The Hidden Burden: Empowering CHROs with Networks & Next-Gen HR

“We coined the singularity of the head of HR or CHRO role is that a CHRO is in many cases a business partner to the executive team, maybe coaching team members through certain things, maybe even occasionally needing to manage employee relations issues where there may be a complaint about or challenge with one of the senior leaders, and the CHRO or chief people officer needs to mediate, needs to document, needs to make sure that things are being addressed properly. So, all of that creates a certain kind of formality between the CHRO or chief people officer and the rest of the executive team that isn't the same as almost any other role.”

This quote defines the unique and often isolating nature of the CHRO role within an executive team due to confidentiality and mediation responsibilities.

“CHROs and chief people officers are privy to some of the most sensitive information in the company and are not necessarily able able to share it. If I'm doing an investigation, I'm not able to, or I really shouldn't talk to my fellow C-suite leaders about it unless they need to be informed or involved. So there's also a lot of information that is held by the CHRO or chief people officer, and that might feel very heavy.”

It highlights the heavy burden of confidentiality and sensitive information that CHROs carry, contributing to their feelings of isolation.

“My hot take for a long time has been that HR has a little bit of a guild mentality that we should loosen a little bit. And if we need an analytics expert or we need a technology expert, HR has not traditionally nurtured those career paths. We might not have as much talent as a data function or a technology function might have. How can you create a blended team that has the skills if your team does not have the inclination or the capability to develop those skills through learning and development.”

This challenges traditional HR hiring by advocating for interdisciplinary teams and sourcing expertise from outside conventional HR career paths.

“I'm also a big believer in hiring to one's weak flank. It can feel somewhat taunting or intimidating to bring in somebody with more expertise in a certain area, but it's enormously helpful because it grows the entire team. It raises the bar. It often fills gaps that other C-suite members might feel without those hires in place.”

This offers a strategic, albeit counter-intuitive, hiring approach for leadership to strengthen their teams and overall organizational capabilities.

“You own 51% of your career, you're the majority shareholder, which means that you are responsible for your own career growth, your own development. It's really important to take the driver's seat, to understand where you as an HR leader have the opportunity to grow and develop, whether that is specific skills like we've discussed around analytics and technology, or whether it is certain kinds of leadership skills. You, as the HR leader, have to know when an opportunity or a role that you're in no longer feels like the right one and either act to improve it or act to move your career in the right direction.”

This empowers individuals, especially HR leaders, to take proactive ownership and responsibility for their professional growth and career trajectory.

“So I used to say some of my clients may not be in the present of work. We would be skipping over quite a few steps to go right to the future of work. In some cases, it might make sense that we're going to leapfrog over a whole series of steps where people may not have had some of the technology in place that they could have had for the last 5 or 10 years and are going to leapfrog over it. But the future of work looks different for every organization.”

It highlights the importance of tailoring 'future of work' strategies to an organization's actual readiness and current capabilities, rather than a generic approach.