Women dominate the human resources profession. Three out of four HR professionals are women, a ratio that holds true at every level until you get to the most senior management position. Until recently, women didn’t hold even a majority of the executive HR jobs at the largest public companies..
The good news today is that women now hold two-thirds of the CHRO roles at the Fortune 200.
A study by The Talent Strategy Group says that in just the last year, the percent of women holding the top HR job at these companies grew from 60% to 67.3%. Only a few short years ago, the HR trade group SHRM reported only 49% of HR executives at the top 100 companies were women.
More women CHROs were appointed in 2019 than in the previous three years, the study found. 78% of the CHROs hired last year were women. Of the 36 new CHROs, 43% of them replaced a man. In only 7% of the hires did a man replace a female CHRO.
The report also offers strong evidence that CHROs are being valued as business partners. Of the departing CHROs, 31% assumed larger responsibilities within the organization “most notably,” the report says, “a Chief Administration Officer role or Advisor to the CEO role.”
Overall, the report identifies 7 “CHRO Trends.” In addition to the increase in female leaders and the move into other senior internal positions, the report says:
- HR experience dominates – 83% of the new CHROs have “significant” HR experience.
- Advanced degrees are prevalent – 65% have a master’s or law degree.
- Internal promotion declines – “In 2017, 70% of CHROs were internal successors compared to 61% in 2018 and 53% in 2019.”
- CHRO turnover is linked to CEO turnover – ” Of the 35 new CEOs who came into the role in 2019, 40% replaced their CHRO.”
- CHRO turnover increased in 2019 – 19% of the Fortune 200 CHROs turned over, with those in the financial and health care sectors 3.5 times more likely to turnover than those in other industries.
