A change in leadership at the top sends ripples through an entire organization. CHROs are at the helm, with succession planning strategies in hand. However, increased senior leadership turnover in recent years is putting strain on legacy succession planning. In fact, the average tenure of departing CEOs has dropped to 8.5 years in 2025, the lowest since 2019, according to a report from SpencerStuart. Additionally, nearly 40% of U.S. CEOs left within the first five years.
With this shift to lower overall tenures for executive roles, CHROs need to rely on their HR teams to support the adaptability and resilience needed to meet planned — and unplanned — change.
The Importance of Succession Planning
New leadership plays a vital role in any organization’s evolution. Preparing for this change and building flexibility into the process helps mitigate the impacts of succession. While important, succession planning is complex. In fact, 29% of CHROs report succession planning as a challenge in the 2026 CHRO Priorities and Perspectives report from SHRM. The difficulties in planning may explain, in some part, why many organizations lack a formal succession plan. Only 44% of extra-large organizations with more than 5,000 employees report having a formal succession plan, according to SHRM’s Talent Management Executives Benchmarking data brief. This falls to 16% for small organizations with less than 100 employees.
To meet the trend of shorter tenures, HR needs not just a formal succession plan, but a map with flexibility built in. As Deb Rubin, senior partner and head of CEO and board services at RHR International in Chicago, notes, “The more that evolution and adaptation have been built into the ethos, the easier that’s going to be. The more it’s set on one answer or one ideal leader, the more brittle that process is going to be, and the harder it’s going to be for people to shift.”
The Role of the CHRO
HR must anchor the succession planning and talent development strategy around the business and its future direction. “The most effective way for a CHRO to navigate this process is really thinking about establishing a disciplined, evergreen succession process and a robust talent pipeline. If that’s ongoing and disciplined, it makes the CHRO a trusted resource and a central resource,” Rubin said. Succession planning is not a sporadic event and CHROs should build a process that consistently refreshes and updates the skills the organization needs.
CHROs are also building trust with the board, as well as efforts to reconfigure succession planning strategies once new leadership arrives. CHROs task the HR team, including non-C-suite HR leaders, with implementing strategies to manage internal and external successors, helping map out new succession plans, and handling the day-to-day transition as a leader makes their exit.
“Establishing trust with the board, with the current CEO, and with the senior executives is critical. CHROs should act as an honest broker for each of those key stakeholders,” Rubin said. “This shows people can trust what this person is saying and what their agenda is.”
3 Steps to Prepare HR Leaders for Executive Transitions
CHROs play a key role in succession planning, but they don’t work alone. They rely on their HR teams to build, manage, and execute strategies. To help their teams meet the challenges of executive transitions, CHROs should help their teams build competencies in managing successors, adjusting planning based on new leadership, and managing departures.
Manage Internal and External Successors
An HR department must brace for different challenges depending on whether the new CEO comes from within the organization or from the outside. Both scenarios carry unique implications for talent development and succession planning strategies.
“The external candidate is most likely coming in with a change mandate,” Rubin said. CHROs should encourage HR teams to lean into this change. In doing so, HR teams can provide incoming leadership with education on the current state of the organization, its culture, the talent pipeline, and the existing profile for leadership success.
Promoting an internal candidate brings a different set of hurdles. CHROs and their teams are in the position of helping the new CEO re-establish connections with their former peers. Friction or hard feelings may arise regarding the succession process, and HR needs to bring these issues to the table so the team can work through them, all while CHROs assist the new CEO in building their senior team. By facilitating these conversations, HR teams can accelerate the integration of the new leader.
Brace for a New Succession Planning Strategy
A new CEO often brings changes to the overarching succession planning strategy. CHROs should prepare their departments to understand and implement these new directives rapidly. This can look like evolving HR functions to meet new pathways set by the CEO and ensuring HR teams have the necessary training to execute new plans.
CHROs also need to prepare teams for other impacts on succession planning. Rubin emphasized there are often seismic changes coming from external factors requiring careful planning and preparation. This could look like the impact of artificial intelligence and technology, or sudden shifts in the respective industry. “It could be external factors that were not part of the business model and now need to be included,” Rubin said. “The common thread for the seismic change is how rapidly the organization needs to adapt, and how quickly the individuals in HR need to get their head around what is needed now, and in the future.”
During these changes, CHROs should look to supporting HR teams through the transition. HR professionals absorb an immense amount of organizational stress during executive transitions. Fostering an environment where your team can process these shifts while maintaining their professional focus is paramount.
Manage a Graceful Departure
While preparing for the new leader, CHROs and their teams can overlook the logistics and emotional impact of the exiting CEO. “People forget that these are humans, and humans have reactions to loss, and this is a loss,” Rubin said. Managing a graceful and respectful exit stands out as a top priority during any executive transition.
To support a graceful transition, CHROs and their teams should help the exiting CEO determine the appropriate overlap time with their successor. Rubin noted that, generally, an external candidate requires a shorter overlap, while an internal candidate might benefit from a longer transition period.
HR teams should also prepare to help employees adjust to the change, whether it’s referrals to the employee assistance program (EAP) or resources on professional development tools to meet new demands placed on their roles.
Securing the Future Through Strategic HR Leadership
A CEO or other executive transition tests the strength and adaptability of an entire organization, placing HR directly at the center of the change. “Preparation for CEO succession starts the day after a CEO steps into the role,” Rubin said. CHROs who build resilient HR teams know this, and focus on evergreen succession planning, managing candidates during leadership changes, and managing departures. In doing so, CHROs and their teams can turn a period of potential disruption into a strategic advantage.
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