People & Culture Series EP05 - Insurance Coffee House: Commercial HR Leadership, Culture, Talent & the Evolving CPO Role - Kirk Southern, Group Chief People Officer (Howden Group)

On this episode of the Insurance Coffee House, Nick Hoadley is joined by Kirk Southern, Group Chief People Officer at Howden, a global insurance group with around 26,000 employees across 57 countries.

Kirk shares his career journey from recruitment into HR, beginning with an administrative role during the financial crisis before moving into HR at Royal Bank of Canada. He reflects on the importance of early sponsorship, the value of learning directly from the business, and how roles at Citadel, Barclays and Arrow Global helped him build experience across business partnering, commercial management and reward before joining Howden in 2022.

The conversation explores Kirk’s transition from Global Head of Reward, Benefits and Wellbeing into the Group Chief People Officer role, and what it means to lead the people function within a rapidly growing, founder-led insurance business. Kirk explains why one of his biggest priorities is protecting Howden’s culture while continuing to bring in talent that is comfortable with autonomy, ambiguity and taking responsibility for building and growing the business.

Nick and Kirk discuss how the role of the Chief People Officer is changing. Kirk argues that CPOs and CHROs are increasingly expected to operate as commercial advisers to CEOs, boards and investors, with a clear understanding of how people decisions connect to growth, revenue, profitability and long-term value creation. He reflects on why commercial acumen, data and organisational design are becoming increasingly important capabilities within the profession.

The discussion also looks at Kirk’s relationship with Howden founder and CEO David Howden. Kirk shares what he has learned from working closely with a founder-led leadership team and why having a genuine voice in strategic conversations matters. He discusses some of the questions senior leadership teams are considering around workforce planning, culture, organisational design and how businesses remain flexible as technology and the world of work continue to develop.

Nick and Kirk also explore how Howden is approaching technology across a large and growing organisation. Kirk explains how curiosity and experimentation are already part of the culture, making the challenge less about encouraging adoption and more about prioritising the opportunities that can create meaningful value. He discusses the importance of balancing experimentation with governance, understanding the implications for organisational design and s