Yes, this is an absolute right and a possible situation to have a CEO with HR professional background. The CHRO (Chief Human Resource Officer) profile which is existing in companies these days is strongly involved with all the business heads and looking after the Business Revenues and Talent Management. So, which dispels the thought that CHRO’s are pretty much the part of the board meetings.  

What are the good quality of good CEO?

We have a reference from our corporate world that there are CEO’s who are college dropouts like “Bill Gates” and at the same time example of exceptionally best qualification contextual like, Warren Buffett & Indra Nooyi . We have also seen successful CEO who are not that experienced but sharp minded to run their company business with their strategic decisions, the same way we have CEO’s who qualify the position passing through their career development path step by step.

So who is better??? Everyone is working in their own style and getting revenue and Business ROI’s.

How will you decide who is the best CEO? A CHRO could be a CEO looking at different scenarios above? Let’s talk about some facts.

1. Mary Barra, who started working for General Motors, at age 18, in 1980, In February 2008, she became vice president of Global Manufacturing Engineering. In July 2009, she advanced to the position of vice president of Global Human Resource, which she held until February 2011, when she was named executive vice president of Global Product Development. The latter position included responsibilities for design; she has worked to reduce the number of automobile platforms in GM. In August 2013, her vice president’s responsibility was extended to include Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. When Barra took over as chief executive of General Motors in January 2014, she became the first female head of an automobile manufacturer. During her first year as CEO, General Motors issued 84 safety recalls involving over 30 million cars. Barra was called before the Senate to testify about the recalls and deaths attributed to the faulty ignition switch. The recalls led to the creation of new policies encouraging workers to report problems they encounter in an attempt to change company culture. As CEO, Barra has placed GM’s focus as a company transitioning into the tech space by moving forward in the automated driverless car space with major acquisitions including Strobe, a startup focused on driverless technology. In 2017 she pushed GM to develop the Chevy Bolt EV, beating rival Tesla in developing the first electric car priced under $40,000 with a range of 200 miles.

2. Anne M. Mulcahy joined Xerox as a field sales representative in 1976 and rose through the ranks. From 1992–1995, Mulcahy was vice president for Human Resources, responsible for compensation, benefits, Human Resource strategy, labor relations, management development, and employee training. She became a chief staff officer in 1997 and corporate senior vice president in 1998. Though never intent on running Xerox, she was selected by the board of directors in 2001. When she became CEO on Aug 1, 2001, the stock price was $8.25, and on Jan 1, 2002, when she became chairwoman the stock price was $10.05. On May 21, 2009, the day she announced her retirement as CEO, the stock price was $6.82.

We have many other HR professionals who became CEO and successfully handled the position and became the right fit for the company. Now big companies like Google & Facebook rely on the Human Resource department and value the importance of HR being an important part of the business.

Let me know your comments that we will have more CEO’s in future with HR profession background.