The Golden Mean Of a CPO; And The Attributes They Must Possess.

The Golden Mean, a concept introduced by Aristotle is understood to be the desirable ‘middle’ between two extremes- one of excess, and the other of deficiency. If this similar concept of philosophy was understood in terms of business, one can assume that a Chief People Officer or a CPO is one that needs to, ideally, possess the skill to perfectly balance the needs of employees and strategic business goals. A CPO can metaphorically be understood as a balance scale; tip too much to one side, and you can lose the perfect balance.

Going back to Aristotle’s concept of the Golden Mean, he states that one can achieve this perfect balance by having experienced both sides. Aristotle might be a renowned philosopher, and he is no doubt right about his concept of balance and experience. But while a CPO can gain a lot from experience, the other side of the scale must be balanced by certain attributes that will help you grow in your role and become a beacon of both empathy and economics in an organization. Let us take a closer look to better understand these attributes.

1.?AN ACTIVE AND EFFECTIVE LISTENER

It’s probably been stated numerous times that great leaders are great listeners. A CPO must practice active listening with their fellow business leaders, employees, and multiple voices in order to effectively engage with other people and understand different points of view. Employee listening is critical, more so during a crisis. 86% of companies agree that the pandemic has radically changed the way they have listened and engaged in authentic conversations. A great leader ensures that the workforce feels heard, and more so, active listening is crucial to advocating and implementing an empathetic approach.

Asking the right questions, keeping chains of communication open and using the right methods to listen and communicate can help one to truly understand what the workforce as well as your organization needs. Effective Listening can help spark innovation, trust, employee safety and security and create a collective commitment that facilitates a conducive environment for change and growth.

2.????DIPLOMACY, TRANSPARENCY AND PERSEVERANCE.

The ability to pick the right battles and fight them well is a crucial personality trait of a successful CPO. A selective approach to discussions and negotiations help to maintain a good balance of individual aspirations and business goals and ensures that everyone stays motivated. Transparency is the foundation of trust and thus every CPO must have a transparent mode of functioning. A leader must keep employees and managers in the loop, share important details adequately and be welcoming of feedback in order to enhance one’s performance. A CPO must be courageous and self-motivated to go great lengths to achieve goals and to drive value. She must be welcoming to not only accepting new challenges but also say no when it is required.

3.????CULTIVATOR

As an HR professional, one must aim at being passionate about investing in people and helping them achieve their true potential. As leaders in this discipline, CPOs bring an empathetic and developmental perspective that informs strategy around typical HR domains like the employee’s physical, social, emotional and financial wellbeing. These turn into enhancements like the employee’s productivity, engagement and overall experience of the workforce. CPO guidelines also play a strong role in informing an organization’s values, culture and collective responsibility. Employers who invest in many different dimensions of employee wellbeing by formulating programmes that are relevant to employees and the company can help facilitate a variety of positive business outcomes such as brand development, productivity and safety. A CPO can achieve this by having a proper understanding of the requirements of?your employees as well as your company through data capture and analysis, coupled with employee listening techniques such as surveys, digital focus groups and stakeholder interviews.

4.????FUNCTIONAL EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE OF TECHNOLOGY.

Apart from being a visionary and an agent of change and action, a CPO must be an expert in procurement functions and use every opportunity to keep learning, interact regularly with the community and stay updated with the latest knowledge, technology as well as regulatory and other developments.?A CPO must view technology as an opportunity to enhancement. The advancements in business technology have led to the development of tools that help in simplifying and increasing the efficiency of the procurement processes.

5.????STORYTELLER

HR and other Business Leaders continue to face a broad set of complex challenges and these challenges call for a productive, efficient, diverse and engaged work force. As a response to this, data- driven approaches that help decide the skill sets needed for pivotal roles and achieving optimal amount of talent and technology are being used. The core skills needed to implement such a data driven approach include translating business needs into specific data requirements, research and analyse necessary information to gain strategic insights and use these insights to create a narrative that guides and propels action. CPOs must move on from experience and focus more on evidence, science, analytics and understand how to apply technology and data effectively. They must have an insight into understanding how business and economics are changing and the implications of it on the workforce. They must understand how to bridge gaps and identify areas of opportunity.

6.????TRANSFORMER AND INNOVATOR.

Defining the future workforce and driving the ‘people agenda’ are being focused on and prioritized by the CEOs and board members. Hence, this is providing CPOs the opportunity to bring innovative work practices into the organization.

In 2021, three quarters (76%) of companies planned to enhance their build- from- within strategies and over half (58%) planned to increase the use of variable/ contingent talent pools. CPOs are faced with two challenges, the first being the approach to redesigning work to facilitate seamless flow and also a perpetual reinvention through upskilling and reskilling. Secondly, how does one reimagine the talent experience to meet all talent where they are through economically viable means?

A CPO must understand and know their already existing workforce and the gap they must bridge in order to meet the ever-evolving skill requirements. To bridge these gaps, a CPO must identify the skills their workforce possesses and identify what skills they would perhaps need in the future to bridge any gaps. They also must analyse workforce metrics to understand those segments of workers that have skill training needs. Lastly, they must visualize the skills journey and the impact it can have on the businesses and use this insight to build an investable business case.

?Leadership skills, the ability to effectively manage a team, effective communication skills, knowledge of the organization and an understanding of business strategy is no doubt a skill requirement of every CPO. Over the last decade, CPOs have managed to face steadily rising demands and expectations and must continue to strive for a maximization of their full potential in an organization.