The Chief Happiness Officer: HR Totem or Real Cultural Lever?

They’ve blossomed in startups, been praised in business media, and sometimes mocked in traditional HR circles. The Chief Happiness Officer (CHO) embodies the paradox of a recent HR shift: treating employee wellbeing as a strategic issue. But let’s be honest—beyond the office foosball tables and corporate baristas lies a real, pressing question. Is this a meaningful role? Or just feel-good window dressing?

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Origins of the Role: A (Too) Soft Answer to a Very Real Pain

The CHO was born in Silicon Valley, when tech companies realized that stressed, disengaged, or isolated employees are less productive. The original promise was clear: bring the human back to the center, build a strong company culture, and nurture a healthy internal climate.

But in France, the model was often imported with no adaptation. The result? CHOs in charge of organizing snack breaks, handing out tote bags, or ordering office plants. HR “care washing” with zero structural impact. The truth is, this role cannot drive transformation alone. It’s the visible tip of a much deeper shift (or the absence of one).

What a CHO Should Do (and What They Should Never Do Alone)

A true CHO is not a cheerful HR event planner. They are a strategist of social connection. They work on value/culture alignment, workplace climate, transparency, feedback, mental health, inclusion, and recognition. They operate transversally—with the CPO, team managers, internal communications, and sometimes even the executive committee.

But beware the “solo role” trap. If you ask one person to “make people happy” without revisiting processes, investing in work conditions, or training your managers, you create the illusion of progress. And ultimately, you fuel disengagement.

The Real Challenge: Escaping the “Internal Comms in Disguise” Trap

Too many CHOs are placed under the communications department, with an implicit mission: boost the employer brand. The result? Flashy campaigns… with no real substance. But today’s talent isn’t fooled. You can send out a “life at work” newsletter and offer cookies on Fridays, but if teams are drowning in useless meetings, suffering under toxic management, or stuck with no visibility on their future, you’ve already lost the engagement game.

The CHO can’t be a façade. They must have real influence, the ability to voice uncomfortable truths, and the authority to act on them. If they’re not empowered to challenge, they’re useless.

What Companies Really Want from CHOs (But Rarely Admit)

Let’s be honest: many companies want a CHO without changing anything fundamental. They’re looking for a reassuring figure, a symbol that says “we care,” without actually doing the work. A bit of HR lipstick. That’s when it all goes off the rails—because happiness at work isn’t something you outsource or delegate to PR. It’s a result, not a goal.

A great CHO knows how to uncover real friction points, listen without filters, build reliable indicators on team climate, and design solid action plans. They’re not there to please. They’re there to bring clarity and purpose.

The Real Drivers of “Happiness”: Mental Load, Recognition, Clarity

Peel back any engagement survey, and the same conclusion emerges: the drivers of wellbeing aren’t what you might think. It’s not the number of internal events or the fun factor. It’s fundamentals: having a clear role, being heard, being respected, being recognized, having the ability to grow, not being infantilized, and working in a healthy environment.

The best CHOs understand this. They don’t stop at surface-level signs—they dig into the system, the latent frustrations, and the human roadblocks. And most importantly, they work with frontline managers, because that’s where culture really happens.

Do We Still Need CHOs in 2025? Or Should We Just Train Managers Better?

Good question. At MAD, we believe CHOs can be powerful catalysts—on one condition: that they’re part of a real HR strategy. Otherwise, it's more effective to invest in manager development. Train them in active listening, recognition, emotional intelligence, and prevention of psychosocial risks. Because they, more than anyone else, shape the daily employee experience.

We’ve seen too many companies hire CHOs when none of their team leads know how to give constructive feedback. Too many “culture owners” sending funny Slack gifs while colleagues drown in OKRs.

Time to get back to what really matters.

In short...

The Chief Happiness Officer is neither a gimmick nor a savior. It’s a demanding, political, cross-functional role that only makes sense when backed by real HR ambition. No lasting change without managerial transformation. No strong culture without alignment between words and actions. And no workplace happiness… without structural respect for the work itself.