Aligning CEO and CHRO Priorities

May 12, 2025 – Like the business world, the roles of CEO and CHRO have changed significantly in recent years. On the one hand, CEOs are responsible for focusing on the company’s competitiveness and performance, and on the other, CRHOs are placing greater emphasis on employee well-being and mental health. But are these visions completely irreconcilable? To answer this question, global executive search consortium IMD International Search Group’s Radar Headhunters took a closer look at these two roles’ respective perspectives and see if points of convergence can be found between these positions.

“As the conductor of a company’s orchestra, the CEO bears the heavy responsibility of steering the company towards its objectives,” the report said. “Not only must they have a clear vision of the strategic direction, but they must also ensure that the management teams perform well. To achieve this, CEOs adopt leadership development strategies, define strict performance metrics, and establish accountability structures with the aim of boosting productivity and efficiency.”

Strong leadership is seen as an essential lever for creating a high-performance culture, with strategic outcomes such as increased profitability, innovation, market share, and competitive advantage, the IMD study explained. Given the climate of economic uncertainty we may find ourselves in, CEOs are particularly keen to adapt quickly to market fluctuations. According to McKinsey and Deloitte, this adaptation is essential to maintain short-term execution. “Yet, as a consequence of this approach, CEOs tend to put more pressure on management teams, who in turn put more pressure on their teams,” the IMD report said. It’s not without reason that 90 percent of employees say their working lives have worsened in recent years, according to Deloitte.

CRHO Priorities: Well-Being and Talent Retention

Nowadays, with 44 percent of corporate employees reporting burnout and 30 percent claiming to be regularly stressed, the pressure felt by employees is greater than ever, according to figures from SHRM. “To address this issue, CRHOs are increasingly focusing their efforts on implementing initiatives that promote well-being at work and better mental health,” the IMD report said. “These initiatives include more generous leave policies, employee assistance programs, stress management workshops, telecommuting, and even the implementation of a four-day week in some cases. At the same time, CRHOs are also emphasizing the importance of educating leaders to take care of themselves, enabling them to better support their teams.”

Challenges and Misalignment Points

From what has been said, it is clear that the visions of CEOs and CRHOs are not always aligned. Radar Headhunters’ main points of divergence are as follows:

• Difference in perspective: CEOs, under the pressure of today’s markets, are focused on achieving immediate results. Their priority is the short term to meet shareholder expectations and adapt quickly to market fluctuations. CRHOs, on the other hand, focus on the mental health and well-being of employees, seeing these as essential to preventing burnout and fostering sustainable long-term performance.
• Quantitative vs. qualitative: CEOs favor quantitative metrics to analyze performance (e.g., financial performance, productivity rates, etc.). CRHOs, on the other hand, rely more on qualitative measures (satisfaction surveys, feedback, individual interviews, stress indicators) to assess employee well-being and engagement levels.

Related: Starting Strong in Your New CHRO Position

• Divergent investments: Pressure for immediate results can lead CEOs to favor investments in technology and market expansion over wellness programs. CRHOs, on the other hand, advocate allocating resources to mental health programs and employee support, which they see as essential to maintaining a sustainable, high-performing workforce.
• Different perceptions of wellness initiatives: CEOs do not always see the immediate importance of wellness programs, especially if the direct link with short-term performance is not obvious. Conversely, CRHOs see these initiatives as essential to long-term productivity and talent retention.

“These divergences can sometimes lead to tensions over resource allocation and strategic priorities, compromising project efficiency and team cohesion,” the IMD report said. “They can also lead to delays in decision-making, accentuate internal competition, and hinder the achievement of overall corporate objectives.”

How To Align These Strategies?

Increasingly, companies are recognizing the need for close collaboration between CEOs and CRHOs to meet changing market demands, according to the IMD report. “To achieve this collaboration, a review of organizational structures and workflows is often necessary in order to take advantage of new technologies and improve productivity,” it said. “The aim is to work smarter, putting both business performance and employee well-being at the center of priorities.”

Why CHROs Are Playing a More Active Role in CEO Succession

CEO succession is one of the most important decisions a board can make—and CHROs are playing a growing role in shaping that process. A new Russell Reynolds report highlights how their deep understanding of leadership and talent makes them uniquely valuable. The question now is how boards can better leverage CHROs to ensure smooth, strategic transitions. Let’s take closer look!

To achieve this alignment, Radar Headhunters explained that CEOs and CRHOs can focus on several levers:

• Look at mental health: Mentally healthy, stress-free employees are more likely to perform at a high level, directly supporting CEO objectives. Similarly, CRHOs, by focusing on well-being, help strengthen overall organizational performance.
• Implementing new technologies: By integrating new technologies in the company, it becomes possible to streamline certain operations and maximize the chances of achieving objectives, while taking some of the pressure off the shoulders of the company’s employees.
• Developing collaborative leadership: Fostering leadership that encourages cooperation between different hierarchical levels can greatly improve strategic alignment. By focusing on ongoing leadership training, CEOs and CRHOs can ensure that managers are better equipped to motivate their teams while ensuring transparent communication at all levels of the organization.
• Aligning objectives around corporate culture: A shared corporate culture that values both performance and employee well-being can help reconcile the visions of CEOs and CRHOs. A strong corporate culture in which well-being is integrated into organizational strategy reduces friction between the short-term priorities of CEOs and the long-term goals of CRHOs. It also encourages employee commitment and loyalty.
• Integrating wellbeing measures into performance indicators: By integrating wellbeing indicators into performance dashboards, CEOs can ensure that the mental health and wellbeing objectives of CRHOs are factored into strategic decisions.
• Supporting flexible and hybrid working: Hybrid and flexible working models are becoming increasingly common. These arrangements can help meet the needs of both CEOs (efficiency and adaptability) and CRHOs (well-being and work-life balance).
• Investment in training and skills development: Investing in employees’ professional and personal development is another lever for creating an environment where CEO and CRHO objectives are aligned. CEOs see this as an opportunity to improve the company’s competitiveness, while CRHOs see it as a way of sustaining employee commitment and preventing burnout.

By combining these levers, CEOs and CRHOs can strengthen the alignment of their respective objectives, according to the IMD report. “As a result, they can create a more collaborative, balanced, and productive working environment,” the study said. “Although CEOs and CRHOs have different perspectives on employee performance and well-being, they are far from being totally incompatible. With a balanced approach that combines short-term performance needs with long-term well-being strategies, organizations can not only achieve sustainable success but also create a working environment where employees are both successful and fulfilled.”

“Studies have shown that the better employees feel about their work environment, the greater their commitment to the company,” the IMD report said. “This, in turn, boosts productivity and contributes to the company’s growth. To ensure a company’s long-term success, why not implement a strategic alignment between the priorities of CEOs and CRHOs?”

Founded in 2005, Radar Headhunters International has spent the last five years focused on growing its practice to better service its client’s outside of Canada, migrating toward a fully retained executive search business. Its team of leaders has invested massively in artificial intelligence-based sourcing, ranking, and communications tools giving Radar a competitive advantage in the global executive search space. The Radar team operates across various sectors, placing executives in notably consumer, industrial (energy, paper, packaging and recycling, aerospace), transportation and logistics, life sciences (pharmaceuticals, diagnosis equipment, medical manufacturing and distribution), and technology. Radar has a bilingual team in French and English to help clients in both Canada and the U.S. Patrick McLean leads the firm as president and CEO. Radar joined IMD in 2023.

Related: CHRO Turnover Declines Amid Workforce Shifts

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media