HR Should Report to You Directly as Culture Coach not Compliance Cop
Jathan Janove, Chief Learning Officer & Master Coach
Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching
In my experience, the best Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have another title—even if it’s not articulated: Chief Culture Officer (CCO). And they view HR not as most CEOs do—compliance cops, tolerated as a cost of doing business. Instead, they view HR as vital to their role as CCO in creating and maintaining a culture where all stakeholders thrive.
This means HR as Coach, not Cop. And it means the head of HR reports directly to the CEO.
Many CEOs have learned the well-established truth that healthy workplace cultures benefit everyone, including the proverbial bottom line. However, they don’t yet realize how organization culture turbocharges when the HR paradigm shifts from Compliance Cop to Culture Coach with the support of the CEO/CCO.
What do I mean by culture? I mean where every employee comes to work every day with a strong desire to help the organization succeed. I mean where every employee interacts with others with civility, collaboration, and trust. And I mean where high-performance expectations matter, as does accountability, especially self-accountability.
When CEOs see themselves as Chief Culture Officers and make the shift I speak of, amazing things happen. It’s not simply buy-in; it’s the CEO taking full ownership of the culture cause.
An HR shift from Compliance Cop to Culture Coach doesn’t mean sacrificing compliance. Quite the contrary. As a former State Bar “Employment Lawyer of the Year,” I can attest that when compliance is blended with culture coaching, the benefits include improving HR’s effectiveness at preventing claims. Putting it another way, HR Culture Coaches do far better than HR Compliance Cops in protecting their organizations.
Dear CEO: If you haven’t already made this paradigm shift, I implore you to do so now. I promise everyone will win, including stakeholders, employees and their families, and HR professionals who will truly love their jobs as culture coaches.
Also, Dear CEO: Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Doug Conant, the legendary CEO who essentially saved Campbell Soup Co. He says, “Jathan, I strongly agree with your perspective. I wanted my head of HR reporting directly to me as CEO, and I viewed them as a full partner in all culture-building efforts.
“More importantly, I wanted the entire organization to understand the important role the CHRO held in our culture-building efforts. To that end, I showcased our partnership efforts broadly and frequently. I also had my CHRO as head of Public Affairs and all internal communications. Basically, I wanted my commitment to creating a full-engagement culture to be unmistakable.”
Also, Dear CEO, listen to Alan Mulally, the legendary CEO who successfully steered Ford Motor Co. through the Great Recession. “Our ‘Working Together’ Leadership and Management System is rooted in the concept of CEO as Chief Culture Officer. As Jathan says, when CEOs make this shift, amazingly good things do happen!”
One last point, Dear CEO: Most organizations’ HR heads are known as CHROs (Chief Human Resources Officers). I propose you change the title to CHRC (Chief Human Resources Coach).
PS: If you’d like to learn more about leadership and coaching tools and practices, click the Resources page on the MGSCC.net website.
Jathan Janove is a former attorney previously recognized by his State Bar as “Employment Lawyer of the Year.” Currently, he serves as Master Coach and Chief Learning Officer for Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching, a worldwide executive leadership coaching organization. He is the author, most recently, of The HR Renaissance: From Legal Guard to Growth Partner. He’s also the author of The 8 Deadly Sins of Mismanagement, The Star Profile – A Management Tool to Unleash Employee Potential, Hard-Won Wisdom – Lessons from the Workplace Trenches, and Breakthrough: How Stakeholder Centered Coaching® Transformed the Executive Coaching Industry.
