The CHRO/CPO path to the board: challenges and lessons learned

For decades, the path from Chief Human Resources Officer or Chief People Officer to a board seat was considered unlikely. Finance and legal backgrounds dominated boardrooms, and people leaders were often seen as operational rather than strategic. That view is changing, but the journey still comes with real challenges that many CHROs and CPOs underestimate. This article looks honestly at what makes the path difficult, what those who have made it learned along the way, and what aspiring board-ready people leaders should be doing right now.

The business case for having a people expert on the board has never been stronger. The workforce disruptions of recent years, from mass remote working to talent shortages to cultural reckonings, have forced boards to recognise that human capital risk is as serious as financial or regulatory risk. Research from Spencer Stuart shows that HR-background directors on FTSE 100 and S&P 500 boards have grown steadily since 2020, with more nominations coming from CPOs and CHROs than at any previous point.

Boards are now expected to oversee CEO succession, executive compensation, culture, diversity strategy, and organisational resilience. These are precisely the areas where a seasoned CHRO or CPO can offer the deepest insight. When a board is navigating a CEO transition or a major workforce restructuring, having someone in the room who has lived through those processes at an executive level adds a dimension that no amount of financial expertise can replicate.

That said, recognition is not the same as appointment. Getting onto a board still requires a deliberate strategy, credible positioning, and often years of preparation. The growing awareness of CHRO value does not mean doors swing open automatically.

One of the most persistent challenges CHROs and CPOs face is the lingering perception that HR is a support function rather than a commercial one. Even when a CHRO has driven a workforce strategy that contributed directly to revenue growth or successfully led an organisation through a complex global transformation, that work can be difficult to translate into the language boardrooms instinctively respect.

Board members tend to speak in the language of risk, capital allocation, governance, and shareholder value. A CHRO who cannot connect their people work to these concepts will struggle to be taken seriously as a board candidate, regardless of how impressive their operational track record is. The lesson here is not to abandon your identity as a people leader, but to become genuinely bilingual. You need to articulate the commercial and governance implications of talent strategy with the same confidence that a CFO talks about balance sheet risk.

This translation is not cosmetic. It requires actually developing a deep understanding of how boards function, what audit and remuneration committees do, and how executive decisions are scrutinised at board level. Many CHROs who have successfully made the transition say this was the most demanding part of their preparation.

Most C-suite executives build their reputation primarily within their own company or industry. For a board role, that is rarely enough. Non-executive directors are typically recruited through networks, and those networks operate at a level that many CHROs have not yet reached by the time they start considering board positions.

This is not about personal branding in a shallow sense. It is about being genuinely visible and credible in governance circles, at remuneration committee level, in investor conversations, and among chairs and senior independent directors. CHROs who have secured board seats consistently report that the process started years before they were formally approached, through advisory work, speaking at the right forums, contributing to industry bodies, and building relationships with board-level search professionals.

Aruba Exec works closely with senior HR leaders who are preparing for this transition, helping them understand how they are perceived externally and where their profile needs to develop. The conversation is rarely about credentials and almost always about positioning.

There is a meaningful difference between being an executive who presents to a board and being a non-executive director who governs one. Many aspiring board directors underestimate this gap. The cadence, the language, the legal responsibilities, and the relationship dynamics are fundamentally different from anything most executives encounter in their day-to-day roles.

Non-executive directors carry fiduciary duties. They are expected to challenge management constructively, make decisions with incomplete information, and exercise independent judgment even when it creates discomfort. For CHROs who are used to being the trusted internal advisor, the shift to external governor can feel disorienting at first.

Those who navigate this well tend to invest in formal governance training early. Programmes such as the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma or the IoD's Certificate in Company Direction provide solid grounding. Pairing that with a first appointment on a smaller board, whether in the not-for-profit sector, a scale-up, or a public body, gives CHROs the chance to develop their board instincts in a lower-stakes environment before stepping into a FTSE or major listed company seat.

The timing of the transition from executive to board director is one of the most underappreciated strategic decisions a CHRO can make. Move too early, and you lack the credibility and network that boards expect. Move too late, and you may find yourself competing with younger candidates who have spent more time deliberately preparing.

Many CHROs make the mistake of treating board preparation as something to think about once they leave their executive role. By that point, the process becomes reactive and significantly harder. The most effective approach is to begin building board readiness at least three to five years before you want to make the move, while still in a senior executive position.

This means seeking out remuneration committee exposure, taking on advisory roles, developing governance literacy, and having honest conversations with executive search advisors about where you stand. Firms that specialise in C-suite transitions, like Aruba Exec, can provide an objective view of how you are positioned relative to what remuneration committees and nomination committees are actually looking for.

Every CHRO or CPO who has secured a board seat will tell you the same thing: the conversation that opened the door was never about HR process. It was about business outcomes. Whether that was a workforce transformation that reduced cost by 30%, a talent strategy that enabled a successful market expansion, or a culture shift that visibly improved retention and productivity, the story that resonated was always commercial.

If your professional narrative is built around HR milestones rather than business results, it is worth reframing it now. Think about the decisions you made or influenced that had a measurable impact on the organisation's performance, risk profile, or competitive position. Those are the stories that matter in board-level conversations.

You do not need to become a CFO. But you do need to be comfortable reading a P&L, understanding balance sheet dynamics, and engaging credibly on topics like executive remuneration structures, deferred compensation, and incentive plan design. These come up constantly on remuneration committees, which is where many CHROs first step into board life.

Several former CHROs who now sit on remuneration committees describe a moment early in their board career when a financial question caught them off guard. The experience pushed them to invest in financial literacy in a targeted way. That investment consistently paid off in how they were perceived and how confidently they could contribute.

Board appointments are overwhelmingly relationship-driven. Nomination committees and chairs rely heavily on trusted networks and search advisors to identify candidates. A strong CV gets you into consideration. Strong relationships get you appointed.

This means building genuine connections with chairs, senior independent directors, institutional investors, and the search professionals who advise nomination committees. It also means being genuinely useful in those relationships, not transactional. CHROs who have been invited onto boards often trace the appointment back to a specific relationship built years earlier, sometimes through a conference conversation, an advisory engagement, or a peer referral.

Many CHROs try to present themselves as generalist board candidates by playing down their HR background. This is almost always the wrong approach. Boards are not looking for another generalist. They are increasingly looking for directors who bring specific expertise in areas that the board currently lacks, and people leadership, culture, and talent strategy are increasingly high on that list.

Own your area of expertise. Position it as a strategic asset for the board rather than a functional background. The CHROs who have broken through most successfully are those who were clear about what they specifically brought to the governance table, not those who tried to blend in.

Boards assess non-executive director candidates against a set of criteria that goes well beyond professional background. Understanding these criteria is essential for anyone preparing for a board appointment.

The first thing boards look at is independence of judgment. Can this person challenge executive management constructively without being obstructive? Do they have the confidence to hold a position under pressure? For CHROs, who often operate in a culture of collaboration and consensus, demonstrating this quality convincingly can take deliberate work.

Boards also look at breadth of perspective. A CHRO who has only operated in one industry or geography will find it harder to be seen as a strong board candidate compared to one who has led people strategy across multiple sectors or international markets. This is one reason why CHROs at global organisations, or those who have held multiple executive roles across different industries, tend to be more competitive.

Finally, boards look at reputational standing and network. This is partly about credibility and partly about who vouches for you. The opinion of a chair or CEO who knows your work personally carries far more weight than a formal reference.

For CHROs and CPOs who are serious about a board career, a few practical actions can meaningfully accelerate the process.

Start by auditing your current profile honestly. How are you perceived outside your organisation? Are you visible in governance circles? Do senior search advisors know who you are? Ask for honest feedback from a trusted mentor or an executive search firm that works at board level.

Then look at where your knowledge gaps are. If you are not confident on financial statements or corporate governance frameworks, invest in targeted development now. The ICSA, IoD, and FT Non-Executive Director programmes all offer relevant pathways.

Seek out your first board exposure in a context where the stakes are lower. Charity boards, advisory boards for scale-ups, and public sector bodies all offer real governance experience and the chance to understand how boards actually function from the inside. Many successful FTSE non-executive directors started this way.

Finally, have a frank conversation with advisors who operate at board level. Understanding how nomination committees are thinking, what they are looking for right now, and where you stand relative to that, is information that can save years of misdirected effort. At Aruba Exec, we have supported a number of senior HR leaders in navigating exactly this transition, helping them build the positioning and relationships that lead to genuine board opportunities.