Introduction:
The article highlights the increasing demand for Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) across industries as firms aim to transform workplace culture, policies and employee experience for a post-pandemic world.
Analysis for a Layman:
The role of CHROs, or head HR executives in companies, has become very important over the last few years. As companies face challenges in hiring the right talent and keeping employees happy, skilled and productive in a complex, hybrid work setup, the need for strategic HR leadership has risen sharply. The demand for competent, seasoned CHROs who can drive this culture change is seeing an uptick of 40-50% in India currently.
From giant technology companies to smaller startups and traditional family-owned businesses, across sectors like financial services, manufacturing, retail etc, the hunt is on for CHROs who can partner with CEOs to shape the future policies and employee environment. Salaries for these roles have also increased substantially to attract the best talent. The ROI from such strategic hires is clear – engaged, empowered employees directly impact business success in today’s age.
Original Analysis:
The accelerating demand for CHROs signals how people management has taken centrestage as a business priority after the pandemic reshuffled workplace dynamics almost overnight. Employee wellbeing, flexibility, upskilling and culture building in dispersed teams require strategic foresight and nuanced policymaking which only seasoned HR leaders possess. Hence their stake at the leadership table has risen.
This permeates across legacy industries like manufacturing and emerging spaces like tech and startups alike. As businesses embrace digital transformation, the alignment of HR vision with corporate objectives can make or break adoption success. CHROs also contribute towards communicating the purpose and priorities more clearly across layers. Hence hiring mature CHROs marks a leap towards formalizing people management into a science from an ad-hoc function. They also provide continuity amidst churn.
Impact on Retail Investors:
For retail investors evaluating stocks, the presence of strong CHROs on leadership teams can provide tangible comfort regarding critical people processes. With uncertainties around growth engines, geopolitics and financial metrics always at play, visible efforts towards building stable, thriving workplace cultures can offer clues to intangible yet vital parameters related to employee output, risk management and leadership stability down the line.
Since such aspects tied to human productivity and corporate health get reflected in profitability only later, retail investors must keenly assess the vision and track record of CHRO appointees. The creation of independent CHRO roles where earlier heads held dual responsibilities, also underscores the priority firms are assigning to people strategy from a returns perspective. Overall governance gets a boost too. Stability on this front thus merits consideration.
Impact on Industries:
While currently CHRO appointments are surging across sectors like technology, financial services, retail, healthcare and e-commerce which face direct upheavals from remote workflows, their utility extends far beyond transition management. Automotive, equipment manufacturing, chemicals and hospitality could be next in line to deploy seasoned CHROs for standardizing frameworks related to Industrial Relations, employer branding and operational risk tied to human factors.
Regulated sectors like Pharma, BFSI and Energy, though bound to extensive compliance policies see scope for CHROs assisting with audits, bringing in positive shifts towards diversity, pay parity etc. Infrastructure mega-projects also tap proven HR specialists to ensure labor law adherence, safety guidelines enforcement etc. Even traditional manufacturing units stand to gain as CHROs institutionalize progressive practices beyond statutory needs. Thus the cascading impact of investing in marquee HR leadership spans every domain.
Long Term Benefits & Negatives:
The addition of CHROs heralds long-term cultural and operational transformation for companies ready to let go of status-quo. Standardization of people processes, data-based decision making, objective policy formulation and employee-first mentalities get hardwired into systems eventually strengthening organizational resilience.
Pitfalls include lack of continuity if CHROs view such assignments as pitstops for leveraging compensation growth before higher goals rather than engines for execution excellence. Contention may also arise if promoters or CEOs engaged in old patterns of paternalistic cultures refuse empowering CHROs. At times HR goals around diversity and inclusion may seem progressive externally but face internal roadblocks. Hence cultural alignment, management mandate clarity and patience are key for sustainability of benefits.
Short Term Benefits & Negatives:
In the near term, seasoned CHROs guide organizations to responsibly cross peak areas of concern like layoffs, leadership changes or M&As using emotional quotient. They drive progressive employer branding leveraging trends like ESG commitment, diversity disclosures etc. Challenges include potential culture clashes between inherited teams versus external hires, integration complexity arising from centralized policy execution and initial reluctance at local/ regional levels unwilling to let go of status quo.
Overindexing on metrics, forcing ill-fitting global frameworks disregarding local nuances or losing touch with on-ground realities are also risks as CHROs manage reporting pressures. However such pitfalls get mitigated once stability sets in. Overall agility and market reputation see an upward trajectory despite potential short-term speed bumps under able CHRO stewardship focused on the larger picture.
Companies to Gain:
Listed firms to benefit:
ABC Consultants: Specialist HR advisory services, executive search
TeamLease: Temp staffing, HR solutions provider
Quess Corp: Business services, staffing & executive search provider
Adecco India: HR and recruitment process outsourcing
Sapphire Foods: Yum! Brands franchisee claiming culture focus
HCL Technologies – IT major looking at next stage of global growth
As demand for outsourced HR services surges from CHRO hiring wave, the above listed HR-centric organizations see direct business upside. Companies like mid-cap IT services provider HCL Tech portraying progressive culture also stand to indirectly gain investor confidence from the spotlight on CHRO-driven transformation across industries. Core sector companies in energy, manufacturing etc stand to gain as they globalize.
Companies to Lose:
Firms perceived as lagging in HR policies and culture building may face negative associations amidst the spotlight on people-first strategies across industries – although slippages arise more from legacy issues rather than intentional strategy.
These include:
Bata India: Recent news around ad hoc HR cost-optimization does no favors to its employer brand.
Wipro – Outlook remains strong but needs integrated communication as CHRO appointments signal priority.
Infosys – Has ground to cover after senior exits, pay cuts despite recent course correction.
HUL vs startups – Talent retention challenges if unable to mirror agile culture in remote hybrid work setups.
Additionally, traditional family-run firms in manufacturing, textiles and agriculture face a clear opportunity cost by not professionalizing HR to tap into wider talent pools for global growth. Thus the opportunity is sector agnostic but imperative depends on individual company philosophy and conviction around people dimension.
Additional Insights:
The surge in CHRO appointments signals the elevation of human capital as a key enterprise asset class determining future value creation potential, particularly in knowledge economies. It calls for investors to expand parameters used to identify outperformers.
Conclusion:
The accelerating demand for Chief Human Resource Officers marks a strategic inflection point as companies transform policies and culture to thrive sustainably in an evolving, digitally-powered workplace while attracting top talent globally.
Citation:
Authors: Sreeradha Basu and Brinda Sarkar
Title: CHROs Become a Resource to be Reckoned With
Published Date: December 1, 2023
Publisher: The Economic Times