Role of CHRO: 6 Essential Values HR offers the C-Suite

Megha Sharma
4 min readMar 14, 2024

The C-suite refers to the top executives of a firm, referring specifically to the senior team members with titles that tend to begin with the letter C, for Chief. It is also called the C-level executives, and mainly includes the CEO (Chief Executive Officer), COO (Chief Operating Officer), CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), CFO (Chief Financial Officer), and CIO (Chief Information Officer).While these titles more or less make up a typical firm’s C-suite, they are missing a key individual who possesses the capability of pulling the team together in ways that others couldn’t and leading the firm to success within the marketplace.

Human resources are a department that might have an influence in the C-Suite. Corporate culture is something that gets transmitted, so a culture that values its people first requires HR in the C-Suite.

A Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) nurtures the current talent, managing the organization’s culture and applying various programs. They could also predict the organization’s future demands regarding certain required skill sets of future candidates. Other titles for CHRO are Chief People Officer (CPO) and Chief Talent Officer (CTO).

The C-suite’s focus on business strategy has been accused of focusing on profit over people. Yet, thanks to increased awareness and appreciation of the benefits that strong people-centered policies and good role of CHRO in these aspects to focus and to take a step change in business and specifically within the C-suite itself.

In this article, let’s understand what enhancements HR can bring to the C-suite.

Performance and Compensation

Performance and compensation always go together, although there are several other points to consider when determining the increase in pay and even advancement opportunities. A CHRO has a great knowledge and deep understanding of the organization’s culture and needs. This is very useful, as it helps to develop a balanced performance assessment. Also facilitates the opportunity for employee feedback on management, co-workers, and the performance assessment. This helps employees feel heard as well as improving job satisfaction.

Talent Management

No matter how good the product is or how many customers the sales bring, without the right people, a firm can’t be successful. The most crucial roles in the firm should always be filled with the best talent and then trickle down to the rest of the company. The talent management team must communicate and work closely to fulfill their top priority jobs. They must dedicatedly work to build, recruit, develop, manage and retain talented employees to create a better workplace with the optimal workforce.

Succession Planning

Organizations must strive to create a culture of growth. One way to do this is by providing open positions to internal candidates before opening the doors to new hires. Succession planning is a huge part of internal sourcing, and chief human resource officer can build succession plans for current employees, monitoring progress, and identifying top talent within the firm that is available not only to move up but move across several other departments.

Business Strategy

Globalization and technology are quickly transforming working environments and affecting all kinds of industries. The CHRO is responsible for helping companies to adapt to these transformations and to adjust their business strategies to fit in. As businesses become more globalized, strategy and roles are required to be adjusted and talent moved around to offer the business to operate effectively across various departments, locations, and even cultures.

Employee Engagement and Productivity

The role of CHRO is crucial to foster a positive organizational culture that aligns with the company’s values and objectives. They also conduct employee well-being programs by implementing initiatives to enhance job satisfaction, and overall engagement. Developing performance management systems that drive productivity and align individual goals with organizational objectives.

Board and Stakeholder Relations

HR acts as a strategic advisor of the C-Suite and for the other members on people-related matters. Building relationships with key stakeholders, such as the board of directors, to align strategy with overall business strategy.

Conclusion

When HR is given a seat at the table, organizations will soon realize how effective the C-suite truly can be. They can help every person individually to support and work towards the growth and productivity of the organization.

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Megha Sharma

HR Specialist, with a sharp eye to attract and top talent, develop existing talent along with managing employee relations.