Great leadership does not start with a title. It starts with influence. In this episode of The People Agenda podcast, we explore one critical question: how can today’s Chief People Officer (CPO) move from having a seat at the table to genuinely shaping business transformation? Drawing on insights from our research “From implementer to influencer” host Chris Howard and fellow LACEr Debbie Mitchell speak to executive coach Hilary Gee, on how CPOs can build influence among the C-suite. As a part of our research LACE surveyed 450 C-level executives (CPOs, CEOs, CFOs, COOs and CTOs) in large organisations in the UK, GCC and North America
Why isn’t having a seat at the table enough?
Having a seat at the C-suite table is no longer the primary challenge, influence is. Our research shows that while 64% of leaders say HR is actively involved in shaping decisions, a quarter (25%) say HR is considered but not central to the decision-making process.
In many organisations, CEOs and CPOs interact infrequently, limiting alignment on strategic priorities, while CFOs and COOs undervalue HR’s contribution to business-wide outcomes. HR is often viewed as functionally strong but commercially light and transformation leadership is still, in some cases, perceived as operational rather than people led.
How can CPOs speak the language of the C-suite?
Despite HR’s growing presence at the top table, influence can still stall. 41% of leaders say HR is seen as reactive or lacking measurable impact, limiting its ability to shape strategic outcomes at the highest level. CPOs need to connect people strategy directly to commercial outcomes. Influence grows when HR leaders speak the language of finance, operations, and growth not just culture and engagement. They can strengthen their impact by:
When CPOs are able to align their message with business metrics, their credibility rises significantly.
What makes C-suite collaboration difficult?
Collaboration at the C-suite level often breaks down because leaders are structurally incentivised to focus on their own performance rather than shared outcomes. When finance, operations, and HR each have KPIs that pull in different directions, silos are created before the conversation even starts.
Leadership updates tend to be delivered function by function, with success measured individually instead of against business-wide goals. Over time, this can drive defensive behaviour, as executives protect their metrics rather than lean into collective accountability.
If incentives reward competition, collaboration will struggle. To shift this dynamic, our guest discuss:
When collaboration is built into the system, it becomes far more likely to show up in behaviour.
Tune in to this episode of The People Agenda podcast to hear the full discussion and start redefining HR’s role in business transformation. Want to know more takeaways from our research then download our whitepaper “From implementer to influencer”.
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