brand, marketing, operations, and technology. This breadth requires CHROs to be simultaneously strategists, technologists, operationally pragmatic, data literate, and HR experts—a demanding combination unprecedented in the function's history.

↳ Non-traditional pathways to CHRO are becoming normalised. Of CHROs appointed in 2024, 15% came from roles entirely outside HR, including regional CEO positions and business unit leadership. Additionally, 26% came from HR Business Partner or regional HR roles that provided crucial business exposure, suggesting that 'pure' HR backgrounds will become less common in future appointments.

↳ New roles will emerge to manage the AI-human workforce. The report identifies potential future HR roles including AI Workforce Architect, AI HR Solutions specialists, AI Relations managers, and even a Chief HR Bot reporting to the CHRO to oversee data, process, reporting, and analytics—fundamentally reimagining the HR organisational structure for the AI era.

↳ CHROs face a unique leadership paradox. Whilst spending 80% of time with senior stakeholders, CHROs must simultaneously develop great leaders beneath them to manage the expanded function. They serve as confidants to others but typically lack internal outlets for themselves, requiring investment in external CHRO networks for professional support and psychological safety.

🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS

↳ Upskill your HR team in analytics and AI capabilities immediately. Invest in analytics solutions that enable your team to unlock value from unstructured data, articulate HR impact on business outcomes, and track transformation progress. This data literacy will build confidence amongst executives that decisions are evidence-driven and HR KPIs are genuinely improving.

↳ Build your army of change-maker troops across the organisation. Lean heavily on HR Business Partners, regional HR leaders, and deputy HR leaders to lead transformational change whilst ensuring cultural continuity. Ensure this community is thoroughly up-to-speed on technology and workforce transformation to execute your vision effectively at every organisational level.

↳ Pilot AI adoption through small-scale experiments before scaling. Work in close partnership with technology leaders to architect responsible AI adoption strategies balancing innovation with human considerations. Start with targeted pilots, actively address employee concerns through reskilling programmes, and implement robust change management before broader rollout.

↳ Elevate your role through strategic succession involvement. Bring deep understanding of internal talent pools, serve as an objective sounding board for incoming and outgoing leaders, and connect succession decisions with the organisation's future vision. By playing this role, you smooth potential conflicts and ensure the board selects leaders positioned for long-term success.

↳ Redraw functional boundaries to match your organisation's future needs. Consider where lines should exist between HR, operations, technology, and strategy for your specific context. Use this re-examination as an opportunity to develop your own journey as a transformation leader and ensure your capabilities stretch far enough for future demands.

💬 QUESTION FOR THE BOARDROOM

🔗 CONCLUSION

Russell Reynolds Associates' report delivers a comprehensive portrait of the CHRO role at an inflection point. The research convincingly demonstrates that CHROs have evolved from HR administrators to strategic architects operating at the intersection of people, technology, and business strategy. The data on declining turnover and increasing tenure signals that organisations recognise the CHRO's critical stabilising role during volatility. Most compellingly, the report acknowledges both the extraordinary opportunity and genuine challenge facing CHROs: they must simultaneously master AI integration, lead workforce transformation, develop leadership beneath them, and maintain their humanity amidst technological disruption. For sitting CHROs and boards alike, this report serves as both validation of the role's elevated importance and a clarion call to develop the breadth of capabilities required for future success.

🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY

The CHRO of the future must orchestrate the delicate balance between technological innovation and human insight, transforming from HR expert to transformation architect who turns human potential into competitive advantage whilst ensuring responsible leadership elevates the organisation and society.

🚀 UNLEASH HR SUCCESS | Leading from the Front: CHRO Case Studies | LinkedIn (2025)

The biggest risk is not taking risks—and these five organisations prove that transformation begins not with perfection but with courage.

Today's CHROs are grappling with talent, technology, and transformation simultaneously. LinkedIn's case study report examines how Boston Consulting Group, IBM, Allianz, Wood, and LinkedIn itself are tackling AI adoption, performance management, employee well-being, and skills development through bold experimentation. Rather than waiting for perfect strategies, these organisations started small, moved quickly, and embraced failure as learning. The common thread: leaders who model behaviours they want to see, democratise access to resources, and refuse to let perfection delay necessary action.

📊 DID YOU KNOW?

✨ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Published by LinkedIn, this case study report examines how leading CHROs are navigating workplace transformation through five detailed organisational examples. Eric Dozier of Eli Lilly captures the central tension: "We're dealing with people and there's this challenge to be perfect all the time. But as long as we can iterate, we don't have to be perfect. The biggest risk is not taking risks." The report features Amber Grewal of Boston Consulting Group on firmwide AI activation, Nickle LaMoreaux of IBM on reimagined performance management, Bettina Dietsche of Allianz on leading by example, Marla Storm of Wood on peer-led well-being initiatives, and Teuila Hanson of LinkedIn on democratised career coaching. With skills requirements accelerating from 25% change since 2015 to an expected 70% by 2030, the organisations featured demonstrate that waiting for perfect conditions guarantees obsolescence.

🔍 WHY IT MATTERS

↳ Traditional HR approaches cannot match the pace of workplace transformation. When skills requirements change by 70% in five years rather than 25% over a decade, incremental improvements and annual planning cycles become obsolete. CHROs must adopt agile methodologies, constant iteration, and experimentation mindsets previously reserved for product development teams.

↳ Role modelling accelerates adoption faster than mandates or training. When Dietsche uses AllianzGPT to summarise 100-page reports into five pages, when leaders visibly take time off for well-being, and when CHROs admit they're learning alongside their teams, they create permission structures that top-down directives cannot match.

↳ Democratising resources signals organisational values more powerfully than policies. BCG gave all 33,000 employees immediate AI access rather than restricting it to specialists. LinkedIn offered coaching to everyone, not just high-performers. These decisions communicate that growth and support are universal rights, not earned privileges.

↳ Employee well-being directly impacts the bottom line at massive scale. Depression and anxiety cost the global economy over $1 trillion in lost productivity annually, whilst 4 in 10 US workers report feeling stuck and burned out. Treating well-being as optional ignores this trillion-dollar reality affecting nearly half the workforce.

💡 KEY INSIGHTS

↳ BCG's "early and often" AI strategy prioritised activation over perfection. Rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise to all 33,000 employees in October 2023, BCG supported adoption through 100+ gen AI coaches, required upskilling courses, and gamified challenges with 1,000+ submissions. The infrastructure enabled employees to build over 18,000 custom GPTs whilst AI agents handled over 2 million conversations.

↳ IBM's Think40 programme became a "box to tick" until consequences changed behaviour. Despite requiring 40 hours of annual learning for a decade, the programme felt like compliance. The breakthrough came when IBM formally integrated skills as a performance pillar: the highest-performing salesperson cannot earn top ratings or salary increases without demonstrating future-ready skill-building.

↳ Allianz welcomes over 24,000 new hires annually into two-way mentorship programmes. Rather than traditional top-down mentoring, Allianz pairs employees across generations and career stages for mutual learning. With five generations in the workforce, connection matters more than hierarchy.

↳ Wood's peer-led Mental Health Champions provide the "ugliest four hours" relief. The volunteer network trained in mental health first aid offers immediate support whilst connecting colleagues to professional resources. The complementary "Around Wood in 30 Days" movement campaign encourages physical activity across 60+ countries through grassroots, employee-driven initiatives.

🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS

↳ Launch firmwide access immediately, then build support infrastructure around live usage. Stop piloting with select groups for months. BCG activated all 33,000 employees on day one, then deployed 100+ peer coaches to accelerate adoption through lived experience rather than theoretical training.

↳ Tie compensation to future readiness, not just past performance. Following IBM's model, separate bonuses (tied to past results) from salary increases (tied to future-ready skills development). Use three-year performance data to demonstrate that high performers without skill-building decline over time.

↳ Model vulnerability and work-in-progress thinking visibly. Share how you're using new tools, what you're learning, where you're struggling, and what you're experimenting with next. Dietsche publicly discusses using AI to eliminate her "ugliest four hours," giving others permission to seek efficiency gains.

↳ Build volunteer champion networks with quarterly connection rituals. Wood's Mental Health Champions connect via quarterly calls sharing case studies and evolving their toolkits collaboratively, preventing volunteer burnout whilst creating peer learning that keeps the network current.

↳ Make development access universal before making it sophisticated. LinkedIn gave every employee coaching access immediately rather than perfecting the programme first. The 80% individual contributor participation rate proves that universal access drives engagement more powerfully than exclusive programmes, whilst the 97% confidence increase validates simple execution over complex design.

💬 QUESTION FOR THE BOARDROOM

🔗 CONCLUSION

LinkedIn's report proves that modern CHRO leadership requires courage over caution. The five organisations featured share a common pattern: they refused to wait for perfect strategies, started with broad access rather than restricted pilots, and embedded support through peer networks. BCG's 18,000 employee-built custom GPTs emerged from universal access, not specialist teams. IBM's performance transformation succeeded because compensation consequences forced behaviour change. Allianz's two-way mentoring works because it values mutual learning over hierarchical knowledge transfer. Wood's wellness initiatives thrive because employees drive them. LinkedIn's coaching programme reaches 80% individual contributors because access is universal. As Grewal concludes: "HR is moving towards being the architects of a new workforce that doesn't exist"—but only if CHROs embrace experimentation, model vulnerability, and lead from the front.

🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY

Transformation belongs to CHROs who activate entire workforces immediately, tie consequences to future readiness, and model the messy experimentation they demand from others—because perfection delayed is opportunity lost.

Explore Our Themed Collections: Uncover a curated selection of current and past articles on our website.

Join 10,000+ Professionals: Follow me on LinkedIn for daily insights.