Leaders speak on a global HR challenge: being seen as a strategic partner is not the same as actually being one
A striking contradiction sits at the heart of HR leadership right now. Seven in ten organisations say HR is a strategic partner, but only one in four see it as central to enterprise strategy, according to a recent study. For HR professionals working to earn genuine influence at the executive level, the numbers land like a challenge – and it’s one playing out in organisations across every region of the world.
The HR Directors Consensus 2026 survey of senior HR leaders in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and other countries by Principal Connections revealed that while 70 per cent of organisations view HR as a strategic partner, only 25 per cent see it as central to enterprise strategy. Christine Barwell, Vice President of Human Resources at Canadian-based gold mining company Wesdome, says the finding resonates – but surprises her.
“There's an element of being there at the table and then there's an element of how you're contributing, so I'm quite surprised there's that gap,” says Barwell, noting that visibility at the executive table is one thing, but actual decision-making power is another.
Closing the gap requires speaking the language of business
For Barwell, the path from partner to central player starts with financial credibility. CHROs who want to move beyond the perception of being people-focused generalists need to understand what drives business decisions at the top – valuations, operational costs, risk profiles, and commercial priorities, she says.
“Understand the financials of the organisation, understand the details of the operations and speak the same language – I think that is a really big part of it,” says Barwell. “And it's not just attending strategic sessions, it's what conversations are you having outside of those sessions with the executive peers? Because I think that is where you can solve and help solve a lot for the organisation.”
Real influence, she argues, is often shaped informally – in the conversations that precede boardrooms, not within them. Barwell helped her own cause by completing an executive MBA to gain exposure to business discussions she wouldn’t ordinarily encounter. “It's a great foray into the discussions that need to happen in businesses,” she says.
HR's mandate is expanding – whether organisations are ready or not
The strategic gap is sharpened by the fact that HR's remit is widening at pace. Globally, the function is being pulled into territory it hasn’t traditionally owned – from technology governance to workplace safety – and the organisations that recognise this are restructuring accordingly, says Rod Gutierrez, Senior Director at global operations consultancy dss+.
Gutierrez sees this convergence firsthand. Working across industries including mining, financial services, and infrastructure, he says that the majority of controls needed to address complex workforce risks – work design, scheduling, leadership development, change management – sit squarely within HR's domain, even when other functions nominally own the problem.
“There needs to be a harmonisation between health and safety and human resources in a way that probably hasn't been seen before, because success is absolutely dependent on a very highly collaborative approach from both of those entities within a large organisation," says Gutierrez.
For Gutierrez, the expansion of HR's functional reach isn’t an argument for caution – it’s evidence that the function's strategic value is growing. But only HR leaders who actively claim that ground will benefit. “The H in HR is for human, and we must really retain and value the human element of what we do," he says. “The tactical and transactional parts of HR will probably disappear, but the relational part will remain.”
That point carries particular weight as AI compresses timelines and automates processes across every function. Gutierrez argues that HR professionals are, paradoxically, among the least threatened by the shift – but only if they lean into what makes the function irreplaceable. “I think the people who should be least scared of AI are human resources professionals, because AI cannot replace a human, no matter how much the hype,” he says. “It can imitate, it can optimise, it can do a whole lot of things, but we are not able to yet create the essence of what makes a human brain.”
The opportunity – and the risk – of a transforming workplace
Kristin Supancich, Chief People Officer at US technology company Ahead, frames the moment in similarly urgent terms. As organisations accelerate AI-driven transformation, she believes CHROs globally are facing a defining professional opportunity.
“I’m a big believer that CHROs have an opportunity of a lifetime right now to really have a seat at the table and be able to design the modern workplace,” says Supancich. “If HR isn't at the table, it'll end up being just a technology-led transformation – and in my mind that's a big miss.”
Diana Scott, US Human Capital Center Leader at The Conference Board who tracks CHRO confidence across global markets, says that HR leaders are currently carrying one of the heaviest strategic loads in recent memory. Skills gaps created by retiring baby boomers combined with rapid AI integration have fundamentally raised the stakes of workforce planning worldwide, according to Scott.
“CHROs are thinking: I have to fill that gap. People are leaving the organisation. I have to think about how I'm going to keep engaging and retaining the people that have the skills that I need,” says Scott.
The breadth of that agenda – spanning retention, capability building, cultural alignment, and technology adoption – means the CHRO's case for central influence has arguably never been stronger.
The CEO relationship is the critical variable
Ashlee Langlois, CEO and Registrar of Certified Professionals in Human Resources Saskatchewan in Canada, argues that the CHRO's ability to exercise real strategic power is ultimately shaped by the relationship with the CEO – and whether that CEO genuinely understands the people function.
“In organisations that I've been a part of where the CEO and HR work really well together, the CEO has a clear understanding of the value that HR brings and the importance of people practices, policies, and programs on the organisation,” says Langlois. “When the CEO has a clear understanding of the value that HR brings, it makes it easier for HR to bring things to the table that can move the organisation forward in a meaningful way.”
Langlois believes that the risk from that understanding being absent isn’t simply missed opportunity – it’s cultural damage that ripples across entire organisations. “A complete disregard for employee well-being and organisational culture – employees feel that all the way down through the organization,” she says. “It comes down through the executives that report to the CEO and then the leaders that report to those executives.”
The global voices across this conversation point toward the same conclusion. Strategic influence in HR is earned through business fluency, expanded functional ownership, and consistent executive engagement. But the organisations that benefit most are those whose leaders actively create the conditions for that influence to be exercised.
