How to hire a Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)

A Chief Human Resources Officer is one of the most important roles in any company – big or small. With responsibility for a firm’s entire HR strategy, selecting the right candidate for the role can be a challenge. In this article we run down the requirements and qualifications needed for the role, and the process for choosing the best person for the job.

What is a Chief Human Resources Officer?

A CHRO is a c-suite executive who oversees the management of an organisation’s employees – its human resources.

This includes designing and implementing a human resources policy, ensuring alignment with national employment law, and managing the recruitment and retention of company employees. They must also manage the wider human resources team.

Key responsibilities and expectations

The CHRO is an essential cog in the HR machine, taking charge of several key areas within a business. They can be important not just for employee wellbeing and engagement, but also for ensuring a company remains legally compliant.

The main responsibilities of a CHRO include:

• Supervising the HR team
• Creating and implementing an HR strategy that aligns with key business aims
• Generating talent acquisition plans to maintain a healthy talent pipeline
• Enabling career development and employee training
• Promoting inclusiveness and diversity in the workplace
• Managing employee benefits and supervising payroll
• Maintaining company culture and values
• Leading employee assessment programmes
• Effectively utilising HR tools and software

Importance of a CHRO in modern organisations

Taking a key leadership role within an organisation, the Chief Human Resources Officer can rapidly become one of the most important players for a growing business – and completely essential for a large corporation.

That’s because of the key strategic role they play leading the HR team, and ultimately having responsibility for the performance and wellbeing of every other employee in the organisation.

By creating and implementing an effective HR strategy, they can ensure all employees are aligned with the company’s values and vision, improving synergy, performance, and having a tangible impact on the bottom line.

The importance of a CHRO can include:

• Helping achieve business objectives by developing an HR strategy
• Ensuring all employees are aligned with company culture
• Handling grievances and complaints to create a better workplace atmosphere
• Implementing an effective recruitment strategy

Defining your needs and creating an effective job description

Once you understand the role and the importance of a CHRO, you have to build an ideal candidate profile to better identify exactly how one will fit into your company.

That means identifying the kind of person who will best mesh with your company’s culture and align with its values, and who will bring the necessary skills and experience to complement the rest of the c-suite and help your company meet its business goals.

An ideal candidate profile will define the broader job description. This must contain not just the required skills and experience, but also soft and intangible such as communication, leadership and interpersonal relations – as well as cultural fit, which is essential for a good working relationship among the team.

Sourcing and evaluating

Sourcing the right Chief Human Resources Officer requires proactivity and patience alike. First and foremost, it’s about ensuring your job listing is reaching the most qualified people – but there are also a few steps you can take to seek out the best possible individuals:

• promote from within – don’t underestimate the value of a candidate with a deep understanding of the company, and strong existing relationships with colleagues
• use LinkedIn and other professional networks to seek out potential candidates and ask for referrals
• post to the right jobs boards to ensure the right people are finding the listing – jobs boards are useful tools, but some are more specialised than others
• attend human resources conferences and industry events to build a professional network, search for leads, and meet potential candidates

Moreover, it may also be wise to employ a recruiting agency to take charge of advertising the job listing, and screening applications.

Many employment agencies are highly specialised, and possess expert knowledge that allows them to make informed decisions, and save you the time of wading through applications.

Their specialist consultants with extensive industry knowledge can help you evaluate candidates that meet your particular requirements, focusing on the key attributes you have identified.

The interview process

Once you have identified the most qualified candidates, you must begin a comprehensive and rigorous interview process. This is an opportunity to go beyond the CV and learn more about the individual’s mindset, motivation, and approach.

Most importantly, you should take each candidate seriously, and engage in an open, honest conversation with them. This discussion should be about building relationships, understanding their motivations, and discovering how each candidate could fit into the wider company.

The interview should focus on their skills and experience, asking them to outline particular episodes and achievements relevant to those priorities identified by the job description.

You should ask them to discuss the impact and results achieved by the different projects and initiatives they have led, and in doing so learn more about their intangible skills such as conflict resolution and leadership.

It may also be accompanied by a skills assessment, used to identify strengths and weaknesses in the candidate’s skillset.

Making the final decision

Hiring someone as senior as a Chief Human Resources Officer is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

It’s also a decision that shouldn’t be taken alone. It should involve the entire team, particularly those who will be working most closely with the new hire.

You should check each candidate’s references thoroughly, not just to receive confirmation of their experience and make sure they’re being honest, but also to gain invaluable insights from former colleagues and managers.

In this way, you can avoid costly hiring mistakes.

And when it comes to giving the chosen candidate the good news, you need to explain clearly and unambiguously the expectations of the job, the benefits and compensation package, and any other relevant details. You should be prepared to negotiate – top candidates know their worth.

Ensuring long-term success

Recruitment doesn’t end when the contract is signed. A follow-up and onboarding plan is essential – after all, a new member of the c-suite needs to hit the ground running.

It’s on the whole team to make their new colleague feel welcome, to give them the tools and the capacity to launch the new HR strategy, and to help ensure a smooth transition.

The company should work to quickly integrate the new team member, so they can begin contributing to the business’s goals from day one.