A chief human resources officer (CHRO), often titled chief people officer (CPO), is the executive responsible for an organisation's workforce: how it is organised, led, rewarded and developed to deliver the strategy. The CHRO sits on the executive committee, reports to the chief executive, and usually works with the board on leadership succession and executive pay. The two titles describe the same job. CHRO is still the more common; in the Fortune 1000, Heidrick & Struggles found in 2025 that almost a quarter of heads of HR held a chief people officer title, a share that had risen by more than half since 2021.
What the role covers
| Area | What the CHRO is responsible for |
|---|---|
| Strategy and organisation | Making sure the organisation's structure, size and capabilities match the business plan; leading reorganisations |
| Leadership and succession | Identifying and developing future leaders; CEO and executive succession with the board |
| Talent | Hiring, development, performance and retention of the people the strategy depends on |
| Reward | Pay and benefits policy, executive compensation with the board's compensation committee |
| Culture and engagement | How the organisation works, what it values, and how people experience it |
| Risk and compliance | Employment law, labour relations, health and safety, conduct |
| The HR function | Running HR itself: structure, people, technology, cost and data |
| Disclosure | Increasingly, the human-capital information companies publish to investors |
CHRO or head of HR?
The difference is less the title than the seat. A head of HR or HR director typically runs the function and delivers its services. A CHRO is a member of the leadership team who is expected to shape business decisions, not only to implement them, and who is held accountable for the workforce's contribution to results. In the Ulrich model's terms, the role is the strategic partner and change agent at the top of the company.
What boards and CEOs look for
- Business judgment. The ability to read the strategy and the numbers and turn them into people decisions.
- Credibility with the board on succession and pay.
- Change leadership. Many CHROs are hired to lead a transformation, an integration or a culture change.
- Data. Comfort with people analytics and with the human-capital metrics investors now read.
- Breadth. More CHROs than before come from outside HR, from operations, finance or general management, or have worked in them.
The CHRO in Japan
In a traditional large Japanese company, the head of the personnel department (人事部長) held great power over transfers and promotions but was rarely a member of top management in the strategic sense. That is changing, pushed by the government's human-capital agenda: the Ito Report on human capital (人材版伊藤レポート, 2020 and 2022) called for a CHRO who works with the CEO and CFO on strategy, and the 2023 disclosure rules made people metrics part of the annual securities report.
The filings show how far there is to go. Of the 3,784 listed companies whose annual securities reports list their directors and officers, 381 (10%) include at least one HR leader: an inside director or officer whose title or current role covers HR. Only 49 give that person the title CHRO or chief human resources officer. Many more companies have a CHRO among their executive officers (執行役員), who are not always listed in the report; the count above covers the people the report names.
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Questions
What does a CHRO do?
A CHRO leads the organisation's people strategy: organisation design, leadership and succession, talent, reward, culture and the HR function, and works with the chief executive and the board on succession and executive pay.
What is the difference between a CHRO and a chief people officer?
None in substance. Both titles describe the most senior HR executive. CHRO remains the more common title in large companies; chief people officer has been spreading, and almost a quarter of Fortune 1000 heads of HR held it in 2025.
Who does the CHRO report to?
Usually the chief executive. The CHRO also works with the board, especially its nomination and compensation committees.
How many Japanese listed companies have a CHRO?
Of 3,784 listed companies whose annual securities reports list their officers, 381 name at least one HR leader among their directors and officers, and 49 use the title CHRO or chief human resources officer for that person (filings to October 2026). Companies may also have CHROs among executive officers who are not listed in the report.
Related guides
By Yan Sen Lu, Managing Director of Makana Partners and Editor of The Hardest Market.
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