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I've observed a weird bit of title inflation for this job role in the last few years. I think all four of these mean the same thing? VP of Human Resources Chi

by jpm_sd 5y ago

I've observed a weird bit of title inflation for this job role in the last few years. I think all four of these mean the same thing? VP of Human Resources Chief Human Resources Officer VP of People Operations Chief People Officer and now this interviewee, who is actually "Chief People, Places, & Publicity Officer" if you read down to the bottom. I think it's very telling that this turns out to actually be a "PR" job title. It's really about controlling the message, inside and outside the organization. Creating a perception of valuing employees and customers and satisfying their respective needs. Also, doing performance review cycles 4x/year is completely insane. What a waste of everyone's time.

basseq 5y ago
Depending on the organization, a VP title may not have "a seat at the table", which can lead to HR taking a back seat. This can include being overshadowed by Finance or Operations if HR rolls into the CFO or COO, respectively. So the "title inflation" is a recognition that people is a tier-1 function, and needs airtime and visibility at the most senior levels. As an aside, "Human Resources" is falling out of favor given the Dilbert-esque implications around HR. And "People Ops" always struck me as overly operations-focused and tactical vs. strategic.
- philwelch 5y ago
  What exactly about HR do you see as strategic, and how is it separate from the leadership that should be expected from line management?
zug_zug 5y ago
> "Also, doing performance review cycles 4x/year is completely insane. What a waste of everyone's time." So at CK in particular I know they used to have "annual cycles" and you had to "overperform for two cycles to get a promotion." I.E. You had to be outperforming the role you were hired at for 2 years to get a promotion. So unless you were underhired, you basically wouldn't get a promotion in a normal software tenure. It was a big point of contention.

by jpm_sd 5y ago

basseq 5y ago

Depending on the organization, a VP title may not have "a seat at the table", which can lead to HR taking a back seat. This can include being overshadowed by Finance or Operations if HR rolls into the CFO or COO, respectively. So the "title inflation" is a recognition that people is a tier-1 function, and needs airtime and visibility at the most senior levels. As an aside, "Human Resources" is falling out of favor given the Dilbert-esque implications around HR. And "People Ops" always struck me as overly operations-focused and tactical vs. strategic.

philwelch 5y ago
What exactly about HR do you see as strategic, and how is it separate from the leadership that should be expected from line management?

zug_zug 5y ago

> "Also, doing performance review cycles 4x/year is completely insane. What a waste of everyone's time." So at CK in particular I know they used to have "annual cycles" and you had to "overperform for two cycles to get a promotion." I.E. You had to be outperforming the role you were hired at for 2 years to get a promotion. So unless you were underhired, you basically wouldn't get a promotion in a normal software tenure. It was a big point of contention.