5 Strategies for CHRO Success: How HR Executives Can Build Credibility and Influence C-Suite Leaders

HR is a Business Leader!

Being a Human Resources Executive Leader means you are a Business Leader and ought to be contributing to the overall business strategy. You are responsible for understanding the needs of your organization, then developing, and delivering on the people strategy. 

To develop sound HR strategies, you need to understand the business that you work in, develop sound solutions, and you need to influence the C-Suite. You must identify all of your stakeholders and be able to articulate their needs as you share the outcomes you plan to achieve that support the goals of the organization.

Being prepared to influence your CEO, and the entire C-Suite, will move the organization’s goals forward. 

Achieve Your CHRO Goals

More than ever, executive leaders recognize that there is value in Human Resources/People initiatives, but sometimes getting agreement on where the HR Team should focus time and resources is not easy. Senior leaders will understandably advocate and argue for programs that benefit the teams they lead. Navigating these conflicting priorities can be overwhelming for HR leaders without the right approach.

You may be the first Human Resources leader in your organization or picking up where the previous leader left off.  You may be building out an HR Team, or you may be asked to uplevel and make improvements. All of this is happening while you respond to urgent business issues. No matter where you are starting … you are not alone. 

Many others have worked on this too. Let’s make sure you can “move the needle” and achieve the goals you’ve committed to. 

5 CHRO Strategies to Influence the C-Suite

#1 - Understand the Business

HR Leaders ought to have a deep understanding of the organization's business, culture, and goals. You should understand how your organization’s product or services work and how they are sold. Spend time learning about how your organization stands out against competitors and challenges that your business faces. Talk to your peers. Talk to your direct reports. Talk to the CEO.

This will enable you to tailor the HR strategy and supporting initiatives to align with the organization's objectives, and to anticipate how people-related needs and issues may impact the business in the short and longer term. 

#2 - Speak the Language of the Business

HR Leaders should be able to articulate the impact of people-related needs on the organization's bottom line. You need to clearly communicate how HR initiatives are aligned and will contribute to the business strategy and quantify the financial impact. Communicate this in a way that works in your culture, so that you can influence the CEO and in turn, you can get the C-Suite to commit. 

#3 - Stay Current

HR Leaders should stay up to date with the best practices and latest trends in HR, as well as developments in the broader business environment. This enables you to identify emerging opportunities and challenges, and to make informed recommendations to senior leadership. 

#4 - Leverage Data

HR leaders should be able to use data to support their recommendations and goals. This includes using data to identify internal trends, propose solutions, track progress, and measure the impact of HR priorities on the organization.  One mistake HR leaders can make is simply sharing the story of what happened without suggesting improvements. Learn to leverage data to monitor and achieve outcomes.

#5 - Build Relationships

Establish strong relationships with C-suite business leaders, as well as with key stakeholders across the organization. Find out what’s important to them, both professionally and personally, and don’t be afraid to share your priorities as well. This helps build trust and credibility and enables HR to more effectively influence decision-making which in turn helps with implementation and achieving goals.

Closing

As an HR Executive Leader, you are a business leader too. You have a great deal of responsibility to implement a people strategy that will support your organization. This list of 5 strategies will help you prioritize where to direct the HR team’s time and effort. Learning to influence business leaders with a solid people strategy will help achieve the organization’s business goals. 

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Developing and implementing HR strategies is not easy to do alone. If you need support, please contact us.

Special thanks to my co-writer Pete Premenko of Phronesis Group.