Why do so few CEO’s have a HR background?
Nick Allwood, Director & Co-Founder of RedGreen Partners questions whether Boards need to widen the funnel on where their CEO talent is coming from.
It’s not a new debate, but it doesn’t seem to be one that’s progressing much either.
If a CEO’s success is fundamentally defined by their ability to set strategy and shape culture, then why are so few of them coming from HR?
On paper, it sounds straightforward: if a CEO can articulate a winning strategy and create a culture where people can deliver on it, then the rest should follow. And one of the most reliable indicators of whether that’s happening is whether they can keep their best people and attract even better ones?
This isn’t fluffy, or a nice to have. Healthy cultures and engaged teams consistently link to stronger financial outcomes, higher productivity, lower attrition, faster innovation and better customer experience. The cost of disengagement and poor culture continues to rise, yet CEOs with a HR background remain rare. Fewer than 5% globally have a career foundation in HR, and just 16 of the 1,000 largest US companies are led by someone with HR experience. The fact there aren’t meaningful UK statistics to draw on says something in itself.
There are some shining examples. Roisin Currie progressed from People Director to CEO at Greggs. Leena Nair went from CHRO at Unilever to CEO at Chanel. They demonstrate what’s possible when boardrooms think differently. But they are still exceptions rather than the rule, which seems strange given what boards say they value today: culture, purpose, talent, sustainability, leadership, engagement, and long-term organisational health.
If culture and strategy are the job, then why aren’t more HR leaders getting the chance?
A few possibilities come up repeatedly:
1. HR isn’t viewed as a revenue generator.
The long-standing perception that HR is a cost centre rather than a value creator persists. Even though modern People functions drive transformation, capability, leadership pipelines, workforce planning and productivity. All are direct contributors to organisational performance. Clearly the “non-revenue” label still sticks in many boardrooms.
2. Culture is harder to quantify than cash in the bank.
Boards often gravitate toward the concrete: revenue growth, margin improvement, operational efficiency. Culture, behaviours and engagement are harder to measure cleanly, and many still underestimate their direct commercial impact. What’s measurable tends to be valued. What’s valuable isn’t always measurable.
3. Companies often follow the ‘traditional’ CEO pathway.
CFO to COO to CEO.
Commercial Director to Managing Director to CEO.
These paths are familiar, lower‑risk and well-trodden. Boards often choose what feels proven rather than what the organisation may actually need next.
4. HR leaders have transformation and commercial experience that can be overlooked.
Many CPOs lead complex global restructures, digital change, workforce redesign, mergers, integration, capability building and significant budget stewardship. But boards may not translate these achievements into “P&L ownership”, even when the scale of impact is equivalent.
5. The CPO is frequently positioned as the CEO’s adviser, not a peer successor.
People leaders are often cast as the conscience, sounding board or alter ego of the CEO. Their opinion and thought process is valuable, trusted and essential. That may not always translate to making the step up to the top job.
6. Gender imbalance plays an undeniable role.
With 68% of CPOs being women and only 7% of FTSE 350 CEOs being female, the numbers speak loudly. If a function is disproportionately female and the CEO population is disproportionately male, the pipeline is structurally disadvantaged before the conversation even starts.
I admit my bias - I work with outstanding CPOs who drive strategy, transformation, leadership, culture and results on a daily basis. If turning talent into performance is core CEO work, then overlooking HR leaders feels like a huge missed opportunity.
Or, to put it in classic recruitment terms it’s time to fix the funnel.
Whether the blockage is skills perception, bias, tradition, or simply a lack of imagination, it’s worth asking a serious question:
If organisations keep saying that people, culture and leadership are their greatest assets, then why aren’t more CEOs coming from the function that specialises in exactly that?
Thank you to these sources for my stats:
wibf.org.uk, sloanreview.mit.edu, unleash.ai, perennialhr.asia, fastcompany.com, raconteur.net, findem.ai
Nick Allwood – Director & Co-founder at RedGreen Partners