What is a CRO, and why your company needs one.

It’s such a fascinating time to be working in the people and culture space – it’s exciting to witness people commit their careers and professional lives to improving the lives of others at work, and it’s inspiring to witness companies and leaders embrace the need to do this better. It’s about time, too. It’s a zeitgeist and the movement to make work more meaningful has gathered momentum. We’ve only just begun and there’s a focus shift that we need to make now – it’s an evolution from managing human resources to investing in human relationships. 

The way in which we’ve managed people has served a purpose, until now. We know how to organise people to be more efficient, to be more productive and perhaps event more effective. But effective at what? And at what cost? We have the systems, the strategy, the processes and the knowledge to make the most of the resources we have in organisations, including the humans. We’ve become more efficient at doing the work, but I’d argue there’s more to work than doing the work. 

Workplaces are an opportunity for us to grow, to be better humans and while we may be more efficient, are we more empathetic? We’re more productive but are we more compassionate? We’re more agile and still fragile. Teams and people are still working in silos. Communication is poor, miscommunication is the default. Hustle is high, engagement is low. We’re suffering physically, emotionally, psychologically. Something is wrong here – we’re focussing on the wrong things. We can do better, we should do better. 

We’re designing and implementing more human-centred strategy and process and talking about being ‘more human’, with more work/life integration, balance, wellness... These are necessary evolutions and have the potential to have significant impact. But not until we address the keystone of all of this, the single determining factor for success and the one thing that will undo the greatest intent and strategy - and that’s the quality of our relationships.

Understanding how we relate though awareness of self, others and a commitment to improving these relationships is the fundamental element to success in business and life. This understanding and emotional intelligence makes us better – better colleagues, managers, bosses, leaders… better people. Understanding is the first step, the application of this understanding is where it matters most. 

An organisation, a company, a business, a team – is a network of relationships. The net worth of any of these systems is directly proportionate to the quality of the network of relationships. So, if we know this, or are at least willing to entertain this concept, how do we improve these relationships. We know why, we know what, the next question is, how?

First, you need to acknowledge the value of quality relationships and understand the impact of poor relationships. The truth is, there is no company, no organisation, no business without relationships. You do not exist independent of your relationships. It’s remembering that people are not resources and that you too, are a human being and the fact is we all share a universal need to connect, to belong, to see and be seen. The incontrovertible fact that we are human beings first, people first, and ‘employees’ or ‘managers’ second must be acknowledged. And for those of you wondering, yes – you can still be great at your job, get it done, work hard, excel, be highly productive, efficient, profitable, courageous etc. while embracing your humanity. In fact, I’d argue you can’t do any of these things well unless you do. 

Better relationships based on self awareness and empathy are not mutually exclusive to quality work, they're the primary cause of quality work.

A quick note on this ‘being human’ concept and what it means at work. We have to acknowledge that despite our best efforts, at times we’re going to be flawed, we’re going to fail, stuff it up, get it wrong, be wrong, act irrationally or let our emotions get in the way of better judgement. We’re going to feel guilt, shame, and we’re going to be vulnerable whether we like it or not. I’d like to think that with the work of leaders like Brené Brown gaining so much traction, we can accept this as being the price of admission into relationships - work or otherwise. 

So, once we’ve established that we are in fact, human, then we might allocate time, energy, focus, money, resources and intention into genuinely investing in improving our relationships. Leaders, this is your job. Founders, CEOs, managers – this is where you step up and put your time and money where your heart is. And if your heart isn’t in investing in improving relationships, then you shouldn’t be leading or managing people and your money is being wasted. 

Now the work begins. Relationships are work, these are not soft skills. It’s hard work, it will challenge convention, disrupt conditioning and demand you question beliefs around identity, morals, ethics. This is important work. It’s good work and it’s this relationship work that will have the greatest impact on your business. This is the work that transforms relationships and therefore teams, companies and eventually, cultures at all scales – micro and global. This work changes lives. 

So, who is this person in your organisation? Who’s going to lead the way in championing better relationships at work? It may be you, it may not. Either way, find that person and empower them. You need a Chief Relationships Officer to bring this potential to life. It makes sense by any measure – it’s good business and it’s good for business. I’d go so far as to say it’s our moral imperative to improve how we relate to each other at work and we need people who understand this and have the skills to lead the way.

Imagine if every company had a CRO who leads with the heart first, who leads a team – the HR (Human Relationships) department whose role is to facilitate extraordinary, courageous, compassionate and empathetic relationships at work.

The future of work is now hiring.