New Deloitte Consulting report introduces the CHRO's transformation from Human Resources (HR) administrator to business strategist and steward.
The role of senior HR leaders in national and global companies is changing as human resources and talent issues command a prominent role in today's headlines - workforce demographics and global talent trends, corporate scandals and intensifying regulatory challenges, the rising costs of health care and pensions, technology innovations that enable new ways of working, increasing globalization, and endless pressures to boost the profitability and performance of the workforce. Standing at the epicenter of these challenges is today's Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).
"Strategist & Steward: The Evolving Role of the Chief Human Resources Officer," a new and forward-thinking report from Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte Consulting), provides an expansive look at the challenges, processes and performance measures facing today's CHRO and introduces a new framework designed to help CHROs and their leadership teams achieve their desired results in this changing environment.
According to the report, today's CHROs are increasingly required to act as both strategist and steward: leaders who not only manage the HR function and operations team, but also collaborate directly with the CEO and board of directors on a range of critical business issues.
"The requirements and perception of HR are changing dramatically as this function's leadership is now expected to play a central role in building and shaping - not just staffing - the enterprise strategy," explains Jeff Schwartz, principal and national co-leader of Deloitte Consulting's CHRO Services. "This is an environment that HR leaders have longed for - where their executive peers would view HR as a business partner, rather than as a back-office administrator. Now CHROs must make sure that they are up to the task. The central challenge for CHROs is to view themselves as business leaders first - i.e., senior business executives responsible for the HR portfolio."
Deloitte Consulting's new framework describes the CHRO's roles and responsibilities in terms of four major categories:
Workforce Strategist: Business strategy and overall performance are increasingly tasks of a company's workforce. In addition to supporting and implementing overall workforce strategy, CHROs must now play a key role in developing and informing that strategy - helping the CEO and other leaders craft strategies that make sense in light of global labor trends, available talent and next-generation leadership and workers.
Organizational and Performance Conductor: Every company wants to maximize the performance of its workforce. But, what's the most effective way to move the needle? Companies today face an overwhelming number of choices from departments operating across geographic boundaries, virtual teams, contingent workforces, telecommuting and job-sharing to flexible hours, workforce diversity and more. Today's CHROs must help navigate all of those options as a change master and an organizational structure and rewards program architect.
HR Service Delivery Owner: Although CHROs are becoming increasingly more focused on business issues, they still need to provide day-to-day HR administration and operations in a cost-effective way. However, today's CHROs must spend less time overseeing their own HR operations systems and processes and more time juggling a complex mix of in-house resources, employees and managers, as well as self-service and external vendors - seamlessly integrating internal and external services into a cohesive whole.
Compliance and Governance Regulator: Today's CHROs must work directly with the board on workforce issues that directly relate to the critical areas of risk management, regulatory compliance, ethics and integrity. They also must assist with a wide-range of board-related issues, from member selection and orientation to executive compensation and succession planning.
"The role of the CHRO as an enterprise business leader is still evolving - but this transformation has never been more timely or relevant," explains William Chafetz, principal and national co-leader of Deloitte Consulting's CHRO Services. "As human capital-related issues, such as Baby Boomer retirement, generational differences, skills gaps and workforce globalization, continue to challenge a company's overall strategy and bottom line, the CHRO must become an increasingly familiar face and, in many companies, a potent force in the boardroom and executive suite, paving the way toward change, performance and new ways of working."
A copy of Deloitte Consulting's "Strategist and Steward" report is available at www.deloitte.com/us/strategistandsteward.
