leadership matters
HR on Boards
It seems many corporate boards are waking up to
the benefits of having the knowledge, skills and per-spectives
of HR professionals as directors, according
to a recent report, The Chief Human Resources Officer:
An underutilized resource for corporate boards.
The report, authored by executive/director search
firms Allegis Partners and Hodge Partners, found that
chief human resources officers (CHROs) are uniquely
positioned within organizations – along with CEOs
and CFOs – to have a “helicopter panoramic view” of
the whole organization and are thus well positioned to
understand how all the pieces fit together and the im-pact
of decisions across the organization. And because
they rarely have direct authority over the business,
they learn to lead through influence “and pull people
together and convince them,” according to one indi-vidual
who was interviewed for the report. “Those are
the kinds of skills that you need to have when you pull
a diverse board together. You help them with a direc-tion,
influence management and get on with it.”
The report (which interviewed several CHROs with
board experience, along with non-CHROs, including
board chairs, nominations and governance committee
chairs) found that most boards realized they needed
some HR know-how on their teams when the orga-nization
was undergoing significant change, such as
spin-offs from larger entities, mergers and acquisitions
and major restructuring. In circumstances like these,
the interviewees said they needed HR perspectives to
help assess change risks and provide advice to affect
positive culture change.
But once serving on the board, fellow directors
quickly appreciated CHRO advice around talent
– especially around things like executive search, suc-cession
planning, CEO evaluation and talent risks and
opportunities.
As one board chair put it, “Having a CHRO on the
board is a strategic advantage for the company.”
THE BENEFITS OF BOARD EXPERIENCE
While the report focused on the benefits of CHROs
serving on corporate boards, most experienced HR pro-fessionals
will have critical knowledge and skills that
would benefit both corporate and non-profit boards.
By Brenda Clark, CHRE
mariakraynova/Shutterstock.com
ONCE SERVING ON THE BOARD, FELLOW DIRECTORS QUICKLY
APPRECIATED CHRO ADVICE AROUND TALENT – ESPECIALLY
AROUND THINGS LIKE EXECUTIVE SEARCH, SUCCESSION PLANNING,
CEO EVALUATION AND TALENT RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES.
Continued on next page
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2016 ❚ 9
