Why HR leaders should be considered for CEO positions
"Human resources isn’t a thing we do; it’s the thing that runs the business"
Gone are the days when HR was associated with making rangolis, organizing?office events and managing appraisals. World-renowned researcher??Dave Ulrich?argues that the next generation of CEOs will have a strong people and cultural background and with recent success stories like?Leena Nair?(CHRO, Unilever) being appointed as the global CEO of Chanel and?Mary Barra?(Ex VP (HR), GM) ascending as the CEO of General Motors (GM) only validate this argument.?
What makes HR leaders great CEOs??
Talent and culture have undoubtedly become the most important factor for the success of any company. In the last decade, we have seen a paradigm shift in the way prospective talent(s)?approach?companies. When an employee moves out of the company, it slows down the operations and reduces efficiency till the new resource is trained, thereby misaligning the deadlines and targets.?
1. HR leaders increase Human Capital returns
While the business on the front of it may look like only numbers, leaders need people to generate these numbers. While in the early days the enthusiasm is at its peak, eventually the company culture starts diluting and employees experience fatigue thus affecting the business overall. HR leaders help develop and maintain overall culture and hire new talent while parallelly?upskilling in-house employees to ensure the corporate?balance is maintained and attrition is down to the minimum, hence maintaining business efficiency.?
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2. Creating a safe environment & building trust?
A safe environment sprouts productivity. HR leaders are extremely instrumental in building this. When employees don't trust leadership they don't stay back in the organization?and there is very little motivation in implementing strategies. HRs form an important aspect in bridging this gap. HRs become the go-to POC for all members in the organization?and have hands-on experience in dealing with each issue on a one-to-one basis. HRs have been dealing with critical matters for ages. Having a leader who understands matters such as the MeToo movement, inclusion of the LGBTQ community in the workforce, maternity and paternity benefits, and mental health forms the baseline for ideal leadership today.?
How can HR leaders be trained to take the CEO Chair?
The management shall start identifying senior HR leaders and depute them with Strategy, Operations, Sales & Finance teams on rotation to understand the nitty gritty of the business. They should also be made part of strategic as well as financial decisions. Regular upskilling becomes extremely important for the leadership transition and such HR leaders should be allotted business verticals to lead and transform.?
Professionals who lead businesses today need to be more than just finance or marketing experts, they need to tap into the most critical resource, Human Capital to run the business with, instead of their expense. The best way is to give CHROs business experience. Human Capital is the most expensive resource owned by any company, they can make or break a business, thus leaders with significant people leading and developing experience are best fit to become future CEOs.?
HRs who successfully transitioned to CEOs.
-Shashank Gupta, Senior Talent Manager at Passion Connect.