By D. Zachary Misko
Sensitivity, confidentiality, and insight are all required of great HR leadership. However, the nature of most HR issues requires the utmost discretion. In perhaps no other role does the phrase “lonely at the top” describe daily life as well as it does for the CHRO. There is no more daunting task than to help an organization get hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of employees all striving in the same direction and all agreeing to common goals and cultural precepts. However, where do HR leaders go for advice, support, or best practices? There are few answers to that question that come even close to the many choices available for other C-suite officers.
For that reason, in a landmark collaboration, HRO Today magazine and the Wharton Center for Human Resources have combined forces to create the CHRO Today Executive Network (C-TEN), which officially launched in November of 2017, for CHROs. A program for talent acquisition leaders was also created and launched in January of 2018: the Talent Acquisition Leaders Executive Network Team (TALENT).
The Wharton Center for HR will work with HRO Today and the leadership of the C-TEN and TALENT network to develop curriculum and research programs that address the pressing questions HR executives need the answers to in order to be extraordinary in their jobs.
Every HR department is different because every company is different, but many of the challenges are the same. Solutions that may work within one company may not work as well in others, but the opportunity to learn and share best practices with other executives facing similar issues didn’t exist prior to these programs.
One of the primary goals of C-TEN and TALENT is to provide best practice sharing. From exclusive executive briefings on recent research and benchmarking opportunities to member-only access to academic and industry thought leadership, members will have several avenues for sharing best practices. In addition, member-only facilitated discussions on best practices will be scheduled as another option for knowledge sharing. And, of course, for members who wish to do so can always just liaise with each other.
Roger Gaston, senior vice president of HR for Gates Corporation is Chair of the C-TEN, and Karen Feeney, senior HR operations manager for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is Chair of TALENT. Expect to hear updates soon from both Roger and Karen, as well as Wharton and our HRO Today leadership team in future issues.
