The Rise of the CHRO in Higher Education

Higher Education human resources (HR) is undergoing a renaissance, led by HR leaders with elevated business acumen who understand the value that they can bring to the organization. With the need to develop leaders who can navigate during uncertain and complex times, changing employment expectations of faculty and staff and relentless cost pressures, HR is now viewed as a critical part of any solution and strong HR leadership is needed now more than ever.

Through a series of interviews with Higher Ed CHROs, we found commonality around the things leading higher ed CHROs are doing to show up differently in their organization, validating and demonstrating that they are essential members of the top team:

• Taking a Stand – Coming into the role with a strong stance that shapes their institution’s call to action
• Becoming a Trusted Advisor – Establishing an advisory relationship with the senior leadership team
• Moving from Building Relationships To Partnerships – Being an effective leader by cultivating strategic partnerships
• Leading versus Influencing – Leading broadly across their institution, driving accountability and achieving outcomes
• Driving Change – Recognizing the need to rapidly increase their organizations’ change management capabilities
• Transforming HR – Elevating HR’s role to support strategic talent management, while rigorously introducing operational efficiencies

To find out more about this refreshed study based on original and follow-up interviews with key Higher Education CHROs, download the full report.

To review the original study, download the original paper.