How can HR help a new CEO?

Originally post was inspired by a McKinsey & Company article: ‘Starting strong: Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal.‘ and published 9th April 2023. 

Post updated in August 2026.

Respecting the CEO ego

“Don’t make it about you.”

That was one of the key pieces of advice given to new CEOs in a thought-provoking article by McKinsey & Company. It reflects an important reality: every new CEO arrives with ambition, ideas and a desire to make a positive impact, but the most successful leaders resist the temptation to immediately impose their own agenda.

Instead, they ask better questions. They spend time understanding the organisation before deciding how to change it. They listen before they lead.

For HR leaders, this creates a significant opportunity. Rather than seeing the arrival of a new CEO as simply another change in leadership, it can become a catalyst for rethinking how people, culture and organisational performance work together.

Questions to help a new CEO

Source: Starting strong: Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal. McKinsey Quarterly Review March 2023

Seeing the organisation through fresh eyes

Every new CEO views the organisation differently. They are assessing the business, the leadership team, the culture, the capability of the workforce and whether the organisation is equipped to deliver its strategy. They are also forming opinions about the functions that support them, including HR.

For Chief HR Officers and senior HR leaders, this means taking a step back and asking:

• If I were joining this organisation today, what would I notice?
• What strengths would stand out?
• Where are the barriers to performance?
• Does our people strategy genuinely support the business strategy?
• Are the capabilities of our people strong enough for the new world of work?

Looking through this fresh lens often reveals opportunities that may have become invisible over time.

Processes that once made sense may no longer be adding value. Long-standing assumptions may deserve to be challenged. Leadership behaviours that have become accepted may no longer serve the organisation’s future direction.

A chance to reimagine HR’s contribution

Periods of leadership transition naturally create permission to rethink the status quo. Rather than simply continuing existing HR initiatives, this is an opportunity to ask bigger questions about the future of the organisation and the role HR can play in achieving it.

That might mean:

• Reimagining what the organisation needs from its people
• Reviewing whether leadership capability matches future ambitions
• Strengthening collaboration across departments
• Ensuring organisational culture supports strategic priorities
• Aligning workforce planning with long-term business objectives.

The most effective HR leaders don’t wait to be asked for solutions. They bring insight, evidence and perspective that help new CEOs make informed decisions about the organisation they’re inheriting.

Building trust early

The relationship between a CEO and their HR leader is one of the most important partnerships within any organisation. New CEOs need trusted advisers who can provide honest insight into organisational dynamics, leadership capability and employee experience. They also need someone who can distinguish between symptoms and underlying causes when people-related challenges arise.

Trust is built through openness, credibility and commercial understanding. That means HR leaders should focus not only on people issues but also on helping CEOs understand how those issues affect business performance, customer experience and long-term success.

When HR demonstrates that it understands both the people agenda and the commercial agenda, it becomes a genuine strategic partner rather than simply a support function.

How can the CHRO be a valued business partner to the CEO?

Making your own fresh start

A new CEO also offers HR leaders a valuable personal opportunity. It can be a chance to redefine your own leadership, demonstrate your strategic value and build stronger relationships across the executive team.

Many HR professionals have experienced situations where previous leadership styles or organisational history limited what they felt able to achieve. A change at the top can create space to introduce new ideas, challenge outdated thinking and contribute in ways that may previously have been difficult. It is an opportunity to make a fresh mark as a leader while helping shape the future direction of the organisation.

But why wait?

Perhaps the most important question is this:

Why wait for a new CEO before changing your own perspective?

The same curiosity, strategic thinking and willingness to challenge assumptions can be adopted at any point. Every HR leader could step back, reassess priorities and ask whether current people practices are genuinely helping the organisation achieve its goals.

Often, the biggest shift is not structural but mental. Changing the questions we ask can change the conversations we have, the decisions we make and ultimately the value HR delivers.

How Enable-HR can help

Whether you’re welcoming a new CEO, stepping into a new CHRO role yourself, or simply looking to strengthen strategic alignment, taking a fresh look at your organisation can unlock significant opportunities.

Our Business + HR Strategic Roadmap is designed to do exactly that.

By gathering insight from key stakeholders, identifying shared priorities and creating greater alignment between business strategy and people strategy, we help leadership teams build stronger collaboration and clearer direction.

Because successful organisations aren’t created by leadership change alone – they’re created when leaders and HR work together with a shared understanding of what success looks like.

If you’d like to explore how this approach could support your organisation, we’d love to have a conversation.