Talent is one of the biggest differentiators of organizational performance. This makes Human Resources a critical strategic function—and the head of HR one of the most high-profile C-suite roles.
New Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) face an overwhelming number of tasks during their first few months in seat. When making the leap to a new position, almost half (46%) of executives across functions—HR included—stumble and underperform.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Insights and Tools for Optimizing
CHRO Performance
Advice from Leading CHROs
“
The amount of time we spend on exec comp and governance is crowding out time we used to spend on other critical talent issues.”
Chairman
Professional Services
The Keys to CHRO Success
To excel in their rapidly evolving role, new and current CHROs must master four key processes:
- Transition into the Role: HR leaders rarely move into a position under normal business conditions.
- Work with the Board: Talent-focused conversations with the Board are critical to CHROs' personal success.
- Manage the HR Leadership Team: Align the priorities and investments of the HR leadership team to business priorities.
- Partner with C-Suite Peers: The best CHROs are not just peers to other CXOs, but also coaches.
More Time on Business Challenges Requires CHROs to Become Enterprise Leaders
71% of heads of HR are spending more time on business issues not related to HR or Talent.
70% of heads of HR are spending more time participating in business projects in a leadership capacity.
“
My CEB membership expands my thinking and gives me resources to make better decisions without sacrificing time.”
Dave Gartenberg
Chief Human Resources Officer
Slalom LLC
New Chief Human Resources Officers face an overwhelming number of tasks during their first few months in seat. CHROs that effectively plan and execute their transitions reach full productivity nine months before their peers.
New CHROs can accelerate their effectiveness by mastering nine defining moments that truly define a transition, including solidifying their working relationships with the CEO, and making a good first impression with Board members.
Boards at top-performing companies are twice as likely to have a deep understanding of talent issues as boards at lower-performing competitors. CHROs must push the Board to expand talent conversations beyond executive leadership and compensation, to include:
- Engagement capital
- Employee value proposition
- Workforce planning
- Executive performance evaluation
- CEO Succession
CHROs should focus their HR leadership team on activities mapped to the top business priorities. The best CHROs also create succession plans to develop rising leaders and spread HR leadership responsibilities among their direct reports.
To assess HR's progress in key areas, conduct a CEB Ignition™ diagnostic, and create detailed action plans for taking HR to the next level of business impact. Take our sample diagnostic to benchmark where you are today.
Talent is one of the biggest differentiators of organizational performance, reshaping the head of HR’s role into one of the most high-profile C-suite positions. With 63% of CEO’s concerned about the availability of key skills nearly half of all CHRO’s are spending more time discussing organizational strategy with the board than they did just two years ago.
Learn how the role of the CHRO is evolving and the key trends which will differentiate the best CHRO’s in the coming years.
“It’s not about just running the HR department. Our leadership team works together to achieve the desired outcomes for the business.”
Aileen Tan
Group CHRO
Singtel
The Product
Explore how CEB supports Chief Human Resources Officers.
Build a Human Resources function for the future with CEB, now Gartner. We uncover best-practice approaches to solve your mission-critical priorities and build frameworks and tools to help you understand and apply the insights.
Our case studies, tools, diagnostics, and training will help you to improve the effectiveness of your HR function, create a high-performing culture, build your leadership bench, and more...
Meet the Experts
Meet the team behind our Chief Human Resource Officer expertise.
Success Stories
Tariq Ahmed
HR Director,
London Business School
LBS's new HR director was able to speed up activities after getting into role using our resources.
Mark Betts
HR Director,
Lego Group
Find out how Lego used our resources to improve the business impact of their HR transformation.
John Harker
Chief Human Resources Officer,
Al Futtaim Group
We enabled Al Futtaim to improve their internal hire ratio from 14% to 25% in three years.
Case Study
Bristol-Myers Squibb used our HIPO assessments and CEB Development Coach to enable culture change and a more strategic HR function.
Decision Making Tools
Template
HR Strategy on a Page
A customizable template and step-by-step guide to documenting and communicating the key components of HR's strategic objectives and resource requirements.
Analysis
Global Talent Monitor
Quarterly analysis of the latest global and country-level talent attraction, engagement, and retention trends, sourced from over 20,000 employees in 40 countries.
Magazine
CHRO Quarterly
Insights and implications for heads of HR on leading their organization and HR function, featuring personal stories from leading HR executives.
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Francesca Molinari
Chief Human Resources Officer
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