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The role of a chief human resources officer (CHRO) involves overseeing all of a company\u2019s staff management and labour-relations practices. According to technological research and consulting firm Gartner, just a few of the trends and priorities you may find yourself focusing on in the time ahead, include: scarce, yet expensive talent, global supply constraints, and economic pressure (from outside of an organisation); and ways to enhance the employee experience, the importance of change management, and working on leader and manager efficacy (from inside of an organisation).<\/p>\n
Ways to break through the glass ceiling<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>Start your journey in HR by completing a bachelor\u2019s degree in social science or business administration. Thereafter, seek out an internship within the HR department of a big, or busy, organisation. You\u2019ll want to learn a great deal and have a hand in most of the intricate HR-related tasks going on \u2013 which is best accomplished when a department is slightly short staffed. Next, it\u2019s time to find an entry-level HR position on the basis of your studies and experience, and to set about working your way up the career ladder \u2013 from a junior to a senior leadership position.<\/p>\n At this point, it\u2019s a good idea to up skill with a few relevant certifications or short courses. Examples include: Executive and Management Coaching, Human Resource Management, Professional Communication and Office Management, Strategic Human Resource Management, and\/or Training and Development Management. Further, taking on an MBA with an HR focus will stand you in excellent stead when it comes to qualifying for the top rung \u2013 CHRO job<\/a> \u2013 within a vibrant corporate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your day-to-day duties <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>A CHRO has a massive administrative responsibility in any given company. This individual\u2019s duties range across the likes of development training programmes, recruiting new staff members, interviewing potential applicants, making sure government regulations are known and enforced throughout a business, bringing the entire staff contingent together wherever possible at team-building functions, and supervising the junior HR team members while also mentoring their more senior team managers. If you make yourself available to your team as a much-valued resource and a kindly ear, they will learn on the job (as you once did) and be able to apply an increasing level of skill, expertise and experience to the tasks at hand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reasons to seek advice as you climb<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n It goes without saying that the management of an HR department is critical to the success of any given company. Skillful handling of the systems and infrastructure that keep staff thriving and their interactions smooth has a decided impact on a company\u2019s financial impetus. Once you\u2019ve risen up to assume the CHRO role, you\u2019ll be clear on the value of your talent base and the importance of developing, motivating and retaining key staff members to achieve your firm\u2019s strategic business goals. But over and above the solid base you will have developed from your studies and experience, you may also face various challenges as you set about working as a strategic partner to your chief executive officer<\/a>.<\/p>\n At this point, it can help to seek new insights and fresh knowledge to keep the well-being and productivity of your staff contingent high. Short courses and executive coaching<\/a> are best in this regard \u2013 with a global workplace survey from the Adecco Group revealing that 74 percent of employees would like their management team to show them more empathy and support; and as many as 54 percent of directors feeling that they will be unable to act in accordance with such expectations unless they seek help via:<\/p>\n 1) the theoretical knowledge a course may offer them; Examples of what a CHRO can gain from coaching<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve gone into the HR game thinking you know everything about people, and how to get the most out of them, think again. There is always something to learn: about yourself; and your management of people. If you think of your job as a sport, and yourself as one of the key players on the field, where should you get your support and advice? From a coach, of course!<\/p>\n Now that we\u2019ve emerged from the challenges of the pandemic, when you were likely to only have been keeping everything going to the best of your ability, it\u2019s time to consider your own career goals and aspirations once again \u2013 especially if you are gearing up towards taking on a higher-level HR position (CHRO, here we come!), but need to tackle obstacles related to your mindset.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s what an executive or life coach will be able to bring to the mix: HR Trends 2023<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>Employees have extremely high expectations \u2013 is the word from the HR leaders of today. To assist companies with this challenge, two such individuals, Erik van Vulphen, founder of AIHR and Dieter Veldsman, the company\u2019s HR and organisational development (OD) leader, have released an HR Trends report.<\/p>\n Their fervent belief is that HR managers are exhausted and need the opportunity to recharge their batteries, and to receive the proper tools to do their jobs well. \u201cBut this is not HR\u2019s responsibility alone,\u201d they say in an interview on CHRO.co.za. \u201cIt\u2019s a business problem that must be prioritised. If businesses don’t empower HR to function effectively and make better strategic decisions, organisations will face greater internal pressures from the challenges of the new world of work. HR holds the key to unlocking the change, but enabling them is a business-wide responsibility.\u201d Let\u2019s hope all the CEOs, CFOs and COOs are sitting up and taking notice.<\/p>\n Just a few of the trends that these astute HR leaders highlight here<\/a> and in their report, include: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Upskill at the best-in-class international conferences<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0Because the world of work has changed so much since the pandemic, most forward-gearing CHROs will be on the hunt for a conference to attend at which they can broaden their network, and keep their knowledge as current as possible.<\/p>\n One such option is the virtually held CHRO Summit: the Path Forward, which is scheduled this year for 26 April. This online event aims to answer questions, such as the below, for CHROs the world over and based within any given business sector:<\/p>\n \u2022 Where will we be working in the time to come? Discussion topics promise to cover everything from: the continuing reinvention of work; growing and empowering talent; why inclusion is imperative, and how the best are fostering it; addressing the crisis of emotional well-being;\u00a0data analytics and HR transformation; and the evolution of the CHRO as a business strategist \u2013 what, in fact, lies ahead for this specialized profession. More details are available at: https:\/\/www.conference-board.org\/events\/chrosummit<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Ten books for your nightstand<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fast fact 1: A salary comparison<\/em><\/strong> Fast fact 2: 12 Entertaining HR Stats<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n
or
2) the practical skills they may learn in a series of executive coaching sessions.<\/p>\n
\u2022 a smooth transition from one company, or position, to another;
\u2022 help with rekindling the lost passion for what you do;
\u2022 assistance in emerging from any rut that you may have fallen into;
\u2022 tools and mechanisms to help you motivate your immediate team;
\u2022 ways to drum up the empathy needed to deal with difficult situations and people;
\u2022 revealing methods to pick up on burnout, and how to treat it or prevent it from happening in the first place (both in yourself, and colleagues\/staff members);
and
\u2022 ability to reflect deeply and gain renewed awareness of yourself.<\/p>\n
<\/em>\u2022 prioritising employee wellness and building resilience to avoid burnout (as mnentioned above) \u2013 across the organisation but in the HR department, too;
\u2022 offering ongoing and plentiful opportunities to learn, close gaps, and upskill \u2013 to remain ahead of any marketplace competition and keep staff retention levels high;
\u2022 putting future-proof policies in place that allow remote and hybrid conditions to actually work for employees;
\u2022 ensuring the CHRO can take his or her rightful place in the C-suite\u2019s inner circle;
and
\u2022 facilitating the creation of a \u201cpurpose-driven\u201d organisation, where the work being accomplished has personal meaning for its teams and directors, over and above the company\u2019s ultimate success.<\/p>\n
\u2022 How will employees connect with each other?
\u2022 How should managers lead their teams?
\u2022 What will real inclusion look like?
\u2022 What will it take to recruit, engage, and retain the talent that demands truly meaningful work?
\u2022 How are we listening to our employees, and showing that we acknowledge their needs and their challenges?
and
\u2022 What are we doing with the knowledge we have gained?<\/p>\n\n
\u2022 Ozenc, K. & Hagan, M. (2019). Rituals for Work: 50 Ways To Create Engagement, Shared Purpose, And A Culture That Can Adapt To Change<\/em> (US: Wiley)
\u2022 Perez, P. (2019). The Drama-Free Workplace: How You Can Prevent Unconscious Bias, Sexual Harassment, Ethics Lapses, and Inspire a Healthy Culture<\/em> (US: Wiley)<\/span><\/li>\n
<\/em>(US: McGraw Hill)
\u2022 Brown, S. (2017). HR On Purpose: Developing Deliberate People Passion<\/em> (US: <\/span>Society For Human Resource Management)
\u2022 Adams, L. (2017). HR Disrupted \u2013 It\u2019s Time For Something Different<\/em> (UK: Practical Inspiration Publishing)
\u2022 Scott, K. (2017). Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity<\/em> (US: St Martin\u2019s Press)
\u2022 Carnegie, D. (2023). How To Win friends and Influence People<\/em> (US: Zinc Read)
and
\u2022 Goleman, D. (2015) On Emotional Intelligence<\/em> (US: Harvard Business Review Press)<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n
The average salary for a CHRO is R139 207 per month, or R1 670 484 per annum in South Africa. Source: https:\/\/grabjobs.co\/southafrica\/salary-guide\/chief-human-resources-officer-chro#:~:text=The%20average%20Chief%20Human%20Resources,to%20R192%2C105%2C660%20per%20year<\/a><\/span>.
In the US, however, the average CHRO salary is US$331 520 [R6 288 722] per annum as of 27 February 2023 \u2013 with the salary range varying greatly according to education, certifications, additional skills and the number of years an individual has dedicated to the profession. Source: <\/span>https:\/\/www.salary.com\/research\/salary\/alternate\/chro-salary<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Research from GoRemotely reveals:
\u2022 60 percent of job seekers quit an application halfway through;
\u2022 83 percent decide against a position, and the company involved, after a negative interviewing experience;
\u2022 87 percent change their mind in a positive sense towards a company and the position they are applying for, after a rewarding job interview;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\u2022 70 percent of companies make use of software to analyse staff data, as well as to keep it safe and secure;
\u2022 75 percent use the cloud for at least one HR process;
\u2022 engaged employees achieve 21 percent better profitability for a company than their demotivated colleagues;
\u2022 empathy from leaders and managers is key to the positive morale and retention of staff in a company, according to 96 percent of employees;
\u2022 more than half of people \u2013\u00a0in fact, up to 61 percent \u2013 suffer from burn out during the course of their careers;
\u2022 92 percent of managers think they are doing a stirling job, while only 67 percent of workers agree;
\u2022 54 percent of companies don\u2019t have rules surrounding dating a colleague or office romances;
and
\u2022 93 percent of workers prioritise their professional growth over any other attribute that a company can offer them.
Source: https:\/\/goremotely.net\/blog\/hr-statistics\/<\/a><\/span>\n
Fast fact 3: Top CHROs 2022<\/strong>
<\/em>According to N2Growth, a company that places executives at the world\u2019s top companies and equips them to succeed, these 10 people deserve the accolade of top CHROs to follow in the media \u2013 and on social media:<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n