Should HR Be Split Up?

Should HR Be Split Up?

Business speaker Ram Charan (2014) argues that most Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) are process-oriented generalists and their expertise is in personnel benefits, compensation and labor relations. They are focused on internal matters such as engagement, empowerment and managing cultural issues.
Charam believes CEOs would like to see their CHROs to act as a sounding board and trusted partner and have their expertise in linking people and numbers to analyze strengths and weaknesses in the organization, in finding the right fit between staff members and jobs, and in talent management strategy.
Charan proposes to split the CHRO function into 2: An administrative one (reporting to the CFO) and a new CHRO function that focuses on leadership and organization issues and reports to the CEO.

Do you think splitting up the HR function is a good idea? If so, for what kind of companies and in what circumstances? Do you think that splitting HR up in this way (one officer for tactical and operational HR issues, and one for strategic HR issues) is the best choice?
Source: Charan, Ram "It's Time to Split HR" HBR July-August 2014, pp. 34

		Comments Sort by date Sort by rating Rating
		2 David Wilson Manager, Canada
	Splitting HR Into Separate Groups Hi Jaap: I have seen some organizations split their Human Resource (Personnel) function into HARD an... Sign up

		1 Mike Fosu Management Consultant, Ghana
	Should HR Be Split Hi Jaap, I do not think the HR function should be split. I agree with David Wilson that the solution... Sign up

		0 Florence Ansu-Amponsah Manager, Ghana
	Should HR Be Split Up No. Not at all. HR, like Accounting, has a lot of branches which boils down to one. What makes HR mo... Sign up

		0 Minda Gelay Manager, Ethiopia
	Can we Split HR Into Separate Groups? How can we split HR functions? I think the HR functions are naturally inter-linked and they cannot b... Sign up

		1 kiran pandit Manager, Nepal
	Yes, It Can Be Done But I think the administrative functions related to compensation & benefits and other administrative thi... Sign up

		1 Karl-Heinz Sternberg Director, Germany
	On Should the HR Function Be Splitted Having the Human Resources Business Partners in place, who take care about the strategic view, while... Sign up

		0 Dr. Alan Williams Professor, Thailand
	Don't Split the HR Function I agree they should stay together. I also agree that HR needs to add much more value in terms of pro... Sign up

		0 Zahra Djebaili Student (University), Algeria
	Don't Split the HR Function I am agree with @David Wilson... I think that the HR function should be interlinked within the compa... Sign up

		0 Febrianto, Indonesia
	There is no Point I know that Charan is just proposing an outline to help solving problems with HR. However, the model... Sign up

		1 Dr. Alan Williams Professor, Thailand
	Outsourcing HR / Payroll to Finance Department @kiran pandit: One further point. If the finance department is actually calculating and paying salar... Sign up

		1 Anamika Choudhury Consultant, United Arab Emirates
	Who should Deal with Compensation and Benefits: HR or Finance? Thank you Jaap for bringing this up. I firmly believe that HR should dictate "who" gets compensation... Sign up

		1 Silvy Chahal HR Consultant, India
	HR Partnership with Hi-Po Talent The problem shared by Ram Charan is absolutely valid. We cannot deny that businesses have been disap... Sign up