Why HR leadership is rarely seen as a route to the CEO role

Despite being closest to some of the organisation’s most powerful data, CHROs are still rarely viewed as a natural pipeline to the CEO role. Talent supply and demand, leadership capability, productivity signals and cultural friction increasingly determine whether strategy succeeds or stalls. And yet, when boards make CEO appointments, HR backgrounds remain the exception rather than the rule. In this conversation, Adrian Seligman, CEO of Top Employers Institute, speaks with Devi Virdi, Interim CEO of CSSC, a membership organisation supporting more than 135,000 UK public sector employees through sport, wellness and leisure. Together, they explore why the HR-to-CEO transition remains so uncommon and what would need to change for boards to take a broader view of CEO readiness.

The discussion looks at the structural barriers shaping succession decisions, from outdated perceptions of HR as a support function to the continued preference for traditional P&L-heavy career paths. It also explores practical shifts that can change the odds, including reframing people strategy in enterprise value terms, gaining visible commercial accountability and broadening how boards define leadership potential.

Watch the full conversation below.

Puma’s secret to their people-first culture and sustainable HR practices

Puma has achieved a remarkable milestone in 2025. They are Certified as a Top Employer on a Global and Enterprise level while also reaching the phenomenal achievement of being Certified in all 50 countries where they operate. This accomplishment underscores Puma’s unwavering commitment to fostering a people-first culture and sustainable HR practices. David Plink, CEO at Top Employers Institute, sat down with Dietmar Knoess, CHRO at Puma, to uncover Puma’s secret to their people-first culture and sustainable people practices.

How does Puma respond to the challenges of the future

The future is not something that HR teams can predict anymore. As Dietmar explained to David in their conversation, “We need to live with the new fact that we can’t predict the future anymore. We can hardly affect the next twelve months. That means that you need to be on your toes.” This sentiment shows how critical it is for Puma, an organisation that prioritises its people-first culture, to be proactive in facing the challenges of a changing business landscape. He continued, “You need to make quick decisions and communicate it to your organisation quickly.” That is the role that HR plays at Puma.

While Puma always felt that they had an exceptional HR team able to react to the challenges of the market, they wanted an unbiased assessment of their practices. That is where the Top Employers Certification helped Puma. It offers Puma validation of their people practices. It gives them access to benchmarking and analytics to improve their practices yearly, enabling them to stay competitive in the talent market.

This global recognition as a Top Employer celebrates Puma’s achievements and reinforces its commitment to continuous improvement and employee satisfaction. By fostering a culture that values and supports its employees, Puma sets a benchmark for excellence in the industry, allowing them to execute their goal of being Forever.Faster.

For more insights into Puma’s journey as a Top Employer, you can watch the entire conversation between Dietmar and David. You will be able to get a look into:

  • How Puma attracts, retains and engages top talent in a competitive talent market.
  • The biggest challenges shaping the future of work and how HR teams can respond to these challenges.
  • And what it means to lead the market with sustainable HR practices and policies.

David Plink on Innovation & Leadership in a Rapidly Evolving World of Work

In September, David Plink, CEO at Top Employers Institute, participated in CNBC Africa’s 2023 Future of Work Virtual Conference in a live panel discussion on leadership. He met with other C-suite leaders to discuss how work is changing and how leadership is innovating to meet the needs of their employees.

The other speakers in the panel included Dr Nejri Mwagiru, Senior Futurist at Africa: Institute for Futures Research (IFR) at the University of Stellenbosch, Amadou Diallo, CEO at DHL Global Forwarding Middle East & Africa, and Stephen van Coller, CEO at EOH.

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In the session, their discussion answered questions including:

  • How will the future of work impact income inequality, social mobility, and job security?
  • What policies and regulatory frameworks should be implemented to safeguard workers’ rights and ensure a just transition?
  • How can governments, businesses, and civil society collaborate to mitigate the potential negative consequences of automation and ensure a fair distribution of opportunities?
  • And more.

The future of work is evolving as it is driven by technological advancements, changing demographics, and shifting economic landscapes. Watch the session in full below to hear more from this insightful session.