CIOs should develop competencies to take a larger role in talent management and culture change.

June 18, 2019 Contributor: Christy Pettey

Talent management tops CEOs’ list of the top four organizational competencies needed to excel at strategy delivery. The next three competencies are “tech-oriented” and far outside the comfort zone of most chief HR officers (CHROs). But they are central to the CIO’s domain. So who on the leadership team does the CEO turn to for guidance — the CIO or the CHRO? The answer is both.

Gartner has long advocated that CIOs should step up to play a bigger role in talent and culture change. The convergence of CEOs’ current strategy delivery needs with long-term talent headwinds means the time is right for CIOs and CHROs to pool their expertise in leadership partnerships. In this alliance, each “completes” the other’s gaps, and they jointly drive the enterprise’s talent management efforts.

The ideal CIO-CHRO partnership needs to be mutually reinforcing, both teaching and learning from each other. The CHRO brings experience in traditional talent management, including acquisition, training, retention and compliance, while the CIO brings an in-depth understanding of enabling technology and digital transformation opportunities.

Neither role can address all of the CEO’s demands alone, but by working together via a complementary relationship that builds on each other’s strengths, they can enable strategy execution within a digital-era context that will continuously challenge talent norms.