The HR director is suddenly popular in the boardroom. At least that’s becoming true in the US and Canada following passage of new fiscal responsibility laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
But the new attention can also be a mixed blessing for HR directors, suggests an article in the January issue of HR Magazine, published by the Society of Human Resource Management. HR executives who hunger for access to the board will welcome the trend. But that access brings with it an array of challenges, the article cautions.
“Increased interaction with board members can put HR in a politically sensitive position with regard to the CEO,” wrote author Robert J. Grossman. “Partly in response to such pressures, boards often hire outside HR consultants to advise them – a situation that may or may not work to an HR executive’s advantage.”
Grossman cites evidence that some corporate boards are taking ownership of key strategic HR issues such as succession planning, talent management and especially executive compensation. He predicts the trend will accelerate in the US because of new regulations that impose tighter standards for disclosing executive pay.