I’m Offended.

Anyone looking for an “Easy Button” lately to handle human resources within your organization? Every time I read another article that talks about leaders from other functions stepping in to lead HR I pause. Not because I have a fundamental disagreement with that, but I do find it offensive when the skills, experience or savviness it takes to be a phenomenal People Leader are diminished or dismissed.

Yes, cross functional experience is a value-add for any leader.

Yes, a strong, empathic leader who surrounds themselves with great, smart people can create a successful team without being a functional expert.

No, HR isn’t so easy anyone can do it.

We don’t hear that same language used when talking about other functions and I find it totally offensive when it is insinuated that anyone who might have strong communication skills or experience in customer experience can take over the helm of HR. I loved Allison Levitsky’s recent Protocol article, “Headhunters wonder, where are all the chief people officers?” (https://www.protocol.com/workplace/broken-chro-pipeline) that talks about how “talented HR professionals in general are in high demand, and there’s just not enough of them.” She shared perspectives from experts about why many HR leaders are leaving “operating roles, either for retirement, sabbatical, consulting or VC jobs.” Accenture’s Brin Kropp shared that, “‘One of the biggest lessons that I think CEOs have really had is, great C-level HR talent can make or break a company.”

How wonderful! When I was one of two women and the only human resources professional in my business school cohort , I can remember being asked, “Why are you in HR?” In hindsight, my career led me to the C Suite and Boardrooms of great companies, something that many of my MBA peers didn’t achieve. While the human resources function has been increasing strategic importance to organizations for decades, the visibility provided over the past two years has solidified that this isn’t just an administrative function focused on tactical execution, even for small and midsize companies. What’s great today is that companies now have choices in how they make stage appropriate investments in their people leadership without compromising quality. That can mean a full time leader or leveraging elastic talent in today’s gig economy.

This recognition of the strategic impact of the human resources function is also making senior HR leaders more frequently considered for COO and CEO positions, as well as, filling key roles and competency gaps within Boards of Directors. Just like a company manages their finances and financial performance, companies should be actively managing their human capital and their ability to deliver on their strategic objectives with a regular cadence. Ownership for this diligence should be felt across enterprise leadership and the competencies to do this well are now a requirement within the C-Suite and the Boardroom.

This intersection of organizational capacity, culture, leadership and talent development is complex. Given today’s added unique internal and external pressures, it can be challenging for companies to hit all the marks of the changing expectations and demands of today’s workforce and keep up with the compliance requirements. Human resources leaders need to understand all the levers that impact organizational performance and it’s ability to attract, retain and motivate talent. They need to understand and anticipate how things are changing both within the organization and externally and proactively prioritize and drive the most important initiatives with a clear understanding of dependencies and tradeoffs. They need to be able to influence and negotiate at a company level how these priorities line up with all the other priorities and strategic objectives.

Levitsky talked about this trend of considering nontraditional CHRO’s. I welcome any strong leaders who are interested in taking on the challenge of HR, to jump in. That leap includes a responsibility to learn from those who have a pulse within their organizations, co-create opportunities for innovation and impact for employees and the business, to develop future HR leaders and give them the exposure and development with broad business acumen so that when it’s their turn to take the helm, they are prepared to make a difference in their organization and the lives of their teams and employees.

I support and applaud the People Leaders who have led employers through one of the most challenging and dramatic changes I’ve seen in the business landscape and am excited for all the new people brave enough to take on that role. Even smaller companies who might hire generalists or an HR Manager as their full time headcount are recognizing that they need a strategic advisor to help tie together their people and business strategies. While I don’t have an easy button to offer, at Gig Talent, we do have a collective of highly skilled, vetted, talented people leaders who are ready now to help companies navigate today’s challenges and the opportunities ahead. Our consultants are former People Leaders who have chosen to specialize as professional consultants in the area of their passion and expertise and they help clients either as fractional or interim People Leaders, Leadership Coaches and all kinds of human capital investment projects. Helping our clients as they modernize their approach to talent, augment their current HR teams, or even find that unicorn new People Leader through our retained search division, allows us to deliver on our mission of helping people do what they love and helping organizations be places that inspire people to do the work they love, develop as teams and individuals and together achieve their desired results. Together, let’s appreciate the contributions of all leaders and recognize the tremendous value and competitive differentiation they bring to organizations today.