Human resource leaders are critical in guiding an organization’s workforce toward collective growth and success. Over the past thirty years, approaches to HR and workforce management have transformed from a traditional approach, focused on coordinating activities across business units, to a more holistic approach focused on aligning workforces with overarching business strategies.
In addition to managing hiring, employee benefits, and compliance, today’s HR leaders are executive suite members, serving their organizations as strategic advisors.
The role of Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) is becoming increasingly common, especially in large enterprises. According to LinkedIn data, the CHRO is the third-fastest-growing member of the C-suite. CHROs oversee the entire HR function, from recruiting and hiring, learning and development strategies, employee engagement, and managing the HR technology stack.
In this article, we will explain the role of the CHRO, the part they play in organizational success, and discuss emerging trends impacting HR leaders today.
What Is a Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)?
A Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), sometimes called a Chief People Officer (CPO), is a business executive responsible for managing a company’s human resource strategies. This includes all aspects of human capital management and HR technology systems.
The CHRO role mainly differs from that of an HR director or head of HR in the scope of their responsibilities. HR directors are leaders in their own right and oversee all HR operations. A CHRO, however, is responsible for a company’s overall human resource strategy. They work directly with executives and other stakeholders to align activities with overarching business strategies, forming a bridge between a company’s workforce and its executives.
Why Do Organizations Need CHROs?
In recent years, labor shortages, evolving regulatory requirements and work environments, and digital transformation have elevated the role of HR within organizations. These shifts have underscored the need for a dedicated, workforce-focused leader within the executive team.
As strategic partners and people leaders, CHROs are tasked with integrating human capital management with organizational strategy. By adopting a holistic, big-picture approach to traditional HR responsibilities, CHROs drive workforce success, foster talent development, and contribute to an organization’s overall success.
“You need to look at your CHRO as being a business leader who’s driving your growth and reinvention. And you need to empower them to follow through on that mandate,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture CEO.
Key Responsibilities of a CHRO
Chief Human Resource Officers are responsible for driving organizational success by developing an effective workforce and a positive working environment. Here are some of their core duties:
- Talent acquisition and workforce planning strategies: Keeping track of organizational needs, industry trends, and disruptions to develop and execute effective workforce strategies.
- Employee experience and engagement: Creating a workplace environment conducive to employee growth, and overseeing employee engagement initiatives including learning and development opportunities, social activities, and incentive programs.
- Organizational design and company culture: Overseeing organizational design plans to maintain a motivated and comfortable employee base and promote communication and collaboration.
- Learning, development, and upskilling: Overseeing the development and execution of training programs to meet the needs of employees, drive productivity, and drive organizational success.
- HR digital transformation and technology alignment: Developing and executing a technology strategy that keeps the organization ahead of the competition and makes software-related procedures more efficient.
- Leadership development and succession planning: Developing and implementing leadership development and other pathways for high-quality employees to move into vital business roles as they open up.
- Performance management: Overseeing performance review processes and using data insights to enhance productivity and help employees excel.
- Compliance, ethics, and risk management: Overseeing internal processes to ensure compliance with ethical and regulatory requirements and implementing processes to mitigate risk.
What Skills Does a CHRO Need?
Here are the skills and competencies and CHRO must have.
- Leadership: The ability to motivate teams and business leaders and facilitate change adoption as the organization evolves.
- Emotional intelligence: CHROs focus on the human side of business, requiring clear communication, empathy, and cultural sensitivity.
- Critical thinking and problem-solving: The capacity to analyze circumstances, evaluate possible solutions, and make informed decisions facing workplace challenges.
- Communication and negotiation skills: Chief HR Officers must communicate complex ideas clearly and create compelling arguments to convince employees and other stakeholders of the importance of HR projects.
- Digital and HR technology proficiency: CHROs should be subject matter experts in HR technology, in addition to having field-specific knowledge, and engage in continuous learning to set an example for employees across their company.
- Cultural intelligence and global perspective: To empathize and develop working environments that cater to the needs and preferences of culturally and geographically diverse workforces, CHROs need to consider cultural differences at work actively.
- Agility and adaptability: The ability to respond to evolving and uncertain circumstances to help teams effectively manage change.
- Workforce analytics and data interpretation: Extensive knowledge of HR best practices and principles and the ability to interpret workforce data for strategic decision-making.
12 Trends Keeping CHROs Up at Night
As technologies evolve and economies shift, CHROs must stay abreast of industry trends to drive organizational success. Here are 12 trends we think will rule for CHROs in 2025:
1. The CHRO as a business strategist
A company’s workforce is its most valuable asset. CHROs are responsible for maintaining, developing, and optimizing HR practices to align that key asset with the company’s overall business strategy.
This requires the CHRO to see an organization and its industry through the lens of a leader, an executive, and everyday employees. Surprisingly, only 15% of organizations conduct strategic workforce planning. CHROs should prioritize the strategic aspects of their roles to ensure their companies stay competitive and reach long-term business goals.
2. The labor shortage
The United States has been experiencing a labor shortage since about 2021, with fewer unemployed workers than job openings. Though this gap is steadily decreasing, the labor force participation rate (the percentage of the working-age population looking for work, regardless of employment) was just about 62.5% at the end of 2024, down from over 66% in 2010.
Some factors impacting the labor shortage include an aging workforce and early retirement, relatively low net international migration into the United States, and issues like costly childcare that make it difficult to justify both parents working full-time in a household with young children.
In the face of this shortage, CHROs are responsible for developing HR practices and a workplace environment that can attract and retain high-quality employees who are on the market. This requires a focus on employee experience management like never before.
3. Legacy HR technology modernization
As the digital revolution continues, CHROs are tasked with modernizing HR software and technology approaches for their organization. This includes researching HR tech trends, implementing new HR software, and promoting ethical technology practices for HR teams and the company.
While an HR technology stack will be built to the contextual needs of every organization, here are the overarching types of HR software CHROs are investing in 2025:
- All-in-one human capital management (HCM) systems for people management.
- AI-powered applicant tracking systems (ATS) for hiring and recruiting.
- Adaptive learning management systems (LMS) for corporate learning
- Digital adoption platforms (DAP) to support employees in the flow of work and drive HR software adoption.
4. GenAI adoption
The incorporation of generative AI (GenAI) into workplace activities is accelerating. As a result, many workplace operations are becoming more efficient. However, HR technology is one area where GenAI has not yet seen widespread adoption. Only a third of HR leaders are actively exploring how to incorporate GenAI into their company’s HR software stacks.
We foresee CHROs becoming increasingly AI-friendly in the coming years. This will bring many benefits regarding operational efficiency and productivity, but it can also create feelings of uncertainty among employees regarding job security and pressure to adopt new technologies.
To navigate this balance, CHROs must implement robust compliance frameworks and change management practices to ensure the safe implementation of AI tools and provide employees with the necessary end-user training. Ultimately, embracing GenAI will help CHROs improve business efficiency, improve employee productivity, and promote a company culture of growth and innovation.
5. Upskilling employees for the future of work
Constantly evolving technology and shifting industry environments require employees to learn and develop skills continuously. Employer surveys estimate that 44% of workplace skills will be disrupted by 2030, and 60% of employees will require additional training before 2027.
In response, CHROs must anticipate emerging skill gaps and friction points and develop solutions to resolve them. Effective CHROs will help their workforces stay ahead of the curve by implementing L&D programming that can be easily updated as new skills emerge.
6. Balancing low employee satisfaction levels with unpopular RTO policies
As work environments shift to a fully post-pandemic world, many businesses are implementing return-to-office (RTO) policies. This change is often unpopular among employees accustomed to a new approach to work-life balance and flexibility. This is supported by data, with a Gallup poll finding that 2024 had the lowest rate of employee satisfaction on record.
As more workplaces return to the office, to improve business outcomes as well as employee experience, it will be up to CHROs to ease employees through the transition. This will require robust change management plans, flexible RTO options, clear communications, and even enhancements to office environments.
7. Data-driven HR decision-making
To improve HR processes and drive organizational success, CHROs will increasingly rely on team member data to make strategic decisions. As of 2024, nearly 80% of HR leaders rely more heavily on such data than just 48% in 2019.
We predict that as technology, specifically data analytics software, evolves, CHROs will use data from HR software like HRIS to inform decisions and propose changes to key stakeholders.
8. The political polarization of DEI
The recent political climate has turned “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” into somewhat controversial words.
No matter how equity-related trends and requirements evolve, CHROs should build fair practices and keep employee experience design at the center of their people strategy. This will require unbiased hiring practices, transparent and welcoming work environments, and clear communication about the proven benefits of inclusive workplace practices.
9. Redesigning organizational structure to meet business needs better
Organizational structure development is an important part of a CHRO’s responsibilities. As organizational goals change, CHROs should demonstrate agility by adapting organizational structure to match.
We predict that CHROs will spend even more effort assessing business needs, soliciting stakeholder feedback, and strategically realigning the organization’s structure – whether that means establishing cross-functional teams, moving toward a matrix structure, or even flattening hierarchies.
10. Employee well-being during times of global economic and political turbulence
Political instability and economic downturns can harm employees’ mental health and ability to meet work responsibilities. As stress increases both at work and at home, CHROs can help keep their workforce afloat by providing teams with compassion, flexible work arrangements, team engagement activities, and tangible mental and physical well-being initiatives.
11. The need to build an employer brand
Employer brand strength is an important selling point in a competitive labor market. A strong employer brand is increasingly critical for attracting high-quality talent, increasing retention, providing stability in times of crisis, and ensuring long-term organizational growth.
As strategic HR leaders, CHROs are uniquely positioned to develop strategies to build a positive employer reputation. This will likely become a priority for CHROs, who will take on the task by enhancing employee experience, managing brand reputation on social media, and soliciting feedback from employees and other stakeholders.
12. Pay transparency and compensation equity
In 2024, over fifteen states updated pay transparency regulations, requiring private-sector companies to disclose the pay range for a given position to applicants and employees. Some leaders worry that these changes could cut into profits due to increased wages.
We predict that effective CHROs will embrace these changes, seeing them as transparent measures that will help build trust and improve reputations, attract quality candidates, and promote a truly people-centric company culture.
CHRO FAQs
Here are some answers to commonly asked questions about the CHRO role:
What is the career path for CHROs?
While there is no set career path for CHROs, Chief Human Resource Officers typically start by getting relevant education credentials, such as undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in human resources or a related field.
From there, individuals enter the HR workforce and work up to more senior-level or management positions. During this time, seeking additional certifications in leadership and HR management skills is common.
Seasoned HR leaders often develop working relationships with executives within their organization, opening up opportunities to move into a CHRO role or join the executive suite with a new company. The average tenure for CHROs is about 4.6 years, after which many take on positions at new companies or move into other senior executive roles like COO or CEO.
However, this path is becoming less set in stone by the minute. According to KPMG, more HR leaders with cross-sector experience are being hired for the job.
How many companies have a CHRO?
Though estimating the prevalence of the CHRO role across all companies is difficult, it has become ubiquitous in enterprise-level companies. Surveys show that 473 of the Fortune 500 companies have one and a majority of other large companies do as well.
How much do CHROs earn?
The average base salary for a CHRO in the United States is $155,711 with a range from 99k-244k. Salaries, of course, depend greatly on an organization’s geographic location, size, and industry in addition to an individual’s qualifications.
How is a CHRO different from a VP of HR?
Though they follow similar career paths, CHROs and HR VPs have different focuses. The CHRO role focuses more on aligning an organization’s workforce and HR activities with overarching business goals. The HR VP role tends to be more operations-focused, reporting to members of the executive suite.
What qualifications and experience are needed to become a CHRO?
CHROs are often required to have relevant education, like a bachelor’s degree in HR management, an MBA, or a master’s degree in management and leadership.
Other requirements include several years in an HR role, successful leadership experience, demonstration of excellent communication and strategic skills, and professional certifications like SHRM-CP.
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