CHROs have taken on a powerful position in the C-suite over the past few years. And as they accept more and more business responsibilities, companies are looking to hire heavy-hitters to fill the HR role. 

About 54% of incoming CHROs for S&P 500 companies during the first half of 2024 were “experienced leaders,” according to new data from Russell Reynolds Associates, an executive advisory firm. That’s a big jump from the first six months of 2023, when 39% of newly-hired HR executives were seasoned professionals. And businesses aren’t looking to hire their own people for the role as often as they used to—the number of CHROs hired from outside was 12% higher in the first half of 2024 than it was over the same time period last year.  

“There’s been this pivot over the last 12 to 18 months due to the complexity of the [business] environment,” Ted Moore, leader of senior human resources executive assignments for Russell Reynolds, tells Fortune. He adds that many CHROs haven’t been trained internally to tackle these newfound challenges and responsibilities—so bosses are looking elsewhere for help. 

But just because CEOs are looking for the perfect CHRO, it doesn’t mean they’re strictly looking for people coming from the HR world. Moore says companies are looking for someone whose skills straddle both the needs of the board and the needs of the workforce. That can be a professional with history in the people management space, but they’re also keeping an eye out for people with experience beyond the HR function. 

“The skills they’re looking for are business leaders first, that happen to have a human capital background,” he says. 

C-suite leaders are also eager to bring in job candidates from different sectors who may have fresh eyes. “I can’t tell you how many times we do work where a specific industry says, ‘Find me a CHRO, but I don’t want them from my industry, because I don’t know of any that are best in class.’ A new, fresh, different perspective, companies are really hungry for that.”

The demand for more experienced external HR leaders began to take off during the COVID pandemic, when workforce issues became a central fixation for nearly every company in the world, and CHROs took on a huge swath of new responsibilities they never had before. 

“Coming out of 2020, CHROs were asked to be infectious disease control experts, to have a point of view on return to work policies and the gig economy. So much more was asked of them,” says Moore.

The worst of the pandemic is over, but those responsibilities have endured as business leaders are increasingly forced to do more with less. That’s why they’re looking for experienced CHROs who can deal with everything from navigating political tension to rolling out AI within the workforce. Acquiring top talent has also become more important to business leaders: the number one challenge faced by large companies is finding qualified employees, according to a recent report from ADP. 

“The number one concern for U.S. CEOs is the availability of talent and skills in their company, above everything else. Above the economy, above political dynamics,” Moore says. “So there’s an appreciation for the right leaders.”

Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com

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