Last week on the HR Happy Hour show, our guest Grant McCracken author of Chief Culture Officer shared his thoughts about why corporations need to have mechanisms to better understand external culture, methods to leverage that understanding to make better strategic decisions, and to position themselves to anticipate where culture and markets are leading, instead of having to react always to changing consumer tastes and trends.
Grant's idea, and the thrust of his book, advocates for the creation of the Chief Culture Officer for the corporation. This is a C-suite level executive responsible for keeping the corporation attuned to external cultural trends, finding ways to assimilate this cultural awareness into business strategy, and allow the corporation to 'see' important changes in consumers and their markets before they occur.
Sounds like a hard job.
Since the audience for the show is almost completely Human Resources and Recruiting professionals, I asked Grant what were some of the essential attributes to look for in someone that might make an effective Chief Culture Office (CCO), as a way for HR and Recruiting folks to get a better understanding of what they would be looking for.
Deep and Wide Knowledge - Unlike the CFO, who has to know a lot about a little, or the CMO that knows a little about a lot, the CCO must know a lot about a lot. Pop culture, music, TV, movies, home design, fashion, technology, economics, etc. are just a handful of the fields of study that the CCO must assess. And critical as well is understanding and appreciating the difference between 'fast' culture, (music, TV, movies, etc.) and 'slow' culture like the ideas around how people deisgn their homes, and how they interact with objects and space.
Interested in Everything - How can the CCO possibly keep abreast of all these influences on culture? They have to possess a natural curiosity about culture, in all its different forms. They have to be interested in everything. They have to feel comfortable in museums, movie theaters, seminars, and city streets. People that possess a wide range of work experiences across industries and geographies often possess this trait.
Humility - The CCO is not the 'coolest' or 'hippest' person in the room. They are not someone that claims to have all the answers, or have it all figured out. More importantly, they do not attempt to look down on the market or the consumers. Many important components of culture, ones that likely influence the market for your organization's products and services are decidedly not 'cool'. The CCO can't be the person that looks down on Nascar fans or gardeners. They can't feel superior to soccer moms.
Instincts of an Entrepreneur - The CCO has to think like an entrepreneur. That means assessing and evaluating cultural trends and finding ways to leverage them into opportunity and actionable strategy (and measurable outcomes) for the organization. This can even be from inside the organization, Grant told the story of one CCO that leveraged several internal cost centers and turned them into profit centers aided by the application of cultural knowledge. The key point is that the CCO is not a 'soft' position, rather the CCO has to deliver results to the corporation.
The discussion on the show of these important attributes for someone likely to succeed in the CCO position led me to think that for the most part they are pretty similar to the qualities you want in a Chief Human Resources Officer.
The CHRO has to find and attract the best talent (consumers all, in this case of the opportunity the corporation offers), develop and implement strategies to leverage this talent and their abilities, understand and empathize with the workforce, and finally demonstrate a deep understanding of the business and how through the organization's talent strategies the financial goals of the enterprise can best be reached. Seeing beyond 'traditional' HR may be an incredibly important attribute for future HR leaders in a rapidly changing world.
And maybe, just maybe the roles are similar enough that the road to the CHRO office could also be paved with monitoring MTV, movies, fashion, and the Pro Bowler's Tour?
One can hope.
Steve
