Ronda Bazley Moore

The role of the CHRO has never been more complex or more critical. At the Gartner CHRO Inner Circle in New York this week, my colleague Catie Brand and I had the privilege of spending time with over 75 CHROs. The conversations were candid, and the patterns were hard to miss. Here’s some highlights that surfaced again and again: - AI’s real opportunity is long-term The focus should be on unlocking AI’s long-term potential. Coaching and recruitment stood out as the areas where AI can have the biggest impact, scaling access and insight, but only if it remains human-led and tech-enabled. - Change fatigue is hitting harder than ever LHH research shows 56% of leaders are burned out, and 75% want more support. I heard similar observations from the CHROs at this event: nonstop transformation is draining trust and energy. At LHH we see that the organizations that get change right prioritize investing in their leaders. They give them the development support to build the hard and human skills to manage change with confidence. And they create a coaching culture within the organization that makes it safe to talk honestly, learn quickly, and keep energy through disruption. - Reinvention is the new normal We spoke about how forces like AI, economic shifts, and demographics are reshaping careers, not just jobs. LHH research shows 58% of people in transition moved into completely new occupations in the last year. What we see making a big difference in talent management is companies adopting skills-based hiring, investing in upskilling on the job, and providing mobility or outplacement programs that help people spot transferable skills and step into new careers with confidence. The conversations at Gartner confirmed what our data shows daily: the future of work won’t be solved by one-off fixes. It will be built by CHROs who design systems that are adaptable by design and where talent strategies turn disruption into opportunity. A sincere thank you to the CHROs I met during this session. Your candor and insight were invaluable and a reminder of the depth of expertise driving this profession forward.   #FutureOfWork #CHRO #Leadership #AI

283

20 Comments

Imagine L&D so critical to a Fortune 10 company, its leader co-chairs meetings with the CEO. Martha Soehren made that a reality at Comcast. Most L&D leaders dream of truly influencing top-tier strategy. Martha Soehren, PhD, former Chief Talent Development Officer at Comcast, didn't just get a seat at that table; she co-chaired the Executive Learning Council alongside the CEO. This isn't merely about taking orders and delivering impactful learning; it's about redefining L&D's strategic importance and embedding it directly into the highest levels of business decision-making. In the latest episode of The Learning & Development Podcast presented by 360Learning, Martha unveils the audacious steps she took to transform a fragmented learning operation (with 79 different reporting relationships!) into a centralised powerhouse. Her story is a masterclass in governance, influence and proving value that delivered millions of dollars in documented ROI. Dive into this episode to discover how Martha: - Orchestrated a massive L&D centralisation by building a robust business case, using external benchmarks and compelling storytelling; - Secured consistent executive buy-in by mastering "over-communication" and proactive alignment, ensuring L&D was always positioned for success; - Navigated complex organisational politics and turned tough feedback into significant wins; - Connected learning outcomes directly to business success, saving millions and elevating L&D's credibility across the organisation. If you're an L&D leader ready to elevate your function from order-taker to strategic partner and genuinely influence your organisation's trajectory, you need to hear Martha's story. This is how you truly control the L&D narrative. Listen to the full episode via the link in the comments…

103

17 Comments

The CHRO is no longer a support role. It's a co-pilot seat. During a powerful conversation last week at the Human Resources Policy Institute between Hubert Joly (former CEO of Best Buy) and Peter Fasolo, Ph.D. (Former CHRO of Johnson & Johnson), one truth kept rising to the top: The CEO and Board now expect CHROs to lead on the business, not just the people agenda. Not in theory. In practice. Hubert shared how his CHROs shaped strategy, drove cultural transformation, and even sparked his own personal evolution as a leader. From sending him to work a week in-store to shifting his view on perfectionism and vulnerability. Some takeaways that stuck with me: 1. Start every leadership meeting with people and org... not finance. It changes everything. 2. Co-create culture like a gardener tends to soil. Your job is not to micromanage the flower, but to make sure the environment helps it grow. 3. The frontline isn’t an abstraction. If the board doesn’t know what’s happening at the front lines, it’s flying blind. 4. We track ROI on tech. Why not on people? If we say talent is our top asset, we should hold ourselves to the same investment rigor. 5. It’s time to redefine what boardroom-ready CHROs look like. Not just strategic partners but actually growth partners. Would love to hear from other HR leaders: How are you helping your CEO and board see the connection between people investment and business outcomes?

395

40 Comments

"The CHRO role is critical for business success, with CHROs serving as C-suite leaders first, and HR function leaders second." What are the secrets of high-performing chief people officers? In the article previewing his new paper with Kathi Enderes, 'Understanding the Path to CHRO', Josh Bersin cites a recent study by Nick Bloom and Mert Akan, which finds that 13% of CHROs are among the top five highest-paid executives in their organisations, a sharp rise from just 0.5% thirty years ago. Josh and Kathi's study outlines the role of the CHRO, career trajectories, education, experiences, and high-level success drivers, along with the implications for leaders. Findings include: 🔎 More than 75% of CHRO appointments come from the outside, indicating a lack of CEO confidence in HR and/or a lack of succession planning for this job. 🔎 There are four major archetypes of CHRO (see Figure): 👉 Career CHRO (who change companies regularly), 👉 Company CHRO (who grow up inside the company), 👉 Business CHRO (who are rotated into the job from non-HR roles), and 👉 Operations CHRO (who come from legal, finance, or operations background). 🔎 Business CHROs drive the greatest change and impact. 🔎 While 69% of CHROs are female, those aiming to advance to the CHRO role often need to switch companies frequently, rather than work their way up in one organisation 👉 Josh's article is featured in the March edition of Data Driven HR Monthly, as part of a selection of the best HR, future of work and people analytics resources of the month. See full edition here: https://lnkd.in/eUiYfJ5n 👈 #chiefpeopleofficer #humanresources

418

30 Comments

"I need it done now." "I know I'm right." "I need to be involved." Sound familiar? These thoughts feel like leadership instincts, but executive coach Muriel Maignan Wilkins calls them what they really are: hidden blockers that undermine our effectiveness. I just listened to her latest HBR podcast episode, and it hit home. In business, where we're wired to solve problems fast and be right about solutions, these internal beliefs can actually create the friction we're trying to eliminate. What struck me most was how these individual blockers scale up—when lack of trust drives bloated meeting culture, or when "I need to be involved" creates bottlenecks that slow innovation. We think we're being thorough, but we're often just getting in our own way. Worth the listen if you're ready to challenge what feels like truth but might just be habit! https://lnkd.in/ekmHPrQb

30

5 Comments

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jeremie K Brecheisen from Gallup, who has spent over 15 years helping leaders understand what truly drives high performance. We talked about strengths, leadership and why some cultures thrive while others stall. We also explored why so few CHROs move into CEO roles, how HR can get closer to the customer and where AI genuinely adds value rather than becoming a trend we feel obliged to follow. A few threads that stayed with me:  • The commercial advantage of leaning into strengths • The common mistakes leaders make around performance • How HR can shift its identity from cost to value • Where data and AI actually move the needle • What aspiring CHROs should focus on next If you’re interested in the future of HR, AI, leadership or culture, this one is for you. Links to listen in the comments below.👇

26

6 Comments

Today is the day for the SHRM BLUEPRINT 2025 conference in Louisville — yet I’m faced with a deep concern that cannot go unspoken. As HR professionals who care about building inclusive, equitable, and high-performing workplaces, we trust SHRM to uphold the standards of our profession. So when SHRM invites Robby Starbuck — a man publicly aligned with dismantling DEI initiatives — to speak on the main stage, one must ask: what principles is this organization prioritizing? Robby Starbuck is not a credentialed HR practitioner. His public work is rooted in activism aimed at rolling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Meanwhile, many of us have witnessed firsthand the cost of devaluing DEI work — lost jobs, stalled careers, broken trust in organizations that said they valued belonging. And yet, SHRM presents this as “listening across lines of difference,” as if there is a neutral ground here. The problem is: this isn’t a mere exchange of ideas between equally qualified voices. It’s a choice to give legitimacy to an agenda that many HR leaders believe erodes — not advances — the very foundations of inclusive workplace culture. If SHRM truly stands for our profession — stands for advancing workforces and organizational cultures that honor everyone — why platform someone whose stated mission is to undo those efforts? Why ask dues-paying members to invest in a conference that elevates voices contradicting foundational HR values without clear accountability for what that elevation means? To my fellow HR, DEI and talent-leaders: we must speak up. • If you believe our profession must hold its trusted institutions to account, share this post. • If you believe HR organizations have a responsibility to defend — not dilute — the value of inclusion, tag your networks. • If you believe we cannot sit quietly while our governing body shifts away from credible expertise and toward spectacle, raise your voice today. SHRM’s decision today isn’t just a misstep for one event — it signals a turning point for how our profession will define legitimacy, expertise and inclusion moving forward. Let’s be clear: inclusion, fairness and belonging are not optional marketing add-ons. They are central to business performance, ethical leadership and sustainable workplaces. If SHRM won’t defend that, then we must. #HR #DEI #SHRM #Blueprint2025 #Leadership #Inclusion #Accountability

135

22 Comments

This morning in Davos I joined a CHRO, CIO and CTO roundtable hosted by Cisco at the World Economic Forum. What stood out was not the sophistication of the technology, but how intentionally the conversation stayed anchored in human choice. The first theme that really stayed with me was the need to be deliberate about how our agents represent our culture and values in the work they undertake. Agents do not operate in a vacuum. They reflect the outcomes we optimize for, the signals we reinforce, and the trade offs we quietly accept. They simply scale the intent we have built into them, which means humans remain responsible and accountable for the outcomes they produce. The second was how much we are already learning from the agents we have deployed in our own organisations. Not just about efficiency, but about our processes, our biases, and where human judgement still really matters. It also raised a practical question about ownership. Who continues to own and steward agents as they scale, evolve, and become embedded in everyday work. Finally, the conversation kept circling back to questions we do not yet have clear answers to, but need to start addressing now. 1. What does good management look like when people are increasingly managing agents rather than tasks? 2. If agents take on more execution, how do humans continue to develop judgement in context? 3. Who decides what should and should not be automated? 4. As judgement becomes more important than execution, how do we develop it, assess it, and reward it meaningfully? 5. If we expect judgement from humans, what is the equivalent standard we should expect from agents? None of these are technical questions. They are leadership questions. And the answers will shape how effective, trusted, and human our use of AI ultimately becomes. My thanks to Francine Katsoudas and Keith Ferrazzi for organising.

763

33 Comments

There’s no one-size-fits-all CHRO—but the best ones lead with purpose, act with clarity, and tie everything back to impact. They drive positive business outcomes with measurable and impactful people strategy. I had the chance to contribute to this recent CHRO Daily piece on the values that define great HR leadership—and it reflects how we approach partnership with our clients. Here’s what I’m doubling down on: ✅ Culture is lived, not laminated. Leaders set the tone—every day. ✅ Clarity drives performance. People need to know where they’re going and how they’ll get there. ✅ Listening isn’t soft—it’s strategy. The best leaders tune in before they take action. ✅ HR should drive business results—not just engagement scores. Check out a deeper dive in the piece I contributed to → https://loom.ly/bPSKJnM What’s resonating for you right now in your people strategy? #PeopleFirst #HRLeadership #CHRO #BusinessStrategy #HazanConsulting #FractionalHR https://lnkd.in/eUPTTgis

11