Today’s top CEOs now expect
the CHRO to be adept in general
management skills with broad
business perspectives and a strategic
mindset as a business leader. The key
charge for the CHRO functionally is
to turn talent management into an
instrument of business transformation
that advances strategy, develops agile
leaders, and coalesces in culture. How
do outstanding CHROs unite these
strategic and operational demands
By becoming, in efect, the chief
change ofcers of the organization.
No role in the C-suite has been transformed more – or
has the opportunity to become more transformative for
business – than that of Chief Human Resources Ofcer
(CHRO). As CEOs have increasingly recognized the value
of talent to drive business outcomes, they expect CHROs
to possess broad business acumen and to transform
traditional HR practices into powerful competitive
advantages creating a new way of working in a world of
continuous change.
Says William P.Sullivan, CEO of Agilent Technologies,
“I have always believed that a CHRO has a much bigger
role than employment strategies alone. We’ve seen proof
of that at Agilent where our HR leaders have a deep
understanding of business strategies and are always at
the table in making strategic decisions and shaping the
company’s direction.”
To fulfll this strategic role, the CHRO must possess a
broad range of business knowledge and leadership skills,
including:
Vigilance in scanning the external environment
to anticipate business and talent threats
and opportunities.
Strategic thinking skills to work with the CEO
and executive team to set direction.
Cross-functional business understanding
with a P&L orientation.
The courage and decisiveness, to prioritize,
to succeed – or to fail fast and move forward.
The conceptual skills to shape the organization to
meet tomorrow’s demographic challenges.
Financial acumen to broadly balance resources and
understand the fnancial implications and trade-
ofs of investments in every aspect of the business,
including talent.
Technological savvy to drive efciencies and to
engage the workforce through innovations in
technology solutions.
Transforming the Future
The CHRO as Chief Change OfcerTransforming the Future – The CHRO as Chief Change Ofcer
A risk management perspective with regard to talent.
The ability to convey the importance of talent at
all levels as a fduciary issue to the board and the
leadership team.
Legal literacy to help ensure a culture of compliance
and integrity at every level of the organization and
across borders.
Operational ability to ensure that the transactional
aspects of HR are well executed in a world of
fast-moving and changing expectations of the
employee population.
“There’s no question that CHROs today must possess
general management capabilities to efectively assess the
unpredictable business environment,” says MaryAnn G.
Miller, SVP, Chief Human Resources Ofcer and Corporate
Communications, Avnet, Inc. “However, organizational
transformation further requires CHROs to possess a
high degree of emotional intelligence, exemplifed
by self-awareness and empathy, to gain the trust and
commitment necessary for transformative change.”
As part alchemist, responsible for talent and cultural
transformation in the service of strategic objectives, the
self-aware, empathic CHRO must also be able to
Unfailingly model the desirable attributes of the
culture and passionately advocate them.
Balance role of advisor to CEO with role of advisor
to board on CEO succession and compensation
and also advise on new board member acquisition
and onboarding.
Develop a “mindful” culture to embrace change
and drive high performance in a multi-generational
employee population where fexibility and adaptability
are easier for some than others.
Refocus leadership development around
change itself in order to produce agile leaders.
Ensure comparable training and support
for the workforce at large.
Transform HR processes by leveraging both the new
art and the new science available today, including
the neuroscience of top performance as well as
technology and data analytics to drive better decision
making, to better anticipate workforce needs, to
manage performance, and to support real learning.
Cultivate a compelling employer brand from the
inside out and the outside in with a strong marketing
orientation, aligning all aspects of the organization
around a strong purpose to drive engagement.
Innovate in talent management, engagement and
retention strategy, driving opportunity for all, while
attending to the impact and toll of working in a fast-
paced environment of change.
Reshape the organizational design and rewards
structure to refect the dynamics of the business
environment and the new world of work with more
a mobile and less permanent workforce.
On the face of it, the wide-ranging aspects of the role
appear to require multiple personalities. But the common
thread running through all aspects of this role is change
– anticipating it, managing it, and continually positioning
the organization and its people to stay ahead of it. CHROs
should be, in efect, their organizations’ chief change
ofcers. This perspective brings together what might
otherwise seem a highly fragmented and unmanageably
broad set of responsibilities – and it pinpoints where
CHROs can add the greatest value.
Heidrick & Struggles3
Transforming People = Transforming Business
The critical general management
capabilities now required of CHROs
– broad business acumen, strategic
and analytical insight, fnancial
savvy, risk management, and the
ability to leverage IT and analytics –
ultimately come together to shape
an organization that’s fexible and
fuid while ensuring the right talent
strategy for the constantly changing
environment. Successfully setting
strategy requires the ability to hit a
moving target. Successful execution
requires the ability to engineer the
changes required by the strategy as it
evolves, fourishes, and ultimately gives
way to new strategies.
Today, the target is moving faster
than ever.
The pace at which technology is evolving is outrunning
the ability of many people to keep up. Demographic shifts
around the world – from the multi-generational workforce
to the fexible/contract employment trends to worker
mobility – are altering markets, talent pools, and changing
geographical advantages. These shifts are impelling
organizations to develop corporate social accountability
– or “conscious capitalism” – and to meet the challenges
of cultural inclusion. Globalization, though a fact of life, is
not a steady-state global village but a volatile and dynamic
environment that includes geopolitical instability, sudden
reversals of fortune in many countries, and competition
that can come from anywhere. These continuing
disruptions constantly give rise to new business models,
new talent needs, and new ways of working and
competing – creating a transformation imperative for the
entire organization.
The CHRO must not simply keep abreast of these
developments but get out ahead of them and lead the
charge in ensuring that the culture, the leadership, and
workforce remain highly adaptable. “CHROs need to be
expert at agile development,” says Eva Sage-Gavin, former
EVP, HR and Communications, for Gap, Inc, “constantly
moving forward and designing efective outcomes with an
always changing landscape – and never reaching a fxed
endpoint.” That means engaging deeply both in helping
to drive the overall strategic objecti