While we keep talking about how HRs should find the right candidate for the right hole, one question that remains unanswered is how do organisations navigate the proper path of selecting a Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) in today’s changing corporate landscape.
The search for CHROs has become increasingly intricate, primarily due to the shifting expectations and demands placed upon HR leaders in the modern era, especially post- Covid.
Finding the perfect candidate not only requires assessing traditional HR competencies and experience, but also demands a deep understanding of how technology and cultural dynamics impact the workplace.
Moreover, with the strategic role of HR in the business world growing, selecting a CHRO is now about more than just finding an HR expert; it’s also about identifying a visionary who can drive transformative change within the organisation.
This intricate process can take several months, involving key stakeholders such as the CEO, the board members, and senior HR executives. To get an idea around all this,
ETHRWorld interacted with some industry experts to gather insights around how
challenging it is to find candidates for the CHRO role, and how much time does it take to search, interview and onboard a CHRO.
The Challenges Across!
HR Tech has completely changed the way a traditional HR used to work. Also, post- Covid, the role of HRs has become more relevant than ever, as the workforce expectations have changed.
Experts believe that finding CHRO candidates can therefore be highly challenging due to evolving expectations. Key challenges include assessing tech-savviness, cultural fit, and strategic thinking in addition to usual HR skills.
Sandeep Girotra, Executive Director and CHRO, DCM Shriram, says, “A major challenge is to find a CHRO who can suitably collaborate with the CEO, align with the company’s values and culture, while at the same time push back when needed and in the organisation’s interest. A CEO must be actively involved in the hiring process and clearly communicate their expectations and strategic goals.”
Girotra further explains that another challenge is often there is a focus which is too narrow on HR. Hiring a CHRO who solely focuses on traditional HR functions without aligning them with the broader business strategy can limit its impact. So, how to hire a CHRO who thinks like a CEO before thinking like a CHRO becomes important!
Giving another aspect to it, Amit Chincholikar, Global CHRO, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires, mentions that now, it is becoming increasingly challenging to find candidates because the dynamics of the role have changed over the last few years.
According to Chincholikar, the role of a CHRO has the unique challenge of balancing being a people’s champion and supporting or being a business advocate. Inherently, these aspects can be at conflict very often and a successful CHRO will always need to walk this tightrope. Unfortunately, there may not be enough occasions during an individual’s HR career to always have the opportunities to develop this sense of balance.
Talent Shortage, Cultural Compatibility, Succession Planning, Global Perspective and
Cost Implications are some of the other challenges of finding candidates for a CHRO role, according to Navneet Singh, Founder & CEO, AVSAR HR Services.
Singh explains that the talent pool for CHROs may be limited, as this role necessitates a rare blend of skills, including HR expertise, leadership acumen and a deep understanding of industry-specific challenges. Moreover, CHROs often play a critical role in shaping an organisation’s culture. Ensuring that candidates not only possess the necessary qualifications but also harmonise with the company’s values and cultural dynamics can be a complex undertaking.
He further adds that identifying and grooming internal candidates for the CHRO position requires time and strategic foresight, especially in organisations that prioritise promoting from within.
“CHROs are privy to sensitive company information, making trustworthiness and the ability to maintain confidentiality paramount. Finding candidates who exhibit these traits can be challenging,” Singh says.
Singh believes that from a global perspective, CHROs may need experience in managing HR functions across diverse international settings. Identifying candidates with this global perspective can pose a unique challenge. Also, the recruitment process for CHROs can be resource-intensive, including expenses related to executive search firms, competitive compensation packages and potential relocation costs.
Shalini Jain, Senior VP and Practice Head – Consumer Practice, WalkWater Talent Advisors, says, “One of the key challenges for a CHRO role is to work around the
organisation’s readiness for future and ensuring capabilities for the right to win. This could be achieved by either building capabilities internally or buying talent from outside. CHROs are hence expected to be agile, forward-thinking leaders who can navigate complex challenges and drive positive change within their organisations. Getting a combination of above qualities in one individual and matching those with the expectations of the client make the hiring of the CHRO a challenging task.”
How much time does it take to search, interview and onboard a CHRO?
As per industry experts, the time required to search, interview and onboard a CHRO typically ranges from a couple of months to around six months, depending on the complexity of the search and the organisation’s hiring process.
In most cases, it can take more than six months to complete this process, with additional time needed for negotiations and onboarding procedures to ensure a smooth transition and alignment with the organisation’s strategic goals and culture.
Nimisha Pathak, CHRO, Alvarez & Marsal, says, “The position of a CHRO is a senior
leadership position. It, therefore, takes about two to three months, after several rounds of interviews to find the right candidate. The candidate then may have a three to four months notice period at the organisation they are working with at the time. So, any company wanting to hire a CHRO must budget at least six months for the entire process.”
Jain of WalkWater Talent Advisors also mentions that given the strategic nature of this hiring, the hiring process for a CHRO role could range anywhere from three to four months. Once the candidate accepts the offer, there would be a notice period of around two to three months – hence the total time to hire a CHRO could range from five to seven months.
Singh of AVSAR HR Services says that the timeline for searching, interviewing and onboarding a CHRO can be a multi-month process, typically spanning three to nine months or more. It begins with defining the job description and requirements, which may take a few weeks to ensure precision.
Also, as per Manishankar Baraiya, CHRO, Kalpataru Projects, the process of searching, interviewing and onboarding a CHRO typically takes between four months and six months.
So, on an average, it typically takes three to six months to search, interview and onboard a CHRO.
Who all in a company are involved in hiring a CHRO?
This whole process of hiring a CHRO often involves key stakeholders such as the board of directors, executive team, and sometimes external executive search firms. HR professionals and department heads may also participate in the selection process to assess the candidate’s fit for the organisation’s culture and strategic objectives. The involvement of these individuals helps ensure alignment between the CHRO’s role and the company’s overall goals.
“If it is an MNC, apart from the CEO/MD, the global stakeholders include the Regional Head of HR, Global Head of HR and the Business stakeholders, including the Regional MD and the Global MD could also be part of the hiring process. If the CHRO hiring is being done by a PE/VC invested firm, then apart from the stakeholders in the company, we can expect even the key investors and operating partners representing the PE/VC will also be part of the hiring process,” Jain says.
Further, Singh explains that in some cases other department heads, such as those from Legal and Finance, may have input, especially when it comes to contractual and compensation aspects of the CHRO’s role.
Ultimately, the involvement of various individuals and departments in hiring a CHRO reflects the importance of the role in shaping a company’s culture, talent strategy and overall success.
Pathak mentions that it is absolutely essential that when a CHRO is hired, all the key stakeholders and decision makers in the company are involved in the interview process. She believes that the CHRO must be interviewed not just by the CEO but also by other business unit heads. The more buy-in there is from the key decision makers in the company, the easier it is for a CHRO to settle down without feeling like he or she has been imposed on the company and start driving decisions.
To the same, Girotra adds by mentioning that the search can also involve external consultants to HR experts who can also advise on the candidate. The level of involvement and the specific individuals or groups involved can vary depending on the organisation’s structure, culture, and the importance of the role.
What is the selection process like?
Jain explains that given the confidential nature of the CHRO hiring, increasingly prospective candidates are expected to sign an NDA agreement before the name of the organisation is revealed to them. Once the search narrows, the selected candidates are taken through psychometric assessments, are also asked to make case study presentations and the search partner would also value adding external feedback through the process of discrete reference checking.
Also, according to Singh, it begins with identifying the need for a CHRO, followed by creating a job description, posting the position, and screening candidates based on their qualifications and cultural fit. Interviews, assessments, reference checks and negotiations follow.
How has the process changed over the years?
Now, no one can deny the fact that the role of CHROs has been very dynamic in the past few years. Their priorities, responsibilities, targets and process have taken a huge shift.
Therefore, it’s very important to also understand how a CHRO hiring process has changed over the years! HR experts feel that the CHRO selection process has evolved over the years to become more strategic and holistic.
In the past, it focused primarily on HR expertise, but now it emphasises leadership, change management, and alignment with business strategy. There’s also a greater emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion, and candidates are expected to demonstrate a broader range of skills, including digital and data literacy, to address evolving workforce challenges.
As per Baraiya, the typical CHRO hiring process involves defining the role and requirements, forming a search committee with key stakeholders, crafting a detailed job description, attracting candidates through various channels, screening etc. However, over time, this process has evolved to place greater emphasis on cultural fit, leadership and strategic thinking, while also incorporating technology and data-driven approaches to identify and assess candidates.
Chincholikar too agrees by saying that apart from technical capability, the ability to understand business issues has assumed greater significance over the past few years. Culture fit and ability to influence leadership have become increasingly important. The role has now evolved from being a people specialist to being a business leader who leads the people’s agenda and this has also been reflected in the hiring process over the last few years.
On the similar lines, Pathak says that now, the scope is not as limited. A CHRO now has an equal stake in the firm on taking decisions related to people matters. CHRO is someone who is expected to be dynamic, take risks, and challenge leaders on their existing policies.
Pathak believes that progressive companies must look for CHROs who have not just a high emotional quotient, but also someone who can look at things through a business lens, someone who brings fresh perspective.
“Today there are even examples of CHROs in companies like Accenture and Chanel going into business roles within the company. So, firms now look for all these leadership qualities when hiring a CHRO as against before, when it was only an administrative role,” she adds.
From Girotra’s point of view, digital and data analytics, managing change, managing polarities have become important requirements for selection, along with someone who is culturally savvy and high on emotional intelligence and therefore, these are important ingredients which organisations are looking into while hiring the right person.
How can the process be more friendly?
HR leaders share that to make the CHRO hiring process more candidate-friendly, organisations can improve transparency and communication at every stage. They should provide clear job descriptions, expectations and feedback. Moreover, companies can focus on reducing bias in the selection process by using structured interviews and diverse panels.
Besides this, companies can also work on streamlining the process to avoid prolonged decision-making, and offer a seamless onboarding experience to help candidates integrate smoothly into the organisation.
From a CHRO point of view, Pathak explains that the candidate being interviewed must have the opportunity to speak to different leaders in the firm during the hiring process. This will ensure that not only is the firm assessing the candidate, but the candidate also gets a peek into the inner functioning of the firm.
More importantly, transparency must flow both ways so that the candidate has a good idea about the company’s culture and the growth path it intends to take in the future and is able to take an informed call when joining the company.
Girotra adds by saying that the process can be made short without compromising on quality. It can be made faster by spending quality time in shortlisting the profiles, and the interview process can be made faster and agile. Technology can be made good use of for application submission etc.
Furthermore, as per Chincholikar, providing as much information as possible that also helps the potential candidate make a meaningful decision is critical to enhancing and making the candidate experience better.
In cases where the search may not be confidential, it is also helpful for the potential candidate to meet the HR team members and a few other members of the company to help understand the culture. The final aspect would be to provide meaningful feedback even to candidates who don’t get selected so that they can make for better CHROs in the future
In the true essence of it, it can be observed that the HR function has experienced too many changes in the past few years. From HR becoming a business partner, to their selection process evolving, things have changed drastically. HR tech has also come into the picture which has been a game changer for many companies and veterans out there.
So, this typical process of three to six months is just not about hiring a ‘people’s person’ but also someone who can focus on collaborations with the CEO, understand the business and walk along with everyone in the organisation.
Source: HR World