Do you hire a CFO who cannot read a balance sheet or delegates reading of P&L statements to consultants ?
Do you hire a CTO who has never written a software programme or or managed a data centre hands on ? Or someone who knows how the to define agile development but has never worked on a project which uses it ?
So why do we hire CHRO’s with such low expectations?
If you do a search on CHRO JD’s on google – the only JD’s worthwhile will be from Egon Zehnder, Struggles , Gartner or any other consulting firm which makes money from the HR function- you will not find a JD by a company on page 1 because – usually their JD’s are so boring – that even google does not search them 😉 I can put the following phrases on chits and pull them randomly to create a CHRO JD – “Change Agent” , ” People Champion”, “Understands Talent”, “Partners business ” and randomly combine it with terms in vogue- People analytics, Nudges , Engagement and voila you now have an updated CHRO JD!
CHRO Selection template
Demand more – use the same yardstick that you use for identifying a CFO / CMO/CTO i.e. someone who can not only manage your current business but also evolve with the business. Make sure the new CHRO you hire has these 4 essential capabilities – Business Manager, an HR Expert, Talent Scout and a brilliant Communicator.
Knowing what you want is the first step, making up your mind not to compromise on the quality is the second – but how do you identify this person. Couple of pointers:-
- Business Case- Make the person give a presentation on a business case which may or may not be related to your business
- Expertise – Panel Discussions with HR experts is essential and the most important question is – Why ? What & How most people are able to answer even if they were mere observers
- Open Ended questions – will help you understand the prospects analytical skills. Remember best practices /fads need to be discounted from answers – as awareness is not equivalent to competency
- Assertive- HR leadership needs to be bold- whether its being the custodian of culture & ethics or someone who can try new initiatives and stick to them despite pockets of opposition. Do not hire someone looking for acceptance all the time.
- Growth Mindset- When good performers ( especially at leadership level) are being treated as X men with special powers- we need CHRO’s who believe that talent can be developed across hierarchies .
This can be the golden age for Human Resource function. Automation and AI will result in economic value added by the human element exponentially increasing . The winning firm will be the one which harnesses this resource >> competition
P.s.- I do think HR MBA runs the risk of going the M Com way – i.e. getting replaced by expertise based Masters- whether its Psychology, Sociology, Organisation Behaviour…even Behavioral Economics, unless the powers to be in Academia do a rethink on the curricula. Maybe that can be the topic of another blog.
Omar Farooq
CEO & Founder AceProHR