The CHRO paradox: Is HR’s top role as secure as we’d hope in 2026?

Summary

Josh Bersin’s analysis — built from more than 25,000 CHRO profiles, a survey of nearly 200 current CHROs and 50+ interviews — argues the CHRO role is caught in a set of paradoxes. Despite rising strategic expectations and visibility in the C-suite, CHROs face shorter tenures, limited formal power, uneven gains in ethnic diversity, and a mismatch between the role’s business demands and typical HR career pathways. Bersin recommends narrowing the agenda, aligning HR to a few CEO-prioritised business outcomes, and repositioning the CHRO as a true enterprise leader rather than a personnel expert.

Key Points

Comprehensive research finds the CHRO role is evolving rapidly but inconsistently with expectations of stability and influence.
Transformation paradox: 86% of CHROs say their role is changing significantly, yet average tenure has fallen from six years to 4.8 — risking unfinished change programmes.
Influence paradox: CHROs are more visible but only 12% rank among the five highest-paid executives, forcing many to “influence without authority.”
Diversity paradox: CHROs are 68% female (the most gender-diverse C-suite role) but ethnic diversity gains appear to have stalled.
Success-pathway paradox: The role now needs commercial fluency, yet most CHROs rise through traditional HR ladders; only ~30% have prior commercial roles.
Aspiration paradox: Many expect broader executive moves after CHRO, but 42% step into lower-level HR roles and only 5% become CEOs.
Practical prescription: co-write a realistic job description with the C-suite, focus on 3–5 CEO-critical outcomes, and treat HR as how the organisation works, not just as a people function.

Author’s take (punchy)

Bersin doesn’t mince words: the CHRO is under pressure and expected to do too much with too little authority. If you care about making the CHRO a substantive, well‑compensated enterprise leader, this is the roadmap — stop doing everything and start moving the needle on a handful of business outcomes.

Why should I read this?

Short version: if you’re in HR, sit next to HR, or depend on HR to deliver business results, read this. It’s research-backed, straight-talking and full of practical pivots that will save you time and stop you chasing vanity projects. Seriously — skim the key points, then rethink the CHRO job description.

Context and relevance

This piece matters because organisations are undergoing AI-driven transformation and need durable people strategies to match. The article highlights gaps between expectation and reality — shorter tenures, limited pay and authority, stalled ethnic diversity, and a shortage of commercial experience among CHROs — all of which can undermine large-scale transformation. For HR leaders and boards, the findings are a prompt to re-evaluate how they define, resource and reward people leadership so HR can deliver measurable commercial outcomes.