CIPD chief Neil Carberry has made the case for people expertise to sit at the heart of how organisations perform, in his first message as new chief executive. 

Carberry succeeded Peter Cheese, who led the CIPD for 14 years before retiring over the summer, and stepped into his new role last week. 

He arrives at a moment when the profession is being asked to help organisations navigate real pressure, from skills shortages to fast-moving technological and economic change.

Among the points he conveyed in an open letter to the industry, he emphasised that almost every major business or policy challenge has a people dimension and that people and skills are not a secondary HR issue.

He reiterated that the CIPD's role should be to champion professional people practice, as well as raising the profile and credibility of the profession with business leaders, policy makers and the wider public.

His statement in full: 

"I’m starting at the CIPD at a time when the profession is being asked to solve some of the hardest questions in organisations. 

Work is changing at extraordinary speed, and the demands being placed on people professionals have never been greater. The fact that this has been said before doesn’t make it old news – it makes acting on it now more important than ever.

Growth is struggling to get up off the mat – pounded by the repeated blows of tariffs, supply chain crunches, conflict, political disruption, climate change. Without it we will continue to fail to provide better standards of living, invest in infrastructure, provide the services people need, protect pension funds.   

Employers are navigating weak productivity, skills shortages, technological change, new regulations and shifting expectations. While millions of people remain outside the labour market, many organisations still struggle to find the skills and capabilities they need. 

Look at almost any issue keeping a policymaker, a politician, or a chief executive awake and, somewhere within it, there is a people question. 

Do we have the skills we need? How can we increase the number of people in work? Are we developing the talent we already have? Are managers equipped to lead through change? Are we redesigning work to reflect changing expectations? Are we making the best use of technology? 

There’s nothing revolutionary about saying that people and skills drive performance. The challenge is that so many still haven’t acted as if they do, and that has consequences. These are not secondary organisational issues. They determine whether strategy can be delivered at all – but while demand for delivering via people is up, business leaders continue to question the value of the HR function.  

So, our purpose at the CIPD is clearer than ever. Our focus must be on demonstrating the difference professional people practice makes: to performance, productivity, opportunity and ultimately growth. 

For me, that starts with members. 

We must be advocates and trusted advisors for people professionals as they tackle the hardest questions in their organisations – providing evidence, standards, insight, practical support and a community they can draw on. We should walk by members’ side as they face up to challenges and opportunities.

But we also have a responsibility to amplify that work and represent the expertise of our profession in boardrooms, to policymakers and across the wider business debate. 

The CIPD should be the place people turn to for the best thinking, the strongest evidence and the most credible voice on work and people. 

I don’t arrive with all the answers, and nor should I. 

My first job is to listen, learn and work with our members. 

Because if we want stronger organisations and a stronger economy, we need to be much more serious about the people and skills that deliver growth."