In this week’s blog we ask our founders Aaron Alburey and Cathy Acratopulo what the key objectives and responsibilities of a Chief People Officer (CPO) or Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) are.

With combined decades of experience working closely to these roles helping to lead HR transformation programmes, Aaron and Cathy tell us what good looks like now – and how this has evolved over time. If you prefer to listen to this discussion, rather than read the summary, you can do so here. 

How would you define the role of a Chief People Officer?  

The CPO role is one that represents both HR and people on the C-suite level, As such, it is much broader than just the HR function itself. It’s more about the company’s approach to how they manage their people, what they do for their people, what propositions there are for their team and how they leverage their people to drive business value. 

What are the types of traits we tend to see in CPOs? 

Commerciality 

The first trait is commerciality. A critical characteristic of a successful CPO is the commercial understanding of what the business is trying to achieve, how it does that and what its goals are over time. 

Cultural advocacy 

It’s important to ensure that the CPO’s voice is always considered among the C-suite when determining if this aligns with our values. Questioning things such as if we are modelling the right leadership behaviours or, as an executive, are we staying true to the promise we made to our people. 

Innovation  

From a CPO perspective this means bringing the outside in. Taking the time to understand what’s happening in your competitive market and what’s happening in businesses that you would regard as best in class for how they manage their people. 

A CPO can bring new ways of thinking and turn those into different ways of delivering the business value for their organisation. A successful CPO thinks about what needs to be done differently to get where the business aims to be, for example, in three years. 

Trusted advisor 

Your Chief People Officer can be seen as the link between the organisation’s people and executive team. The CPO is part of the leadership team but also must maintain the position of being a challenger, holding people accountable and coaching.  

Alongside this, the CPO themselves is also accountable. There is a challenging balance between having to guide and be part of the team while also keeping a professional distance in that role. There are a significant number of boards that guide a business nowadays where the CPO has an active role as a trusted advisor. 

How has the perception of a CPO changed?  

This is an evolving role. The concept of a CPO as a business leader isn’t a new one but has been brought to the forefront due to COVID. The two year window has given people the opportunity to take on the role of business leader with a clear remit. We’ve seen that play out via the attention that the people agenda is now getting at the top table.  

Is the role of the CPO undervalued by the C-Suite?  

Most businesses have been through more people challenges in the last 3 years and many are still facing similar challenges. Regardless of what the situation was pre-COVID, anyone who represents HR at the top level of an organisation, whether they make up the C-suite or not, has had the opportunity to demonstrate value.  

They were able to show why HR are so important, why they’re critical to business decision making and how they made a difference to the business. Therefore, if HR hasn’t managed to earn its seat at the table in these last few years, something’s gone wrong.  

There has never been a more significant people challenge than COVID. For the intensity of what that brought, the need to make quick decisions, to respond well, to make a strong value proposition perspective for the employee and deliver value for the business.  

What can the CPO and C-Suite learn from each other?  

The CPO needs to understand the finances as well as the CFO does or understand the positioning in the market as well as the Chief Marketing Officer does. Similarly, CPOs need to understand how technology can enable and support employee experience, in union with their Chief Technology Officer. There is a need for that business understanding to come through clearly.  

In addition to this, the C-suite need to understand the people agenda and the people challenges. It’s not necessarily about having all those capabilities, instead it’s about seeing things from a different perspective. Each have a role to play but there’s enough to learn from each other to get that breadth of understanding.  

Will there be any changes in the role of the CPO over the next three years?

It’s that push and pull balance. It’s fair to say that the pull has never been stronger to get a CPO’s input and contributions into the business’ decision-making cycle. So, although there continues to be a perception of pushback, it’s important to recognise that HR’s influence has really grown. 

Being involved in business planning and being able to map areas like strategic workforce planning, employee experience and more will continue to grow. 

CPOs should switch this question onto their fellow C-suite members and ask what they see changing in the next few years not just in terms of people agenda but their role as CPO as well.  

They should be having conversations on what the individual can do to drive business value moving forward. It’s a strength to be clear on what you’re here to do and to think about how you can bring your best value to the team and organisation.

If you are a Chief People Officer and would like support assessing your priorities and understanding where you can drive most value to your business, we would be happy to speak to you about where we can help. Reach out more via the form below or learn more about our people strategy and CPO health check services.