Article written by Nick Roud Coaching. Auckland, New Zealand September 2026.
The most underrated strategic advantage a CEO can cultivate is not a new technology platform, a market expansion, or a cost-cutting programme. It is the quality of their relationship with their HR leader. In an era defined by rapid change, workforce complexity, and heightened scrutiny on culture, the CEO 2 CHRO partnership has moved from supportive to central.
Evidence collected from companies around the world show that CEOs who treat HR as a strategic co-creator rather than an administrative function unlock better decisions, stronger cultures, and more resilient organisations. This article explores why outstanding HR relationships are now essential for CEOs, how these partnerships work best in practice, and why ensuring HR has a genuine seat at the ELT table is no longer optional, it is a performance imperative. Unfortunately I still see HR not represented at on the ELT table in many organisations. Could this be your achilles heel?
The Strategic Case: Why HR Must Be at the ELT Table
For decades, HR was viewed as a back-office function focused on compliance, payroll, and policy enforcement. That model is officialy obsolete. Today, people strategy is business strategy. The CHRO role has expanded faster than any other C-suite position, with the number of unique skills expected of CHROs increasing by 23% over the last five years the highest growth of any executive role.
This expansion reflects a fundamental shift: organisations now recognise that culture, talent, and workforce experience are primary drivers of competitive advantage. When HR operates without a seat at the executive leadership team (ELT), CEOs lose access to critical insights on employee sentiment, cultural risk, talent pipelines, and the human impact of strategic decisions. Fundamentally business is a people game and if you don’t have a senior executive wearing the people’s hat then again you are missing a massive opportunity.
The consequences are tangible. Companies that exclude HR from high-level strategy conversations risk misaligned initiatives, disengaged workforces, and leadership blind spots that only become visible after damage is done. Conversely, when HR is positioned as a peer to the CFO, CTO, or COO, the partnership enables organisational transformation, sharper decision-making, and cultures that attract and retain top talent.
As one organisational psychologist puts it: “If a company actually believes that its greatest resource is its people, then people need to be at the center of strategic and financial decisions. The only way for this to happen is for the CEO to treat the senior HR officer as equivalent to that of CFO or CTO.
What Outstanding CEO 2 HR Relationships Look Like
Outstanding CEO 2 HR relationships share several defining characteristics. They are built on trust, candour, and a shared commitment to business outcomes, not just people metrics.
1. Strategic Co-Creation, Not Support
In high-performing partnerships, the CHRO is not waiting for instructions. They are in the room when strategy is being shaped, bringing insights on workforce capability, cultural readiness, and talent risk. At Kraft Heinz, CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera and former CHRO Melissa Werneck operated on a “two hats think better than one” mantra, debating openly in private but presenting a unified front to the organisation.
This approach ensures that people considerations are embedded in strategy from the outset, rather than bolted on as an afterthought.
2. Courage Backed by Competence
The best CHROs have what SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor calls the “3 C’s”: competency, courage, and being a confidant. Competence means deep expertise in both HR and the business. Courage means speaking truth to power, even when it is uncomfortable. And being a confidant means the CEO can rely on the CHRO for honest, private counsel.
Courage without competence is noise. Competence without courage is compliance. The most effective CHROs combine both, using data and business acumen to back up their convictions.
3. Speaking the CEO’s Language
HR leaders who want influence must translate people metrics into business outcomes. Engagement scores matter less than what engagement means for revenue per employee. Turnover rates matter less than the cost of lost productivity and replacement.
At Hilton Worldwide, HR framed retention initiatives not as “employee happiness” but as cost savings and revenue protection. By expanding same-day pay and scaling up-skilling pathways, Hilton reduced global turnover to 26% in 2024 its lowest level in years while strengthening its talent pipeline and slashing replacement costs.
4. Debate in Private, Unity in Public
Healthy disagreement is a sign of trust. At Mercedes-Benz USA, CEO Adam Chamberlain and CHRO Lars Minns established a rhythm of early alignment conversations, clarifying intentions and priorities before Chamberlain’s first day. They also streamlined meeting structures to ensure every discussion had a clear decision-making objective, creating energy and liberating the organisation from unnecessary bureaucracy.
The lesson: robust debate behind closed doors, followed by visible alignment, sets a standard for the entire executive team.
Recent Positive Examples: HR as a Strategic Driver
Several organisations demonstrate the payoff of elevating HR to a strategic role.
Pfizer’s Skills Radar (2024): Pfizer unified its learning management system and HRIS feeds into a data lake called Skills Radar. In its first year, the platform saved $8 million by redeploying 300 R&D scientists to high-priority projects instead of hiring externally, while giving executives real-time insights into skills gaps.
SAP’s Pledge to Flex (2024–2025): SAP introduced hybrid flexibility norms and mental-health reset days, resulting in an 18% drop in short-term sick leave and a record-high 84% engagement score. HR framed these initiatives not as wellness perks but as productivity and retention investments with measurable ROI.
GE Aerospace’s Talent Integration: CHRO Christian Meisner works closely with business and strategy teams to map long-term plans to talent needs. As commercial air travel grows globally, GE Aerospace is adding talent in new markets, conducting individual market assessments, and developing training to ensure the workforce can meet increasing demand while maintaining safety standards.
These examples show HR moving from reactive support to proactive value creation, using data, business framing, and strategic foresight to drive outcomes.
The Cost of Excluding HR from the ELT
When HR is absent from the executive table, several risks emerge: It continues to be one of my top questions to ask a CEO when we are working together, describe to me your relationship with VPHR/HR Director etc.
- Strategic Blind Spots: CEOs make decisions without understanding the cultural or workforce implications, leading to implementation failures or unintended consequences.
- Talent Misalignment: Workforce planning becomes reactive, with critical skills gaps emerging only after they impact performance.
- Cultural Drift: Without HR’s pulse on employee sentiment, culture erodes silently until it manifests as turnover, disengagement, or reputational damage.
- Missed ROI: HR initiatives are underfunded or deprioritised because they are not framed as business investments with measurable returns.
In short, excluding HR from the ELT is not a neutral decision. It is a strategic liability. Question then follows should Boards step in or are they thinking ‘old-school’ approach?
How CEOs Can Elevate the HR Partnership
For CEOs ready to unlock the full potential of their HR function, four actions are critical:
1. Elevate HR to a Strategic Role
Ensure your HR leader has a seat at the table not just in title, but in influence. Invite them into business conversations, not just people ones. Make it clear that HR is a critical business leader, accountable for driving growth, innovation, and performance alongside other executives.
2. Invest in HR Capability
Provide the tools, technology, and training needed for HR to lead change, analyse workforce data, and contribute to strategy. Future-ready HR requires future-ready infrastructure.
3. Align on Business Outcomes
Define shared goals and hold HR accountable for driving business results, not just HR metrics. Measure the ROI of people initiatives in terms of productivity, retention, speed to market, and revenue impact.
4. Recognise the ROI of People
The ROI of a great HR function shows up in lower turnover, higher productivity, stronger leaders, and a culture that can weather disruption. Measure it. Talk about it. Value it and keep measuring it not annually regularly.
The Bottom Line for CEOs
The question is no longer whether HR deserves a seat at the ELT table. The question is whether your organisation can afford to make strategic decisions without the insights, courage, and business acumen that a strong HR leader brings.
CEOs who cultivate outstanding HR relationships gain a strategic partner who can anticipate issues, see around corners, and keep them grounded in the realities of culture and workforce. They gain a confidant who can speak truth when it is uncomfortable and a co-creator who can translate strategy into the daily experience of every employee.
In a world where talent is the ultimate competitive advantage, the CEO–CHRO partnership is not a nice-to-have. It is the hidden engine of high performance.
Article written by Nick Roud, Multi-Award Winning Executive & Leadership Coach. Auckland, New Zealand. September 2026
