Your role as a CHRO is a main building block in your organization’s foundations. The role has always been a demanding one, and it is expanding.

Not only do you spread yourself across people management, hiring and firing, and succession planning, but you also have to help shape today’s team to be tomorrow’s leaders.

You can never be sure what’s around the corner, so, as the CHRO, you need to prepare yourself, your bosses, and the company for whatever may come.

Preparation is the key to success, but how do you prepare your organization’s leaders for tomorrow’s challenges?

Get Ready for Change

Companies don’t run the same as they did 70 years ago. Hell, even in the last ten years we’ve seen sizable shifts in the way we work.

In 2020 you had to deal with the transition to hybrid working patterns (if they weren’t in place already), then the eventual return to the office. You’ve had global pandemics, recessions, The Great Resignation – everything but the kitchen sink at this point.

That’s why CHROs must be continuously adapting, to bear the brunt of the next big hiccup. Yes, it’s impossible to tell what tomorrow holds, but that’s why you have to be hypervigilant.

While you may have the wherewithal to understand the complexities of keeping your people happy and the business running, it’s your responsibility to ensure your leaders can say the same.

Future Proofing Your Firm

Leadership Development

By implementing change at the top, you can expect it to trickle down throughout the company.

As CHRO, it’s your job to track your team’s progress, creating development plans to boost these star workers and train them for advancement. This way, you can align your business’s goals with the development plan, ensuring that tomorrow’s leadership is always aiming to achieve what’s best for the company in a modern marketplace.

Upskilling

Now, development doesn’t have to be for the top dogs at your company, everyone deserves personal progression. While not everyone will be built up to be a leader, they can be trained to deal with new ways of working.

AI, for example, will require people to learn new skills. Whether it’s learning how to integrate AI into your organizational framework, or training language models for chatbots, there’s always a new skill to learn.

By upskilling your staff, you’re ensuring that the people in charge will have the adequate support.

Leverage Your Data

Unsure of the best way to identify promising current and prospective leaders? The details in the data. In 2024, 84% of HR leaders said they rely on such data to make these all important decisions.

Everything you collect from peer reviews, leadership assessments, and training outcomes can be used to help winkle out the right people for training. In doing this, you can proactively plan for the future, maintaining a steady pipeline of high achievers.

Retention/Recruitment

“We want people to feel connected, to understand the vision, and to be really bought into that. And as we know, if they are engaged and having impact, it’s going to translate to financial business results and stronger performance.”
– Lori Boyd, Chief People Officer at Turo

Although it may seem obvious, in order for your business to thrive you need the people to fuel it.

America has experienced a labour shortage with the labour participation rate being only 62.5% at the end of 2024. This makes finding staff that little bit harder, let alone retaining them once they’re through the door.

Since the pandemic, it’s more commonplace for employees to prioritize their home lives over work (working to live, living to work).

Flexibility has become the new gold dust for prospective staff, so if you need new team members soon, consider switching up your policies to cater to the talent pool you’re aiming for.

The World of Tomorrow

The best way to prepare for tomorrow is by planning today. The sooner you get your ducks in a row and development framework in place, the better equipped your current and prospective leaders will be when it’s their time to step up to the plate.

The role of CHRO is constantly evolving. To prepare yourself for future trends, register your interest for our upcoming CHRO Summit via our website.