5 Ways to Equip Your CHRO for Success

Like so many leadership positions in health care, the roles of a chief human resources officer (CHRO) and chief people officer are becoming increasingly challenging and complex.

This has led many hospitals and health systems to expand the scope of human resources (HR) to encompass a broader range of roles, functions, operations and technologies, notes a recent WiffKieffer report.

5 Facets to the New CHRO Leadership Model

The new CHRO model WittKieffer leaders propose focuses on five crucial functions for HR leaders:

HR Functional Expert

Functional excellence requires health care CHROs to be proactive in developing future-focused approaches to HR functions that are responsive to workforce shifts and keep pace with new human capital demands. It also includes championing tech-driven transformation in leveraging technology to streamline HR processes and enhance the employee experience, including using AI for talent acquisition, data analytics for strategic talent planning, virtual reality for training and development, and more.

Talent Strategist

CHROs need to advance and assume a lead role in redesigning health care work. This includes redefining job descriptions, reassessing workflows, cross-training team members and implementing new tools and systems to improve efficiency and quality of care, the authors explain.

Culture Ambassador

The CEO remains responsible for setting the desired organizational culture, but the CHRO should partner in bringing to life a culture that is engaging, promotes innovation and delivers top clinical and business performance. The CHRO communicates the organization’s vision and values to health care professionals and works with business partners, front-line managers and clinical leaders to cascade and embed culture consistently throughout the health system or hospital.

Change Agent

Modern CHROs lead and champion organizational transformation initiatives while strategically addressing barriers to adoption and cultivating an environment of readiness for changes among all teammates. They need experience in developing effective change management plans, communicating them clearly and inspiring team members to adopt and utilize changes.

Strategic Connector

With the rise of partnerships and external collaborations, CHROs must build purpose-driven connections with institutions inside and outside health care to learn best practices for more effective and efficient HR functions. This includes collaborating with educational institutions to establish talent pipelines, partnering with technology companies for digital solutions and working with other providers for shared services.

How to Equip CHROs for Success

Here are some recommendations from WittKieffer to help CHROs navigate health care’s evolving landscape, seize opportunities and address leadership challenges effectively.

HR Functional Expert

• Stay ahead of the curve. Proactively develop future-focused approaches to HR functions that are responsive to shifts and keep pace with new human capital demands. Keep up to date on the latest innovations and trends in HR functions inside and outside health care.
• Champion tech-driven information. Embrace digital transformation and artificial intelligence integration. Stay current on the latest technological advancements and proactively integrate them into HR strategies to support more cost-effective and innovative HR operations.

Talent Strategist

• Develop innovative talent acquisition strategies. Likewise, focus on retention programs and learning and development opportunities to attract and retain top talent. Position your organization as a talent magnet.
• Prioritize succession planning. Concentrate on long-term leadership continuity and sustained organizational success. Identify strategically vital roles — existing and emerging — and identify high-potential talent for those roles. Provide them with the needed training and development opportunities to prepare them for future leadership roles.
• Embrace change. Proactively redesign roles and work to ensure that your organization is well-positioned to meet future challenges. Stay ahead of the curve and enhance your organization’s brand as a field leader to attract top talent.

Culture Ambassador

• Align with organizational goals. Partner with the CEO to set the desired organizational culture, ensuring that it aligns with business and talent objectives and supports the business strategy.
• Prioritize safety. Make patient and workforce safety a core cultural value. Prioritize physical and psychological safety by implementing prevention and control standards, policies and strategies to mitigate safety hazards.
• Lead with compassion. Foster a culture where all teammates feel recognized, appreciated and involved.

Change Agent

• Involve teammates in the change process. Engage them by soliciting their input and feedback to increase buy-in and reduce resistance to change. Consider nominating champions who can act as change accelerators and message multipliers.
• Address change fatigue. Prioritize the most critical changes and communicate clearly the reasons for each change. Proactively identify legacy processes or procedures that may hinder change or create confusion around the desired behaviors and outcomes of change initiatives and focus on them. Show empathy and provide support, resources and opportunities for rest and recovery.

Strategic Connector

• Build a compelling business case. To secure C-suite buy-in and resources for HR initiatives, prepare a business case that demonstrates the value of these initiatives. Quantify their impact on clinical and operations performance, demonstrate their return on investment, provide a framework for measuring the success of HR initiatives and make adjustments as needed.
• Build a network of peers. To stay current on best practices, emerging trends in HR and key leadership topics, build a network of peers or a community of practice with other HR leaders in health care and other fields, as well as experts in talent management, organizational development and other relevant fields.