Liz Ryan of Bloomberg Businessweek writes in a recent blog post “What Every CEO Needs to Know about HR” that,
“[it is] every HR chief’s highest calling to make sure his or her employer has the most excited, switched-on, and capable people on the market.”
Following this overarching statement regarding the purpose of an HR, chief Ryan provides a list of points the CEO must be aware of when it comes to human resources. Ultimately, it becomes apparent to the reader that there is a strong connection to be found between the ambitions of the CEO and HR. Ryan states that HR works to “[reinforce] a culture that emphasizes ingenuity over irrelevant, one-size-fits-all metrics” as well as “[sell one’s] company to the ‘talent population.’”
Every leader wants creativity, skill, and resourcefulness in his or her workforce. A CEO wants employees to add value to his or her company and work towards shared goals. Human resources works to not only recruit these talented employees but also works to maintain them and help strengthen and then “sell” such a culture to the relevant market.
This works to strengthen the self-image of the employees of the company as well as the projected image of the business to the public, involving both the company’s competitors and its potential clients or customers.
Liz Ryan’s post provides a great check-list of similar points, providing relevant information CEO should check out, especially if their curiosities surrounding the possibilities in HR are growing.