I once had the opportunity to meet the award-winning business author Jim Collins who wrote “Built to Last” and an eye-opening masterpiece of business research called “Good to Great.” In the book “Good to Great,” his team did a paired comparison of thousands of companies to figure out what made companies exceed or vastly exceed the performance of other corporations in their verticals. One of the key attributes he discovered would not shock anyone in HR. A key differentiator is talent.
In the book, he discusses getting the “right people” in the “right seat” on the bus. So, let’s start with the front row of the “talent” bus and the driver—the HR department. No company can be great without a great HR department. HRO Today prides itself on honoring the exceptional work of CHROs and other HR leaders. The HR100 is about recognizing the contribution of everyone in the HR department.
There is no such thing as a great organization without a great HR department.
The HRO Today HR100 is based on a host of factors and the result of painstaking work by the market research team led by Senior Vice President of Market Research Larry Basinait. The list comprises award-winning HR departments recognized not only by HRO Today but other organizations that study HR departments and their operations. We also consider publicly available and verifiable information and do not rely upon self-reported data sets.
The corporate mission of HRO Today is to inform, educate, and improve the practice of human resources. Within that broad spectrum of our mission, we can sometimes add “celebrate.” HR departments and HR leaders do a great job in the recognition of the work of others, but, by and large, do a terrible job recognizing themselves. So, we can help. We all need to celebrate the great work done by HR in helping companies achieve great outcomes in both HR and overall operation.
On the evening of June 12, 2025 in Philadelphia, PA, we will be hosting a gala to celebrate and highlight the work of the companies on this year’s HR100. The gala will highlight the innovation, vision, and impact of these top HR departments according to our research. These stories will be circulated throughout our social media platforms to inspire and inform other HR departments of the great performance of the named HR operations. This information needs to be distributed to also inform other C-suite executives of the lasting impact HR has on company performance and the opportunity that HR represents if it is a department that is properly resourced, properly invested, and properly led.
If we can all agree that people make the difference, then we can all agree that, in business, HR makes the difference as well. We know that an engaged, well qualified, and well deployed workforce will improve business outcomes. We look forward to you joining us at the HR100 Awards Dinner to celebrate HR and your own contribution to this profession!
For more information, please visit the HR100 page on our website or for sponsorship contact Berthony.Poux@SharedXpertise.com.
Elliot H. Clark
CEO
