Who are Tomorrow’s CHROs and Where Can We Find Them?

Just recently, Visier released the results of their 2015 Executive Survey and revealed a surprising statistic about the future of HR leaders. According to the survey, 63% of executives said that the most effective CHROs come from non-HR backgrounds like Finance, Operations or Legal.

The study also revealed that non-HR executives are split on what the role of HR should be. More than one-third said HR should work to align HR initiatives with business strategy. Conversely, another third of respondents said that HR should focus on its traditional, tactical role of managing benefits, compensation and compliance.

If the workforce comprises as much as 70% of a company’s expenses, it makes sense that there should be alignment between the goals of the C-suite and HR. But there is a gap between that and what executives believe HR leaders can do.

According to CFOWise.com, one of the attributes of a great CFO is to be both a people person and a number cruncher. Even the best accountants might not be cut out for the CFO role, as it requires the further ability to earn the trust and respect of his or her peers. The ability to do the job--manage a business’s finances in alignment with overall strategy--is taken for granted.

If a CHRO is to be judged on the same criteria, it follows that a great CHRO should be both a people person and a number cruncher. Just as it’s understood that a CFO knows how to manage finances, it is taken for granted that a CHRO knows how to work with people. According to the Visier survey, 70% of executives want CHROs to talk about human capital in business terms, and 69% of executives want CHROs to use data and analytics to make business decisions. But only one third of companies are actually doing it. Yet.

HR professionals of all levels are used to coping with a skills gap when it comes to talent acquisition and retention. It’s easy to look outside at the rest of the workforce and identify other departments or roles where a skills gap exists. It’s more difficult, when managing all of the external business challenges, to turn the gaze inward and look closely at the HR skills gap. The cycle of reactive HR is challenging to escape, especially as the economy grows and talent mobility increases. The implementation of software tools and new practices, the coordination of data from multiple legacy systems and updating of IT infrastructure, and the time and effort required for training internal teams are all barriers to adopting a data-driven HR department. Further, these barriers keep HR leaders from becoming CHROs and they keep CHROs from realizing their full value to the business.

One thing is clear: strategic HR requires workforce data and analytics. There is no room for gut-feeling hiring any more than there is room for “guesstimating” last month’s accounts receivable. It is time to accept that people can be quantified in ways that are effective and useful. Leaders want this, but companies are lagging on implementing it.

What’s an HR leader to do? Join Dave Weisbeck, Chief Strategy Officer at Visier Inc., during a live webcast on June 3 at 12:00PM for more insights into this survey’s results and strategies on how you can become a sought-after HR leader.