C-Suite shakeups ahead: How HR can prepare for leadership changes
C-Suite turnover is on the rise.
Within the next two years, over half of C-Suite executives are likely or extremely likely to depart from their current roles, according to a survey conducted by Gartner this October among over 200 executives. CFOs, CMOs, CIOs, and others at that level have expressed that they are being asked to do too much in their roles, that the organization relies on their function too heavily, and that they’re feeling increasingly stressed and burned out, according to that survey.
The findings could pose massive challenges for HR leaders who are already burdened with ongoing change management. But there are some steps they can take to be proactive and get ahead of this, and potentially even work to retain those execs who are questioning leaving, according to workplace experts.
To start, “the most important thing a CHRO can do is raise this as a critical risk to their CEO,” said Alexander Kirss, senior principal in the Gartner HR practice. “Only after getting their CEO’s buy-in are they going to be able to help develop some more targeted approaches to mitigating potential executives’ dissatisfaction,” Kirss said.
A major driver of the expected attrition is burnout and unsustainable workloads. In those cases, diagnosing the problem is key to finding a remedy. While executives may not be eager to share their challenges, CHROs can play an important role in understanding their challenges and finding manageable solutions.
“CHROs should serve as executive mental health champions, help peers identify sources of work stress, and provide coaching on ways to improve work-life balance. CHROs must model ideal well-being practices for their executive colleagues and employees at large,” according to Gartner’s report.
“Many [executives] find it hard to share with their peers when they are struggling with mental health or other well-being concerns. By transparently communicating their efforts toward maintaining well-being, however, CHROs will help remove the stigma and apathy surrounding such conversations,” the report said.
Once concerns and challenges are out in the open, CHROs can help execs come up with plans to restructure their roles or offer other support to make it more manageable.
“What CEOs and CHROs need to do is totally dependent on what is driving executive turnover at their organization,” Kirss said. “It comes down to what is happening at a particular organization, and with a particular executive,” he said.
However, while many C-Suite leaders eyeing an exit are doing so due to stress and burnout, another portion are actually looking for more growth opportunities that they may feel aren’t attainable in their current roles.
“If you have a really high-performing executive who wants more growth opportunities, they don’t need you to take things off their plate. They want more things added, or different things added,” Kirss said. “So it’s incumbent upon the CEO and the CHRO to come up with a development plan and show the executive that there is a plan in place for their growth at the organization,” he said.
CHROs can also tackle expected attraction proactively by working to build trust and strengthen their relationships with the CEO. Doing so includes regularly engaging in candid conversations with CEOs. “Building trust with their CEO is essential for CHROs due to the sensitive nature of the topics they must address. Actively sharing with peer executives what has worked well – or less well – in building CEO trust can help CHROs accelerate trust across the C-suite,” the report said.
But at the same time, many CEOs are considering leaving their roles as well. Over 2,200 CEOs announced departures in 2024, according to data from global outplacement and career transitioning firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. That’s the highest level since the firm began tracking it in 2002, and up 16% from the prior year.
When it comes to CEO turnover, some factors include more activist investors, specifically those coming after companies’ DEI efforts, and calling for new leadership, according to that report. Perceived failed turnaround efforts, increased private equity activity, and the introduction of AI are other reasons cited.
CHROs can be put in a tough spot amid CEO exits in particular.
“There’s often CHRO changes with a new CEO. Part of it’s around bringing in somebody maybe they trust, and that knows how to implement culture and design the people part of an organization the way a CEO likes,” said Andy Challenger, senior vp at Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
“It’s a good time to pick your head up and look around, go talk to other HR leaders, get involved in the local HR chapters, so that you can build a network of people once just in case a new CEO comes in and you have to change jobs,” Challenger said.