What does being ‘future-ready’ mean?

“In the mid-1930s, the average S&P 500 company could expect to exist for 90 years. Today, that average is just 18.” Consideration of how organizations can future-ready themselves has become increasingly prominent in recent years. While developing a capacity to embrace and maximise technological innovation often dominates these conversations – with particular consideration of how to effectively employ the… Continue reading What does being ‘future-ready’ mean?

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Top 5 Cognitively Diverse Law Firms and Consultancies Revealed

Despite the wealth of research highlighting the importance of cognitive diversity, primary research into the relative cognitive diversity of different organizations is sparse and often anecdotal. Using LinkedIn, ViewsHub invited employees from the leading management consultancies and global firms to assess their behavioural traits, utilising the innovative functionality of ‘Team DNA’, which uses the ViewsHub Cognitive… Continue reading Top 5 Cognitively Diverse Law Firms and Consultancies Revealed

Chief People Officer was one of the top ten fastest-growing job titles over the past five years, according to LinkedIn research as reported on by HR magazine last year.

A changing workforce and the need for increased learning and development opportunities for employees are two developments to which the increase has been attributed. More widescale challenges such as The Great Resignation, supply chain issues, and market volatility were also cited in a thought piece by CEO advisory firm Teneo last year. 

Chief People Officers for leading companies such as Microsoft and Walmart have recently been discussing in the media how to engage employees and rebuild organizational culture after COVID. 

Walmart CPO Donna Morris said in an interview with Harvard Business Review that she would “love for all of our people to think like a Chief People Officer because then they’d be focused on creating the environment that allows us to attract, engage, develop, and retain the best associates or employees”.

Chief People Officers are not a new phenomenon, but their numbers have been expanding. Research by executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates published towards the end of last year found that over 30 per cent of the Chief People Officers that the firm had placed over the last three and a half years were for organizations that had never had a senior HR leader on their leadership team before.

Apple this month appointed Carol Surface as its first Chief People Officer. Surface, who served in the same role for a medical technology company since 2013, will report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook and take over human resources responsibilities from the senior vice president of retail and people, Deirdre O’Brien.

Speaking to HR magazine about LinkedIn’s research, the chief executive of consultancy PTHR Perry Timms commented: “When most CEOs are purportedly concerned about skills gaps and talent, the role of a Chief People Officer becomes as critical as legal, digital, compliance, finance and customer experience leading roles. If not more so.”

The demand for Chief People Officers is not likely to slacken, either. Interviewed for The Loop, Spencer Stuart consultant Patrick Hynes said: “The demand for the very best CPO talent is extremely high.”  

The president of US learning company O’Reilly, also speaking to HR, has said: “Due to the changing workforce and the need for increased learning and development, the demand for skilled Chief People Officers and other HR roles will continue to grow over the coming decade.”

Thinking about cognitive diversity

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent shockwaves across the world and politicians and finance leaders are still anxiously waiting to see what the total damage will be.  Aside from the bank’s investments going wrong, commentators have also attributed SVB’s dramatic collapse to the bank’s high levels of groupthink: A small group or groups of very similar people… Continue reading Thinking about cognitive diversity

Why more organizations are hiring CPOs

Chief People Officer was one of the top ten fastest-growing job titles over the past five years, according to LinkedIn research as reported on by HR magazine last year. A changing workforce and the need for increased learning and development opportunities for employees are two developments to which the increase has been attributed. More widescale… Continue reading Why more organizations are hiring CPOs

Assessing senior leadership teams

A new survey by PwC has revealed the apprehension many chief executives feel about the future of their organizations. Factors such as rising inflation, skills shortages, and changing customer attitudes are encouraging leaders to focus on reinventing their business to face these challenges. The survey asked how the over 4,000 CEOs who responded to the… Continue reading Assessing senior leadership teams

Why effective team-to-team cooperation could be the best Christmas gift

It is estimated Santa Claus will deliver presents to about 240 million homes on Christmas Eve, presenting a tighter timescale and more ambitious target than the rest of us will face all year.  In 2018, the University of Leicester calculated that Father Christmas will need to travel at 0.5 per cent the speed of light to make his deliveries… Continue reading Why effective team-to-team cooperation could be the best Christmas gift