Panel beater

In this issue we asked our panel if they thought making the jump from HR to CEO is a bridge too far, or did they think there’s no reason at all why HR directors shouldn’t have an eye on the top spot.

	Susan Jones HR/Administration Manager – Gore District Council Aim high! There are some CEOs who fall significantly short insofar as knowledge and experience of employment matters are concerned. That has serious ramifications, particularly when dealing with poor performers. Senior HR people should be confident to move into the top spot thereby providing pivotal employment expertise to their organisation.
	Mark Olsen H&S and HR Manager – Niagara Sawmilling Company Ltd Aim high! I was privileged to work for an HR executive who has many of the attributes needed to be a great CEO, such as providing visionary and strong leadership, having sound business acumen and extensive knowledge of the industry, inspiring and bringing out the best of others and being innovative. I am convinced she would make a great CEO and I’m sure other HR directors would too.
	Glyn Kessell HR Manager – SGS New Zealand Aim high! HR people are just as likely as others to make it to CEO, and do. The depth of our experience and skill encompasses every discipline. Let’s face it, we are often advising the CEO! The real question is: do we want to? Our motivational drivers are just different. Then, of course, the work is people-based—satisfying, interesting and full of variety. Need I go on?
	Mike Johnson HR consultant – Essential HR Ltd Aim high! Excellence in HR requires strategic business thinking and an ability to make a hard decision. But HR as a profession is significantly focused on service instead of business leadership. So HR practitioners can develop to CEOs—but will they want to?/td>

Tell us what you think here

Your views

The story: HR to CEO—a bridge too far?
The number of CEOs in the FTSE 100 with a career history in HR comes to a dismal zero, according to the UK’s HR Magazine. In an article entitled ‘Is a move from HR director to chief executive a bridge too far?’ David Woods writes that while the old chestnuts, ‘HR isn’t strategic enough’ and ‘HR doesn’t have enough business acumen’, might have been an acceptable excuse 15 years ago, nowadays HR directors are forcing their way onto executive teams and boards.

But if HRDs don’t reach CEO, MD or even COO level, is it that they simply don’t want to, he asks.

Across the channel, Euro Disney’s Philippe Glass went straight from HR to CEO, but examples such as this are few, writes Woods. He notes that some of the UK’s biggest hitters in the HR industry have left their roles this year only to continue their careers in HR, often in consultancies.

Research by Professor Patrick Wright from the Industrial and Labour Relations School at Cornell University suggests few chief human resources officers have the commercial acumen to be considered for promotion to CEO. The ones that do, he says, are career line executives who have been placed in the HRD role.

And research from Robert Half International shows financial skills are ‘key’ to becoming a CEO.

Wright suggests that as HR attracts more people who are really interested in business and choosing a career in HR, they will “move back and forth from line to HR, and thus gain the necessary profit/loss experience they need”. 

We asked our panel for their thoughts—do they believe the jump from HR to CEO is a bridge too far, or do they think there’s no reason at all for HR directors not to have their eye on the top spot?

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