HR Execs Must Cross-Train for Boardroom Success (5/10)

HR Execs Must Cross-Train for Boardroom Success

Cross-training is common in the world of sports, where athletes undergo total body workouts for premium fitness. The Salveson Stetson Group (SSG), a Philadelphia-based executive-recruitment firm, suggests human resource (HR) executives might also benefit from a little cross-training -- in the business arena.

According to a study by SSG, cultivating a wide range of business skills is critical to the future success of HR managers. In fact, many companies are encouraging, and even expecting, their senior personnel professionals to seek knowledge in areas outside of traditional HR competencies. While most HR executives are responsible for overseeing recruitment, employee relations and compensation/benefits management, a new breed of HR pros are broadening their horizons to gain proficiency in a number of additional areas, including strategic planning, change management and general business acumen.

"The traditional career path for the human resource professional has not typically included assignments broad enough to fully develop these types of skills," says Sally Stetson, SSG principal and the partner in charge of the firm's national HR search practice. "Today, the ideal HR executive is one part management guru, one part CEO, and one part functional expert. That's a tall order for a function that, until recently, was looked to, largely, to process benefits and payroll. For many, it is a whole new world."

This whole new world focuses on integral initiatives, like the development of strategic business plans, as well as strategic "people plans" that support the achievement of business goals. According to the study, the modern HR executive must fully comprehend their company's current and future business challenges, then design a program to recruit, develop, incentify and retain a workforce capable of sustaining growth.

Until a wider array of developmental experiences is provided to up-and-coming HR professionals, companies will continue to battle over the small pool of highly skilled HR leaders currently available. To effectively groom future HR leaders, the study suggests companies should adopt a development track for entry- and mid-level HR executives that corresponds more closely with top-line managers.

"HR managers with high potential for senior management must cross-train by taking cross-divisional assignments in order to become the competent business partners that their organizations need. Every HR manager should spend time in sales, marketing, finance, customer service -- every area of their company," says Stetson. "It is the best way -- maybe the only way -- to grow into a valuable strategist."

The good news, says Stetson, is that HR executives who are acquiring these skills are now being offered seats at the senior-management table, as it seems there are more boardroom seats available than bodies to fill them. In fact, as HR professionals work to come up to speed in strategic processes, many companies are being forced to look for talent outside the organization to help meet the demand of qualified executives to fill the gap.