How CHROs can turn peak influence into staying power

After years of crisis and transformation, CHROs are more influential than ever — yet many are spending less time in the role.  

A recent global index from Russell Reynolds points to higher CHRO turnover worldwide and shorter average tenure compared with other C-suite positions, even as Canadian HR leaders report record levels of sway over profitability, productivity, and culture. 

Philippe de Villers, chair of CPHR Canada, sees several forces behind this paradox of “more power, less time.” One is demographics: many long-serving HR leaders are retiring just as expectations for the role surge. 

“We're seeing a lot of those CHROs that have been in their roles for a number of years that are boomers and are just retiring,” he says. “They're replaced with less seasoned professionals, but the role is much more demanding than it was 10 or 15 years ago, and in some cases the succession plan may not have been as tailored as was before.” 

CEO turnover is another driver, according to de Villers.

“When there's a new CEO, the culture is very important for them, and they want to have a CHRO that will put that culture in place,” he says. “It's not rare that we see new leadership in a business and with it comes a change of the head of HR to reflect the new alignment the business wants to take.” 

This is a recognition that “HR people are going to be in the driver's seat for the culture,” according to de Villers. 

Demands on CHROs have intensified 

Carolynn Ryan, BC Hydro’s Senior Vice President, People and Chief Human Resources Officer, doesn’t think there’s as much CHRO churn on a local scale, although she acknowledges the demands of the role have intensified. “Since COVID, it's been non-stop for HR leaders,” she says. 

Her experience sits alongside hard data from a recent Canadian survey of 260 CHROs by International Workplace Group, where 86 per cent say their influence in the workplace is at an all-time high and eight in 10 are working more closely with their C-suite than ever before. For Ryan, that rise in influence has cemented HR’s role beyond administration into the core of strategy and execution.

“In many ways, HR is being seen as finally moving beyond just stewards of the system to kind of architects of organizational capability and really being part of the pulse of the people,” she says. 

De Villers agrees that the CHRO ambit has shifted decisively away from pure operations.

“Ten or 15 years ago, the focus was a lot on talent acquisition, talent retention, but nowadays, it's much more about transformation,” he says. “Business transformation, how do we evolve? How do we reskill our workers? How do we develop talent, manage succession planning? We see a much more strategic input from the CHRO while in the past it was much more operational.” 

Challenge misalignment 

If CHROs want to remain in the seat long enough to ride out CEO transitions and strategy shifts, Ryan argues that tenure depends on both cultural fit and a willingness to call out disconnects when they appear. “Alignment is critical, from a personal perspective and being able to be effective in the role as CHRO,” she says. “But I think also it's incumbent on the CHRO to challenge behavior that's out of alignment, to be brave in the workplace and be able to have tough conversations.” 

Those “mirror moments” — raising issues when behaviour doesn’t match stated values — can shorten tenure when values are fundamentally mismatched, but they also reinforce the CHRO’s credibility with employees, boards, and executives, according to Ryan. 

For de Villers, sustaining that credibility also requires CHROs to keep pace with both business strategy and their own profession. “One of the key issues lies in how do you remain up to speed with the business requirements on one side, but also the evolution of the profession on the other,” he says. “Making sure you have the right skills that can be applied in the day-to-day and that you can foresee what's coming up.”  

As CHROs become more visible to boards, they must be able not just to present but to “really influence at that level as well so that the board of directors is comfortable with the human direction the business is taking,” adds de Villers. 

Wielding credibility and taking accountability 

Ryan believes that staying power is also linked to how CHROs manage the personal toll of that accountability in an era of intense public and board scrutiny.

“Most CHROs who have come up through HR are used to wearing that, and to be honest, it doesn't burn me out — I see it as an inspiring challenge,” she says. “That credibility the CHRO models through resilient behavior is really important, and there’s the credibility of knowing that you don't always have to have a perfect answer to a question but have that steady, principled, and honest approach to dealing with situations that helps relieve that burden of having to have all the answers.” 

She also believes that success in the CHRO role requires a significant amount of patience and tenacity.

“I think CHROs are operating in a state of constant change, and it's often without a lot of recovery time between crises that hit,” says Ryan. “We've always had to have a thick skin in this role, but I think what I've seen as being really powerful that has helped with this is just being vulnerable — you need to remain curious about people and situations, and there's that need in this day and age to not only be willing to be vulnerable and authentic, but to model it and encourage it in others, especially other senior leaders at this level."

De Villers frames a similar idea in terms of mindset.

“The number one key is humility — it's an important skill that we need our leaders to have, not only the CHROs, but really all the executive suite,” he says. “You need to acknowledge you're not going to be able to fix everything by yourself, so be sure to have a good group of leaders around you and remember why you're doing it, which is putting the human at the center of the organizations.”  

The right tools for sustainable impact 

Beyond culture fit, long-term impact also rests on how CHROs listen and what they choose to measure, says Ryan. She believes that traditional engagement tools still matter, but they are only the start of a broader listening strategy.

“Metrics are important — we measure our employee engagement index and that's a real opportunity,” she says. “People want an opportunity to express their views on many facets and elements of their employee experience.” 

For CHROs trying to model sustainable leadership, Ryan points to continuous learning and connection with peers as safeguards against isolation. “When I think over my career, I've always tried to keep learning, so whether it's formal learning or just sharpening the saw, make sure you're out there taking courses or webinars or that kind of thing,” she says. “Being part of the community is really important, especially during COVID, when we learned that we were all learning together.” 

De Villers offers complementary tactical advice: focus the agenda. “Focus and prioritize the right things, and don't try to do everything at once,” he says, emphasizing “small quick wins.” Overly ambitious HR agendas can leave CHROs exhausted and businesses underwhelmed, he says. 

“CHROs stay in their role when they feel trusted, backed, clear on accountability and where it truly sits, and that healthy deference for the value and expertise of people,” says Ryan.