Key Characteristics of Successful Chief Human Resources Officers

Members of IIC Partners recently had the opportunity to engage in candid conversations with a variety of global leaders about the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) role and what it takes to be successful. They offered insights into the world of CHROs, how critical the role is in an organization, and how instrumental it is in shaping the current and future growth of leading companies.

Image courtesy of IIC Partners

Below are a few of the key points that are covered in the article:

Background and Experience of a Successful CHRO

As a fundamental for human resource management, most professionals interviewed indicated that “people skills” were critical to their success.
Solid business experience and understanding of your individual business model is at least as important as intuitive human interaction skills for success.
For some of the CHROs interviewed, success could be attributed to individual challenges.

The Most Pressing Challenges for the Twenty First Century CHRO

“The ability to bring the right quality of talent in a highly competitive market,” says Arun Paul. With historically low unemployment rates throughout the world it is hard to find the right kind of talent for roles.
Some HR professionals mentioned distinct challenges related to the economic or political environment in which they operated and not just in developing countries.
Maintaining employee engagement is a huge challenge. According to Nicola Hale, “finding ways to continuously inspire and motivate others … whilst at the same time keeping this balanced and looking out for people… it’s very easy for leaders to lose a sense of perspective.”

The Characteristics of the ideal CHRO in Future Business Models

When asked what characteristics or traits would be critical for a CHRO to meet an organization’s future needs, responses varied widely, no doubt reflecting the specific needs of the organization in question as well as the background of the individual CHRO.
One common theme was that leaders are going to have to really adapt to the changing environments and the HR person needs to be able to help other leaders in that transformation.
Most importantly, HR needs to focus on people and not so much on processes and measurement as they were before.

Download the full article here to see more insights on the CHRO role and its crucial impact on an organization.

IIC Partners Global Human Resources Practice Group

The IIC Partners Global Human Resources Practice Group is comprised of a seasoned team of executive search consultants with unparalleled industry knowledge and expertise in identifying the best senior executive Human Resources talent. Human Resources executives must possess the technical qualifications, right leadership style and serve as a trusted advisor to the senior leadership team. The IIC Partners Global Human Resources Practice Group has unrivaled access to passive talent markets in over 34 countries and regularly collaborate to deliver the right candidate to the client.