A few months ago, I shared a perspective that generated considerable conversation: HR does not have a credibility problem. We have a positioning problem. The response reinforced a belief I have held throughout my career. If we want the business to view HR differently, we must be willing to show up differently.
For years, HR professionals have talked about earning a seat at the table, but we have outgrown that conversation. In many organizations, HR already has a seat at the table. The question is no longer whether we belong at the table, it’s whether we are contributing to the conversations that shape the business’s direction and performance.
Throughout my career, I have always considered myself a business leader with deep functional expertise in HR. That distinction is more than a matter of semantics. It fundamentally changes how we approach our responsibilities, engage with other executives, and influence organizational decisions.
Business Acumen Is Not Optional
We often describe strategic HR leadership in terms of talent management, succession planning, culture, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness. These capabilities are critical, but functional expertise alone does not make someone a strategic business leader.
We must understand how the organization makes money. That requires fluency in the P&L, an understanding of what drives revenue, where margins are under pressure, how customers experience the business, and what obstacles stand between the strategy and its execution.
Consider a few examples:
- When turnover rises, are we simply reporting attrition rates, or are we examining how turnover affects productivity, customer experience, operational efficiency, and profitability?
- When an organization struggles to execute its growth strategy, are we focused solely on filling open positions, or are we assessing whether leadership capabilities, organizational structure, and workforce readiness can support that growth?
- When a transformation initiative stalls, are we focusing on communication and change management, or are we questioning whether the organization has the leadership alignment, incentives, capabilities, and culture needed to make the transformation successful?
These are fundamental business questions with significant implications for people and organizations. Connecting these issues to business outcomes is how HR shapes decisions, priorities, and investments.
HR Has a Unique View of the Enterprise
HR is the connective tissue of the enterprise, linking leadership, people, culture, and strategy. Our visibility across functions enables us to identify where decisions in one part of the business strengthen or undermine performance in another. Few functions have that same perspective. However, access to information is not the same as influence.
Our value lies in translating that perspective into decisions that improve business performance. For example, a company may have an ambitious growth strategy, yet its leadership team may lack the capabilities to lead an organization of greater scale and complexity. An organization may invest millions in technology, only to find that its workforce lacks the skills, leadership support, or organizational readiness to achieve the intended return. A business may have a compelling strategy, but competing priorities, misaligned incentives, or deeply embedded cultural norms may prevent effective execution.
HR has a responsibility to surface these disconnects and lead their resolution before they undermine performance. That requires us to think beyond our functional responsibilities and understand how the enterprise’s parts influence each other.
From Functional Expertise to Enterprise Leadership
The CHRO’s mandate extends beyond functional leadership to include enterprise performance. The most effective CHROs help CEOs and executive teams navigate the realities of executing business strategy.
That means bringing informed judgment to discussions about financial performance, operational priorities, competitive pressures, acquisitions, organizational risk, and long-term growth. It means asking difficult questions when the organization’s leadership capabilities don’t align with its strategic ambitions. It means challenging assumptions and sustaining the conversation even when the issues are uncomfortable. It means understanding that the right people decision is not always the easiest and that balancing business performance with the human implications of those decisions requires sound judgment.
Our accountability extends beyond the effectiveness of HR programs and processes. We are accountable for strengthening the organization’s ability to execute, compete, adapt, and grow.
We Must Change How We Measure Our Contribution
HR has become increasingly sophisticated in its use of analytics, technology, and performance metrics. That progress matters. Measuring HR activity, however, does not establish business impact.
- A successful leadership development program is not defined solely by participation rates or favorable evaluations. Its value must be demonstrated by stronger leadership capability and improved organizational performance.
- Succession planning is not simply about identifying potential successors. It is about ensuring the organization has the leadership capacity to execute its strategy today and in the future.
- Culture cannot be measured solely by engagement scores. We must evaluate whether behaviors, values, and organizational norms support or hinder business performance.
The same applies to talent acquisition, workforce planning, compensation, and organizational design. Our standard must extend beyond “Did HR deliver?” to “What difference did our work make to the business?” That is a fundamentally different standard of accountability.
The Shift Begins With Us
I have spent much of my career advocating a simple philosophy: The strongest HR leaders are business leaders first and exceptional functional experts second. Our functional expertise has its greatest value when we apply it to the organization’s most pressing business challenges. We cannot expect CEOs, boards, and executive leadership teams to view HR as an enterprise leadership function if we continue to define our contribution primarily through the lens of HR activities.
We must demonstrate command of the business, fluency in its financial and operational realities, and the judgment to make decisions across functional boundaries. Knowing HR is the price of admission; knowing business is what changes the conversation. HR does not need to spend another decade proving that we belong at the table.
Showing up differently means owning the decisions, outcomes, and business challenges that shape the organization’s success. That is how we change HR’s positioning. We need to demonstrate, through our leadership, judgment, and impact, why our perspective is essential to the organization’s success.
About Pam Noble
Pam joined The Christopher Group in 2019 as the President of the Consulting Services Division and Chief Human Resource Officer. She now serves as our Chief Operating Officer, President, Executive Recruiting Solutions & Engagement, Culture, Belonging & Inclusion Practice Leader. With over 25 years of comprehensive human resource leadership, Pam currently leads the Executive Solutions and DEIB Practice. Her extensive experience as a former CHRO and Chief Talent Officer has enabled her to build HR departments as strategic partners, enhance corporate-wide employee engagement, and spearhead DEIB initiatives, all while maintaining a reputation for high personal integrity. Pam has a Doctorate in Transformational Leadership and Coaching from MIU, where her dissertation focused on unconscious bias. To learn more about Pam visit her bio page.