Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)

Definition

Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) is a corporate officer whose task is to watch over all the operations of industrial relations and human resource management of an organization. Chief Human Resource Officer is sometimes known by other names that include Chief Personnel Officer, Chief People Officer, and Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Executive Vice President of Human Resources.

Roles of a Chief Human Resource Officer include organizational and performance conductor, workforce strategist, compliance and governance regulator and HR service delivery owner. Other functions performed by the Chief Human Resource Officer include succession planning, executive compensation and selection of board members and orientation. A CHRO also has to look after the public relations, facilities, communications and other related areas.

Overview

The Chief Human Resource Officer is a member of an organization’s most senior level committee and mostly reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It is a top HR position. A CHRO does not necessarily have to work exclusively in the HR field to achieve this position. A survey conducted in 2011, shows that nearly two-thirds of the CHROs worked outside the HR function at some point in their career. It is also seen that merely 36% of the CHROs in US achieve this position through internal promotions. A survey showed that talent management, experience in compensation and benefits and organizational culture are some of the functional areas whose experience is relevant for the CHRO. The present day CHROs have broader functional experience in HR as compared to the past CHROs.

Responsibilities of CHROs

The CHROs are chiefly concerned with three things – capabilities, talent and culture.

Capabilities – the CHROs are concerned with managing capabilities of an organization like dealing with globalization, public policies, government regulations and changes in the technology. There are also other capabilities that the CHRO helps the company in developing which includes managing workforce consisting of many generations, adjusting with the change, management of external context, etc.

Talent – it focuses on employee development and succession to make sure that there is enough talent to meet the organization’s performance and objectives of growth.

Culture – it focuses on shaping the culture of the organization. It is also the concern of CHROs to make sure that at all level, the organization’s values are communicated and understood and to make the employees understand what type of behavior and performance is expected of them.