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Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
During the last three decades, the chief human resources officer (CHRO) position has evolved from an administrator of workplace policies to a strategic partner to the CEO and other corporate leaders. Serial entrepreneur Marc Lore (he started companies such as Jet.com and Wonder) says the chief people officer can be a founder's most important hire. In some organizations, the head of HR oversees culture and inclusion, and many are leading generative AI task forces to understand the impact of automation on their companies.
Yet some CEOs misunderstand the role the CHRO plays in a company, says Johnny C. Taylor Jr., president and CEO of the trade association SHRM, previously known as the Society for Human Resource Management.
"The one thing that the CEOs don't fully understand or appreciate about the CHROs [is] that they have this really unique position of representing both the employee and the employer," Taylor says. "This is unlike any other function. Your CFO knows their loyalty and duty is to profit. Your CTO protects the company's systems." The human resources chief, on the other hand, serves two sets of internal stakeholders.
Taylor cites the return-to-office debate as an example of an instance where HR leaders need to balance the demands of corporate leadership with the perspectives of employees. "The CEO would like to direct [employees] to come in, but what happens if they all quit--or worse, quit and stay," he says, referring to "quiet quitting," or employees doing the bare minimum on the job, "and then the company ends up with a productivity or engagement problem."
Taylor says human resources leaders also are on the front lines of managing an increasingly diverse workforce. That diversity, along with a growing informality at work--casual dress and coarser language, for example--as well as an acceptance that employees can bring their "whole selves" to work and the omnipresence of potentially divisive social media posts is leading to more friction in the workplace.
SHRM research released this year found that two-thirds of U.S. workers experienced or witnessed incivility in the workplace in the last month, and those who rate their workplace as "uncivil" are more than twice as likely to consider leaving their jobs. Some of the top uncivil behaviors, according to SHRM, include addressing others disrespectfully; interrupting or silencing others; and excessive monitoring or micromanaging.
SHRM has launched an initiative, 1 Million Civil Conversations, to encourage inclusive conversations in the workplace. "Let's encourage dialogue, and not just dialogue with people you like or agree with, but people who are clearly different," Taylor says.
The organization's website features a number of tools and tips to help leaders navigate difficult conversations, such as discussions about politics and race. One recommended article on managing political discourse suggests employers acknowledge employees' differences; remind everyone that work should be a place where everyone feels included and respected; and encourage healthy but respectful dialogue that comes from a place of curiosity.
That's good advice for any leader seeking to manage any potentially challenging conversation at work, but also could help CEOs understand the needle their CHROs are threading as they seek to foster diverse teams for the good of the business while making sure employees feel safe and heard.
What's the dynamic at your company between human resources and the rest of executive leadership? If you are a CHRO or chief people officer, do you feel your obligations to your CEO and to the company employees are ever in conflict? Write to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com, and your experiences could form the basis of a future newsletter.
And if you're a CHRO, you might want to consider nominating your organization for Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators program, which celebrates companies and nonprofits that empower employees at all levels to innovate. This program is as much a celebration of culture--firmly part of HR's purview--as it is about innovation. You can check out last year's honorees here.
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Now accepting applications for Inc.’s Best Workplace awards. Apply by February 16 for your chance to be featured!
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This is the No. 1 Thing CEOs Get Wrong About HR
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08.04.2024
The Biggest Venture Funding Category in Q1 Wasn't AI
Women-Led Startups Are Facing a Double-Dip Downturn. How Founders Can Weather It
Will AI Deliver a Real Star Trek Replicator? This Founder Is Making It His Mission
What Is Flip Commerce and Should Your Brand Join It?
How Zola Is Using AI to Solve a Customer Pain Point
Cocoa and Vanilla Prices Are on the Rise: How Businesses Can Navigate the Challenge
Why Chipotle Made Its Own Video Game to Give Away $1 Million Worth of Burritos
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
During the last three decades, the chief human resources officer (CHRO) position has evolved from an administrator of workplace policies to a strategic partner to the CEO and other corporate leaders. Serial entrepreneur Marc Lore (he started companies such as Jet.com and Wonder) says the chief people officer can be a founder's most important hire. In some organizations, the head of HR oversees culture........
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