Amidst political shifts, a dynamic market, and technological advancements, CHROs are leveraging their strategic expertise and leadership to direct organizations toward sustainable growth. Additionally, there is an anticipated rise in return-to-office expectations, suggesting a shift away from flexible work models in favor of more structured in-office presence. Nearly half of the respondents envision a future driven by people-first leadership, where empathy, trust, and emotional intelligence will be critical to building meaningful employee experiences. CHROs are closely monitoring AI trends and exploring ways to harness its power effectively, without compromising human value in the workplace. This indicates the technology’s immense potential and the importance of using it responsibly and innovatively.
“Bringing P&L thinking to the CHRO role also advances its standing, making it more attractive to people from other functions.” Her approach is to incorporate business discipline into her role by “owning”, for example, employment costs, rather as if they were part of the P&L for a business line. Andreas Hugener, chief human resources officer at Swissport International, says that “HR teams today are still far too absorbed in operational and transactional tasks such as administration and payroll,” a view echoed by many of our interviewees. Chris Van Steenbergen, chief human resources officer at Heineken, believes that “the kind of credibility that comes from knowing the business, talking the business’s language,” is becoming non-negotiable. Such gravitas also encourages the trust of peers, and by 2025, he adds, will have made HR leaders far more central to the C-suite.
The answer to these questions isn’t another transactional system of record. Are we creating an environment where innovation can flourish? I’m not saying this is the majority, but he sees it as a growing trend. The CHRO must transform the HR team, moving from the “service delivery” model to an HR team of consultants, problem-solvers, and analysts. The CHRO must lead decisions like where to hire, where to locate facilities, and how to globalize leadership, pay practices, employment policies, and labor relations. This means we all have to understand https://expandsuccess.org/dealing-with-work-burnout/ global labor practices, different talent markets, and how to lead remote teams.
- Discover the top CHRO insights that can revolutionize your leadership approach and drive organizational success.
- Talent management, a comprehensive set of HR processes that includes attracting, recruiting, retaining, and upskilling talent, is a critical area for CHROs.
- “HR should be leading here, helping to define a leadership culture that underpins the kind of values that people are looking for in a job, in the workplace.
- (Read our new research on talent acquisition.) CHROs have rethink the hiring model to one of “growing productivity and internal mobility,” a shift which is harder than it looks.
- To navigate these challenges, HR leaders can consider the following strategies to help balance competing needs and growing responsibilities in their roles.
The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict. Again, employee perception data also plays a key role in determining whether individuals believe their current work environment enables them to deliver on their expected roles and responsibilities. The past several years have shown the critical nature of understanding the intersection of work, the workforce, and the workplace in both physical and virtual environments.
CHROs are Investing in New Hires and Advanced Technologies
Frank Monteleone is a strategic and influential leader and leads the people, strategy, and communications functions at Rexall Pharmacy Group. Forward-thinking CHROs are shifting their strategies to meet rising employee expectations and drive real organizational outcomes. CHROs are leading the charge in transforming employee voice from feedback to foresight. Absolutely,we understand our needs,which gives us the definition of leading our lifestyle. From digital health integration to total rewards strategy, today’s CHROs are steering innovation, reimagining workforce models, and anchoring culture to mission and value creation. Curious what’s driving this shift?
CHROs at the Helm of Change Management
Read on to find out how HR leaders can shift from reactive to strategic, building a workforce that’s ready for tomorrow while delivering results today. Through this new, first-of-its-kind format, CHRO Insights Initiative focuses on the critical information and future-focused approach that leaders need to adapt to the transformative power of AI, labor shortages, rapidly changing organizational demands, and dynamic employee expectations. The workforce and the workplace have never been more complex, making HR a critical enabler of organizational growth and success. Explore more of Korn Ferry’s CHRO insights to see how these trends can be turned into a competitive advantage.
Temporary and one-off solutions run their course
Interestingly, CHROs—traditionally cautious adopters of high-risk innovations—are placing significant faith in AI’s potential, as we can see from the report. This renewed focus could be a response to AI’s growing role, which may require a more human-centered approach to balance technological integration. Employee experience and workplace policy shifts continue to remain high on the list of CHRO visions. Many teams are stretched thin, leading to burnout, reduced engagement, and increased attrition, creating a cycle of talent loss. Within employee experience, many factors come into play, including workplace culture, engagement, and remote/hybrid work strategies.
- A detailed analysis of the relationship between leadership, organisational culture and strategy can be found in The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture, published in the Harvard Business Review.
- To perform this role, CHROs have to be experts in building trust between different stakeholders, and adept at mediating between different parties.
- Effective CHROs today are those who blend technological innovation with human insight, transforming workplace ecosystems from the inside out.
- More than a third of CHROs spend the majority of their time leading transformation efforts, and according to another Korn Ferry CHRO survey on AI, 56% feel their company is not adaptable to change.
- More than one chief human resources officer has walked away from their CEO’s quarterly business review with a sense of frustration and envy.
- Meanwhile, 29% are concerned about succession planning, and 28% cited inefficiencies in existing HR processes.
“It gives a CHRO the confidence to drive business-centred decisions, such as how overhead costs can be saved or what form of organisational development makes sense. The emphasis of every CHRO’s core capabilities will have to shift to that of a business leader first and foremost. “We look at global https://www.cs-coding.com/revolutionizing-efficiency-in-claims-processing-automation/ trends now across the board, from workforce planning to testing the organisation’s cultural framework so we can identify where innovation can push us beyond operational tasks.
Recognize the importance of culture and how it could shift with some people remote and others in the office. The push for more mental health benefits has likewise increased with 76% of CHROs responding that they already have or plan to expand what they offer around mental health. Customizing the employee experience — including options for remote work and expanded mental health benefits — is now standard for most businesses, and CHROs know that better than anyone. Even more (53%) say it’s likely that the labor market will shift to favor employers over employees in the next 12 months.
Meisner explains that with commercial air travel growing across the globe, GE Aerospace needed to expand the global footprint of its network for maintaining and repairing airplane engines. These factors have already driven some organizations to move from more traditional, fixed models of workforce planning toward more dynamic and flexible approaches.21 Johnson & Johnson’s HR data science team discussed above is one example of a data-driven approach to workforce planning. This trend reflects a broader business environment where work is constantly being reinvented at all levels of the organization and the demand for different skills is rapidly changing. Because of this, it is important for the CHRO to be able to highlight how business decisions might impact the workforce in less obvious ways. To navigate these challenges, HR leaders can consider the following strategies to help balance competing needs and growing responsibilities in their roles. As Fasolo puts it, “the primary framing of the function and the CHRO role is to deliver value as the recipients see it, not as the function sees it.”
Leading voices shaping the future of HR
Beyond the leadership focus, one-quarter of CHROs prioritized other employees and workplace aspects. Meanwhile, a significant portion of current leaders—nearly 25%—are approaching retirement. These decisions help keep the organization resilient amidst turbulent changes and challenges, steering it toward successful and sustainable outcomes. To illustrate the weight of their responsibility, imagine them as captains of a ship, making agile decisions guided by knowledge, expertise, and strategic foresight.
In light of this, CHROs should consider ways they can avoid getting stretched too thin by disparate responsibilities and requirements and focus instead on approaching the role with a strategic focus on serving business priorities. In fact, in both Deloitte’s 2025 Human Capital Trends report and in a recent study on evolving C-suite roles, leaders frequently reinforce that as the world continues to change in unpredictable ways, having enduring human capabilities to navigate these changing landscapes will be important for success across the enterprise.14 These shifting dynamics reinforce that while a specific set of skills may grow in importance, how the organization needs talent to activate those skills will continue to evolve over time. Regardless of organizational maturity, however, the chief people officer of a North American energy company highlights that business priorities should shape firmwide talent strategy as well as the operational strategy the HR function uses to deliver business value. For instance, one chief people officer for a global toy manufacturer reflects on the difference between her current role and her previous role leading HR at a startup. The CHRO of an energy company noted that the set of regulatory and business issues the role has to balance has become more complex and critical in shaping business outcomes “because things like cost of labor, employment law, and regulations will drive a headache for businesses if they’re not really accounted for right at the start.”11
