Chief Human Resources officers are responsible for hiring, onboarding, training, compensation, performance management, company culture, benefits, and other people functions. When the Chief Human Resources officer (CHRO) switches jobs often, it can create some discrepancies in the company till the new replacement comes in and gets settled down in their role.
In an analysis study of 37,000 C-Suite movements by specialist staffing firm Xpheno, they found that one in every 10 Chief Experience Officers (CXO) switched at least one job in the year. The CHRO role saw the highest churn of 20% across India, with one in every five changing jobs in a year, followed by chief sales officers (CSOs) and chief products officers (CPOs) with turnover rates of 18% and 15% respectively. The churn at the top remained significant despite the low-to-moderate hiring activity in the market.
These CXO movements are driven by reasons ranging from vertical and horizontal movements to IPO plans to expansion in certain sectors, there were also significant movements triggered by greenfield and global capability centers expansion.
Some of the key functions like HR, finance, sales, and operations are witnessing a churn which is indicative of firms trying to reconfigure their leaderships and bringing in new talent to take their business to the path of recovery and growth, said a source.
More than Just C-Suite Officers
According to SV Nathan, CEO of HR consulting firm Visara Partners, the role of the Chief Operations Officer (COO) was the most understated in getting all its dues as is CHRO. In these tough times, C-suite executives are playing important roles in safeguarding the company from damage and bringing the company back to the path of recovery be it the COO playing the role of a tough governor, or the CFO who is taking on strategic roles like investment management, corporate finance and more.
According to Nathan, stakeholders are getting impatient and that is the root of many exits. This is causing many discrepancies in the companies because any CXO attrition takes at least eight months to settle down and that is a long time.
“There are times when the employer and employee do not want to burn bridges. The talent is good but not just the right fit, sometimes the pay packages are huge and the company can’t afford it. But they do show empathy and let the talent have a dignified exit. And because the talent is scarce, they do end up landing another job”, said the VC of a consumer goods company.
Low Funding & Less VC Investments
With the churn at top management levels at an all-time high at top companies, many Indian conglomerates are looking to hire senior executives who may have been laid off because of reasons not within their control, like mergers, acquisitions, mass-layoffs, etc.
Such candidates have a proven track record of high-quality work that speaks for itself and companies are in severe need of their talent at a critical time when every straw is valuable and can save and bring the company back to profitability.
With the funding winter and startups losing their shine and burning money, they are proactively on the lookout for talented, well-seasoned, and experienced professionals who can guide the founders and CEOs through the tough times.
(Author:- Karishma is a content writer at TechDoQuest. She gives youthful and refreshing perspectives on whatever she writes about.)