When Friisberg supports clients in acquiring Turkish businesses, or when we audit management teams as part of integration or executive search processes, one question arises repeatedly, “What defines Turkish business culture?”
Externally, Turkey is often viewed as a uniform system. Its business environment includes both locally owned, often founder- or family-led organisations and multinational corporations that operate according to their own global cultures.
This mix is shaped by historical traditions, European economic integration, and one of the youngest workforces in Europe. These elements create a commercial landscape that is relationship-driven, fast-moving, entrepreneurial, and highly adaptive. The experience varies depending on the type of company involved.
Below, Kıvanç Ersöz, from our office in Istanbul, shares the cultural insights international leaders most often encounter.
Many Turkish companies, especially local ones, maintain clear hierarchies. Seniority and titles are respected, and leaders are expected to be visible, decisive, and protective of their teams. Leadership is also personal - managers are expected to show genuine interest in employees' wellbeing, and a distant or overly formal manager is usually seen as disconnected.
Important distinction:
Local companies often revolve around a central "boss" figure whereas multinational companies follow global processes, policies, and leadership structures which usually override local habits.
In Turkey, trust comes before business. Meetings often begin with personal conversation about family, background, or mutual contacts, so what may seem unrelated to foreign visitors is often an essential step in building rapport. Once trust is established, cooperation tends to move quickly and with strong commitment.
In multinational firms, global procedures and governance frameworks reduce, though do not remove, the emphasis on personal rapport.
Communication is often indirect. Instead of saying “no” directly, people may say “Let’s think about it,” or “It might be difficult,” which typically signals disagreement or the need for alignment. Emotions are expressed openly, but usually in a way that preserves group harmony.
Flexibility is also a distinctive strength. Economic shifts and an entrepreneurial environment have made Turkish professionals highly adaptable and quick in their responses.
Local companies often rely on strong, centralised leadership. Decisions can be very quick, and priorities may change rapidly. In multinational organisations, global structures and governance rules lead to a more systematic approach, and while this can feel slower, it provides consistency and alignment across regions.
Because of these differences, leaders entering the Turkish market should understand the type of organisation they are joining. Moving from a multinational culture to a local, boss-driven environment can be challenging, particularly for executives used to structured processes. Expats working inside multinationals typically adjust more easily since they remain in a familiar corporate culture.
Extended availability is common in many local firms, and responsiveness outside standard working hours is often seen as a sign of commitment. Younger professionals, especially in multinationals and the technology sector, increasingly push for more balance and flexible working models.
Team cohesion is valued. Colleagues often socialise together, and personal and professional relationships overlap, so once trust forms, loyalty to leaders and organisations can be very strong.
Foreign investors and integration teams often find indirect communication, the emphasis on personal relationships, and rapid changes in priorities challenging. Centralised decision-making and expressive discussions can also feel unfamiliar.
At the same time, many of these characteristics turn out to be advantages. Turkish organisations often excel in adaptability, entrepreneurial thinking, commitment once trust is established, and speed of execution. The country also benefits from a young, educated, and ambitious workforce, with more than half the population under 45.
At Friisberg, we support leaders navigating cross-border complexity through management audits, executive search, integration projects, and cultural alignment work. We help foreign investors understand both local and multinational norms, support Turkish leaders entering global corporate environments, and guide executives as they move between these very different systems.
In a market where trust, agility, and relationships strongly influence performance, cultural intelligence is a strategic advantage.
These insights reflect common patterns observed in professional settings. Every individual and organisation is unique, and no culture can be defined in absolute terms. Our aim is to highlight trends that international leaders may encounter when working across borders, and to share how Friisberg helps clients navigate these differences with respect and effectiveness.
ithuania’s business culture continues to evolve at high speed, shaped by three decades of transformation, global integration, and the rise of new growth sectors. Through our work across Friisberg’s Lithuanian office, and in comparison, with other markets, we observe a culture that blends ambition, adaptability, and a growing international mindset.
While generational differences remain visible, the overall direction is clear: Lithuania is moving from hierarchical to collaborative, from cautious to opportunity driven, and from local to global in both expectations and capability.
Leaders in Lithuania share a strong sense of responsibility, discipline, and performance orientation. Younger leaders, many educated or trained internationally, tend to favour agile, participative, and innovation-driven approaches. In contrast, older or more traditional sectors retain elements of hierarchy, predictability, and controlled risk-taking.
The startup ecosystem, now complemented by thriving sectors beyond fintech and shared services (including deep tech, cybersecurity, manufacturing modernisation, and life sciences), is accelerating a widespread shift towards speed, experimentation, and global ambition. Today’s emerging leaders are fast, motivated, highly educated, and ready to take bold steps to scale businesses internationally.
Communication in Lithuania is typically direct, efficient, and task-focused. Small talk plays a role but remains secondary to purpose and written communication is valued for clarity and accountability.
Silence appears in interactions, reflecting a slightly Northern reserve and comfort with pauses, but it is not strong enough to be regarded as a defining cultural trait. Increasingly, we observe more open dialogue, constructive challenge, and cross-functional collaboration, especially in modern or internationally oriented environments.
Despite this openness, the results orientation remains pronounced: many professionals hold themselves and others to high standards, sometimes leaning more towards challenge than support.
In Lithuanian companies, decision-making is pragmatic, analytical, and notably fast. Teams prepare responsibly, gathering data and assessing feasibility, but it is the speed and decisiveness after alignment that truly stand out. Once direction is clear, execution moves quickly and iteratively.
This combination of responsible preparation followed by rapid action creates a strong 'doer' culture. People take initiative, focus on outcomes, and push for high-quality delivery.
Generational contrasts persist, with traditional environments valuing predictability and formality, but across sectors we observe a consistent ambition and readiness to take on greater responsibility.
Ambition in Lithuania is confident and outward looking. The talent pool is digitally fluent, internationally exposed, and eager to outperform expectations. A growing number of businesses, from tech scale-ups to modernised industrial companies, are targeting global markets and competing successfully.
Lithuanians usually separate professional and personal spheres more clearly than many Southern or Eastern European cultures. Professional relationships start formally and remain task-oriented and once trust develops, relationships become warm, loyal, and long term.
From Friisberg’s vantage point, Lithuania exemplifies a culture in transition:
This blend of cultural layers can create friction, but it also fosters resilience, flexibility, and sustained growth. In a small and highly adaptable country, businesses and leaders evolve quickly.
These insights reflect common patterns observed in professional settings. Every individual and organisation is unique, and no culture can be defined in absolute terms. Our aim is to highlight trends that international leaders may encounter when working across borders, and to share how Friisberg helps clients navigate these differences with respect and effectiveness.
I often reflect on how much the world has changed since I started working as a head-hunter more than 25 years ago. One thing, however, has never changed: when someone is looking for a new role, it is not just a process it is a very personal, emotionally charged period. I meet candidates who are excited, others who are tired, disappointed, or even rethinking their entire career, and they all ask the same question: What should I do now, in this new world shaped by AI?
I penned some thoughts below for those who are seeking direction amid this uncertainty and who want to position themselves consciously and intelligently in the future labour market.
For job-seekers, one of the most important realisations may be that industry boundaries are blurring much faster than role categories are crystallising. In my view, instead of focusing solely on traditional career paths, it is worth seeking roles that connect different domains & positions that combine human judgement with AI capabilities, or that serve as a bridge between technical systems and business needs.
If you are looking for a new role, considering a career change, or want to grow in your current or a new workplace, I suggest:
Don’t simply list what you have done so far; emphasise how you learn, how you solve problems, and how you work with new systems. Employers increasingly value people who can navigate uncertainty and integrate new tools into existing workflows. In fact, how you handled the last major change at your workplace may matter far more than your proficiency with any one piece of software.
Every organisation introducing AI faces the same challenge: how to make sophisticated technology work within a messy, human system. Look for positions and responsibilities related to management, training, or process optimisation within AI-adopting companies, and even in those where AI is not yet an integral part of operations. These roles often do not require deep technical knowledge, but they do require people who understand how organisations function when theory meets practice.
While tech hubs get most of the spotlight, every sector needs people who can bridge the gap between AI capabilities and local implementation. For example, healthcare needs professionals who understand both patient care and data analytics, and manufacturing plants need operators who can work alongside automated systems. Often, the combination of your existing industry knowledge and basic AI literacy creates far more opportunities than starting from scratch in an entirely new field.
At Friisberg, beyond ensuring client satisfaction, we place huge importance on the candidate experience throughout the search process. Every one of our consultants pays close attention to the Candidate Journey.
One aspect that has always mattered deeply to me at Friisberg is the experience we create for candidates. Behind every search is a person making an important life decision, and our team never loses sight of that. I’m grateful for consultants who treat every Candidate Journey with thoughtfulness and care.
Poland has become one of Europe’s most dynamic business environments, attracting international leaders with its skilled workforce, strategic location, and competitive market. Yet achieving success in Poland requires more than strong operations or a solid entry strategy. It also depends on understanding the cultural factors that influence how people lead, communicate, and work.
Polish business culture blends structure with adaptability, clear communication with diplomacy, and traditional hierarchy with a growing focus on collaboration. These nuances can surprise foreign executives. Direct feedback may be misread as criticism, early formality may be mistaken for reluctance, and credibility must be earned through both expertise and consistency.
This article highlights the cultural dynamics that matter most for leaders operating in Poland. It explores expectations around leadership, communication, trust, work values, and market behaviour. Drawing on insights from Friisberg’s Warsaw office, it offers practical guidance to help international executives navigate the Polish workplace with confidence and cultural intelligence.
Polish organisations generally value structured leadership, where managers provide clarity, direction, and measurable goals. Ambiguity is discouraged, precision and preparedness signal competence.
However, leadership in Poland is not strictly top-down. While hierarchy is recognised, effective leaders are expected to be approachable and people focused. The strongest foreign leaders balance authority with empathy, combining confident decision-making with genuine engagement.
Polish professionals tend to communicate clearly and directly, particularly in business settings, but with a preference for tact and professionalism.
Overly indirect communication may be viewed as unclear, while very blunt feedback (common in some cultures) can feel unnecessarily harsh.
Polish business culture places strong value on reliability, competence, and consistency. Trust develops gradually and is reinforced through actions. Early interactions may feel formal, but warmth and openness grow as relationships deepen.
Poland’s workforce is recognised for:
Work–life balance views are evolving. While older generations may favour more traditional structures, younger employees increasingly value autonomy and wellbeing.
Poland remains a major hub for manufacturing, shared services, technology, and international investment. Through our Warsaw office, Friisberg consistently observes:
For expanding organisations, understanding these dynamics is essential for sustainable success.
Leadership styles, communication patterns, and work–life expectations vary across countries. A polite “yes” in one place may not signify commitment; direct feedback in another may be seen as impolite.
For leaders entering Poland, overlooking these differences can:
The world’s most successful international businesses understand that culture is strategic. It shapes decision-making, leadership effectiveness, and ultimately, financial results.
Our Warsaw office, working closely with our global teams, brings together deep local understanding and international experience. Whether supporting a Scandinavian acquisition, a UK expansion, or a global investor entering Poland, we help you bridge cultural differences with clarity and confidence.
We do not simply conduct executive search or management audits, we interpret cultures; our consultants equip clients to adapt, integrate, and thrive in cross-border environments.
This article forms part of our expanding Culture Factor series, exploring the business cultures that shape leadership and success across our international footprint.
More perspectives from our European colleagues will follow.
Culture is not soft-it is structural, strategic, and essential.
At Friisberg, we help organisations see culture not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to build stronger, more resilient leadership across borders.
Read more here: The Culture Factor – Friisberg & Partners International
Note: These insights reflect common professional patterns. Every individual and organisation is unique. Our aim is to highlight trends that international leaders may encounter and to share how Friisberg supports clients in navigating them effectively and respectfully.
Last month, McKinsey released its Global Energy Perspective 2025, offering a detailed outlook on long-term energy trends, transition pathways, and the evolving economics of global systems. When combined with the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2025, these perspectives create a clearer picture of what the coming decade will demand from leaders in the energy sector.
Drawing on these insights and supported by real-time knowledge from Friisberg Spain who specialise in placing C-suite and senior leaders across the energy industry we highlight the themes most relevant for today’s organisations.
McKinsey’s scenarios show that the transition will not unfold along a single predictable path. Spanish energy companies are experiencing rapid policy evolution, fluctuating subsidy structures, and fast-changing regulatory expectations.
This dominance of renewables means organisations increasingly need leaders with strong strategic foresight, the ability to navigate uncertainty, and the depth of regulatory understanding required to operate successfully in solar, wind, hydrogen, and grid-modernisation markets.
Despite the rapid growth of renewables, McKinsey still anticipates meaningful fossil-fuel demand well beyond 2050. Spain reflects this hybrid reality:
Friisberg Spain frequently conducts searches for executives who understand both conventional energy operations and emerging transition technologies. A combination that is becoming more valuable across the Iberian energy landscape.
McKinsey highlights that technologies such as green hydrogen will expand gradually unless supported by strong regulatory intervention. Spain, however, is an exception:
This environment requires leaders comfortable managing long-horizon projects, working with investors, and collaborating across government and industry.
Both McKinsey and the IEA emphasise that energy transitions will progress unevenly between regions. Spain is positioning itself as a European energy-export hub:
Friisberg Spain plays a central role in this network, especially as Iberia emerges as a strategic link between the EU and Latin America.
The IEA notes that the world is entering the “age of electricity.” Spain is already seeing this surge:
Friisberg Spain is increasingly supporting clients who require leaders capable of managing these diverse needs.
According to the IEA, renewables continue to grow faster than any other source of energy. Spain’s 2024 electricity mix illustrates this:
Nuclear remains a stabilising force, while solar continues rapid expansion. Leaders must balance innovation in renewables with long-term infrastructure planning.
Across Friisberg, organisations are increasingly seeking leaders who combine strategic transition capability with commercial discipline, operational excellence, and digital fluency. In Spain, this is especially pronounced as energy businesses accelerate efforts in renewables, storage, grids, hydrogen, and industrial decarbonisation.
Friisberg Spain continues to play an essential role in shaping leadership pipelines for these sectors, identifying individuals capable of driving transformational change while ensuring operational and financial performance.
Friisberg’s global reach combines deep sector understanding, partner-led search quality, local-market knowledge, and strong cross-border cooperation. Our office in Madrid has become a flagship practice in the energy sector, consistently placing C-suite executives, transformation leaders, board members, and senior P&L heads who are shaping one of Europe’s most dynamic markets.
McKinsey and the IEA both reinforce a fundamental truth: the energy transition requires leaders who can bridge legacy systems and emerging technologies, navigate uncertainty, and deliver sustainable, commercially viable growth.
Friisberg Spain is ready to support clients in meeting this defining leadership challenge.
In recent years, technological changes have been reshaping the world of work in ways that profoundly transform employment. Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) does not “just” automate: it generates new ways of working, new professions, and new competencies. While many fear that AI will “take people’s jobs,” and we often discuss which roles are at risk, it’s equally important to examine the other side: which jobs will thrive in the future.
If we look at broader fields, the following areas may contain roles that will be the winners in the coming years:
AI excels in structured, repetitive tasks: collecting data, automating repetitive decisions, generating text or code. For example, IT development, customer service, and simple administrative work are already visibly changing.
In contrast, roles that require creativity, human intuition, emotional intelligence, or strategic thinking - such as product development, strategic consulting, creative agency work, and leadership roles - will be in a strong position in the AI era. Here AI doesn’t replace; it augments, freeing humans from routine tasks.
Introducing and operating AI requires more than end-users: it needs people who design, run, interpret, and adapt AI systems. Such professions include data and machine-learning engineers (Data Scientists, ML Engineers), AI product developers, and AI ethics and governance leaders.
Companies aiming to become “AI-mature” will compete for these specialists, meaning demand for these roles will grow.
While automating highly structured and mechanizable jobs is easy, roles requiring strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and complex human-to-human interaction remain relatively safe. Examples include healthcare assistants, mental-health professionals, counsellors, and creative employees.
AI can support efficiency here, but cannot replace the human element.
Many jobs won’t disappear but will transform. AI will take over routine, rule-based tasks, while humans take on higher-level responsibilities.
For example, the data analyst role used to focus on modelling and reporting; today, interpreting data, supporting decisions, and drawing strategic conclusions are the priority.
In other words, the professions that win are those where humans and AI work together and where humans retain final control, creativity, and value creation.
As AI technologies spread rapidly, roles with a high share of automatable tasks will become disadvantaged - typically administrative work, data collection and entry, simple customer service, invoicing, and repetitive internal activities.
But success requires more than simply “avoiding automation”: we must prepare for the AI era - learning how to collaborate with AI and create comparative advantages that AI cannot generate alone.
• Develop skills AI cannot replicate: creativity, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, complex decision-making.
• Learn to use AI tools, enabling true human–machine collaboration not merely fearing automation.
• At the organizational level: build operations where AI implementation is not just a technology initiative but a business and operating-model transformation.
• Reskilling and adaptation: those who do work today that AI may take over tomorrow should consider how to transition into higher-level roles.
AI likely won’t eliminate all jobs, but it will significantly transform many. Those roles will thrive where humans perform deeply human tasks: creative, complex, relationship- and intuition-driven work.
The “AI-winning” professions combine human value that algorithms cannot independently generate with the technological fluency required in the future of work.
If we recognize this direction as professionals or business leaders, we can not only adapt but gain a competitive advantage.
Here is the list of 65 specific occupations with the highest expected growth that could be winners of the AI era in the next 5–10 years, according to the US Career Institute.
After reading through - especially seeing my position ranked 64th - I felt reassured that I still have a future. 😊
As someone working closely with C‑suite executives at Friisberg & Partners International I’m curious to find out what makes leaders excel. A recent statistic from EY immediately stood out:
It’s no coincidence. Sport develops resilience, teamwork, discipline, and decision-making under pressure all the qualities that make leaders thrive. As EY puts it, while we’re all competing in the war for talent, there’s another battle ongoing: the fight for gender parity. Women gain a crucial advantage when sport becomes a lever to level the playing field.
Yet, too many girls step away from sport early. By the age of 16, 64% of girls have stopped participating, often due to fear of judgment, low confidence, or academic pressures. These numbers show why it’s so important to encourage girls and women to stay active and share the lessons learned along the way.
I’ve seen the impact of this personally. I’ve been rowing since 2009 and, since 2016, have balanced a full-time career with training and competition, including years in GB high-performance programmes, at Molesey Boat Club, Oxford Brookes University, and with The Paralympic British Rowing Team. Managing work alongside rowing taught me lessons in focus, resilience, and leadership that continue to shape how I operate today.
The EY article argues that athletes often become exceptional leaders because of the unique pressures and demands of sport. As a cox, I learned to:
These are the same skills that make for an effective C‑suite executive: clear decision-making under pressure, motivating diverse teams, and adapting strategy on the fly.
While this was extremely rewarding, it included many hours a day driving to training, family sacrifices and annual leave being used up on competition. The experience taught me lessons about resilience, focus, and balance that I now bring into my work with executives:
Sport teaches you that leadership is not just about personal excellence - it’s about lifting the entire team and sustaining performance under pressure, but my main takeaway is to make sure you enjoy the journey. Otherwise, what's the point?
Whether you’re in high-performance sport, a professional environment, or both, the crossover is clear:
The EY article highlights female athletes as future leaders but the principle applies to all leaders: the lessons learned in sport create exceptional, adaptable, and resilient leaders.
I acknowledge that I sometimes didn't get the balance right along the way which left me burnt out, but the reminder of why I was doing this, always pulled me through.
So how can we close the gender gap? Keep showing up for women's sport. Simple.
Scandinavia is a region, not a country. Within it lie nations such as Sweden, Norway, and Denmark - each with subtle but consequential differences in how work is done, how leaders lead, and how people relate.
Many say ‘The Finnish design, the Swedes build, the Danes sell and the Norwegian buys’. Michael Karlsson from our Swedish office offers his take on the cultural nuances in Sweden.
Swedish organizations tend to emphasize equality. You might see senior executives grabbing lunch in the staff canteen, and open dialogue is encouraged, even when expressed views diverge from the majority.
One of the more striking, and sometimes frustrating, behaviours to outsiders is how decisions are made: only after lengthy discussion and with broad buy-in. Some see this as overly cautious or consensus-driven, and I agree it can be slow at times.
Swedish managers are typically strong on defining objectives, but less directive about execution. Topics like politics or religion are avoided. Emotions are usually kept in check, confrontation is muted, and critical feedback is often delivered indirectly.
Outside office hours, Swedes generally respect strong boundaries. Socializing outside work is limited unless it’s an organized event. At the same time, benefits such as generous parental leave, extended holidays, and solid pension contributions are highly valued and contrast favourably with many local norms elsewhere.
For many acquired firms, the Swedish way can feel frustrating and not very transparent: the deliberative decision process, indirect communication, and strict work–life boundaries represent a different rhythm than they’re used to.
And for businesses entering Sweden from abroad, a common and unexpected hurdle is the cost and legal obligations tied to Swedish employment norms - especially around parental leave, vacation entitlements, and pension contributions.
But those very attributes - equality, fairness, and balance - are also what many come to admire and adopt over time.
At Friisberg, our experience blends local insight with global reach.
We regularly support clients navigating cross-border transitions, whether via management audits, integration projects, or executive search mandates.
Our role is not just to explain culture, but to bridge it helping clients connect foreign ways of doing business with Swedish norms sustainably.
Note: These insights reflect common patterns observed in professional settings. Every individual and organisation is unique, and no culture can be defined in absolute terms. Our aim is to highlight trends that international leaders may encounter when working across borders, and to share how Friisberg helps clients navigate these differences with respect and effectiveness.
The rise of artificial intelligence is not a future speculation, but a present-day reality. The way companies operate - from customer service to decision-making and value creation - is transforming rapidly. AI is not just another new technology: it represents a strategic shift in thinking that will create new winners and losers in the marketplace.
Today, the question is no longer whether a company uses artificial intelligence, but how maturely and with what business logic it does so.
Many companies begin AI projects believing that the quick implementation of a few “boxed” solutions will make their processes more efficient. However, this usually leads only to local optimization. The true value of AI lies in its ability to reorganize the way work is done, how decisions are made, how resources are allocated, and even how the company itself is structured.
An AI-capable organization recognizes that AI:
Our experience shows that companies successful in the AI era consciously build maturity across the following five dimensions:
The first step is not implementation, but assessment:
To support this, the AI Readiness & AI Maturity assessment provides a 360° view of what the organization is ready for - and what it is not.
The advantage: avoiding costly, frustrating AI projects that start in the wrong direction.
The gain: fast, focused AI implementation that creates tangible business value.
AI is not optional. It is the new minimum for competitiveness.
Artificial intelligence represents a paradigm shift that reshapes industries, work, and value creation. Success depends not on technology itself, but on whether the organization is ready to adopt, operate, and use AI strategically.
At Friisberg, we not only prepare your business for the adoption of AI, but also support you in implementing concrete solutions through our strategic collaboration partners (AI Architects).
When I sit in board meetings, I can usually tell within minutes whether there is a genuine people voice in the room.
It is not about someone from HR being present, it is about whether the conversation shows empathy, curiosity and an understanding of how people actually work - what motivates them, what holds them back and what builds trust or creates fear.
Many boards still see HR as a function rather than a lens. They value human capital as a cost centre instead of a strategic asset and that is where the problem begins.
The Data Behind the Gap
Despite years of progress in governance and diversity, UK boards remain light on people expertise.
The message is clear: Boards constantly talk about people yet rarely include a people expert in the conversation.
The Real Risk of Excluding HR
Almost every major board crisis of the past decade has started with people.
Cultural drift, leadership misalignment, or poor communication, but none of these problems can be solved by finance or compliance alone.
Boards that lack HR expertise often miss early warning signs such as rising attrition, inconsistent leadership behaviour, or disengagement at key transition points. By the time those issues reach the boardroom, the damage has usually been done.
Having a senior HR voice at the table changes that. It ensures that discussions about numbers also include context about morale and capacity, that risk assessments consider human behaviour, not just systems and that succession planning becomes proactive instead of reactive.
The Strategic Power of HR Insight
Exceptional HR leaders have a rare ability to read an organisation, they see patterns in people behaviour that others overlook.
A skilled HR Director reads an organisation the way a CFO reads a balance sheet., not in numbers, but in signals. They see how leadership tone affects retention, how structure influences motivation and how culture shapes performance.
When that insight is present in the boardroom, decision-making improves, strategy becomes more realistic and more humane and companies make better calls on growth, transformation and risk because they understand the capacity of the people behind the plan.
I recently spoke with Tess Hilson-Greener who has 30+ years of global experience leading HR transformation across corporates, government, and private equity-backed businesses. She commented,
“HR is changing from a supporter of strategy to a shaper of it. It enables boards to see beyond metrics and into meaning understanding not just what was delivered, but how it was achieved and at what human cost or gain.
“In the decade ahead, HR’s will take on new board-level roles such as Chief People Strategists, AI Governance Officers, and Workforce Architects sitting alongside CFOs and COOs as equal stewards of organisational intelligence and value creation.
“The HR professionals who recognise this shift early will lead the organisations of the future invited onto boards by merit, not mandate. They will earn their place through insight, foresight, and measurable impact, redefining what leadership looks like in the AI-centred decade ahead.”
The UK Context
The UK’s regulators and investors are already signalling that people insight is no longer optional.
The FRC Corporate Governance Code 2024 expects boards to explain how culture supports strategy, not only how performance links to targets. The Investment Association Stewardship Priorities 2025 list human capital management alongside climate and technology as a top focus for governance.
People expertise has become strategic and boards that fail to include it risk appearing out of touch.
Why It Matters to Investors and CEOs
Investors increasingly recognise that culture and leadership quality determine whether strategy translates into performance. A London Business School Governance Insight Study 2024 found that boards with HR representation achieved 17% higher return on invested capital following major organisational change compared with those without.
For CEOs, a people-focused voice at board level acts as ballast, because it grounds decisions in reality and sends a signal across the workforce that people truly matter.
Why Friisberg UK
At Friisberg & Partners International, we believe leadership begins with people so when we assess or advise boards, we look carefully at how directors listen, challenge and communicate.
We work closely with HR Directors across the UK who are redefining what modern leadership looks like. They are commercially sharp, emotionally intelligent and structurally influential. They are not back-office operators, they are strategic anchors.
Our role is to help boards recognise that value and embed it in governance. When people insight informs strategy, performance follows.
Final Reflection
The strongest boards understand a simple truth: you cannot govern what you do not understand and you cannot understand an organisation without understanding its people.
Question for reflection: If your board was making a critical decision tomorrow, who would be the voice reminding them what it means for the people who make it happen?
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