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HR in the C-Suite: Propelling Success and Growth
By Yvette Donado
Our subject is the role of Human Resource Management in the highest levels of organizations. What
happens in the C-Suite relates to all matters beyond HR, because big decisions made there affect the
entire organization. They help assure competitiveness, boost morale, increase profitability – and more.
And my perceptions on the role of HR in that suite are founded on almost four decades in the field.
I spent 25 years in the private sector in New York City. A visionary founder of a high tech start up took a
chance on me, a recent graduate in sociology from Queens College. I became his Director of HR. Our
mutual respect grew and he named me SVP, turning to me for advice on many corporate decisions
beyond the HR area (not bad for a young Boricua).
Our people decisions helped propel the growth and success of a company that is now a global supplier
of software to advertising, broadcast and marketing companies. I am proud that as an HR pro I helped
steer the company to its success.
The Move to ETS
In the year 2000, a new CEO started at ETS. The place was hemorrhaging money. His first challenge was
to get a loan to meet payroll – in a week. He needed help. Through a series of connections he found
me. We hit it off, and I became his VP for HR. He was the first CEO at ETS to come from the private
sector, and he liked my corporate background.
So, in essence, I became a trusted advisor, too, and he gradually added Communications and Marketing,
the Office of Quality, Facilities and Chairing the Council on the Mission to my portfolio. And I am having
a ball, and gradually we have embedded in our employees a more business-like way to manage our
affairs. After all, we are a business, albeit a nonprofit. The achievement of our mission is our business.
ETS is the world’s leading educational research and assessment company – a nonprofit.
Most people probably know us better for the tests we develop and administer: the GRE®, TOEFL®,
TOEIC®, WorkFORCE®, HiSET® high school equivalency and Praxis® teacher certification tests, the College
Board’s AP® and SAT® tests and others.
Our headquarters are in Princeton, NJ, and we have offices in California, Florida, New York City, Puerto
Rico and Washington, DC. We also have offices abroad and representatives around the world. We have
3,400 employees, plus 3,200 at our subsidiaries. We do not wear lab coats. We are not all in R&D and
assessment development. We are lawyers, IT experts, engineers, writers, graphic designers,
statisticians, economists, finance managers…. The list goes on. So my HR work covers the gamut.
HR in the Global Context
Now, HR practitioners know this; but others may not be as aware of the fact that in all organizations
today, HR must be in the C-Suite. It must be there for the “take off” and the “landing” as decisions are
made. HR cannot be an afterthought or consulted after the fact. Here’s why.

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Human Resource management has become very complex. It is no longer merely “hiring, firing,
promoting and retiring.” It has become extraordinarily broad, highly specialized and inextricably central
to organizational strategy and goal attainment. In a chapter for a book in 2005, I wrote:
“Today’s HR executive is conversant in the language of outsourcing,
workflow charts, process mapping, six sigma, global HR, learning
management systems and crisis management in ways that had not
been as essential or relevant a few years ago.”
Since then, time has shown the growing criticality of HR and of the skills required to manage it
effectively. Here are some important areas and issues that the HR executive must be proficient in
handling or delegating:
Compensation and Benefits
The quest for diversity
Staffing in the face of workforce skills shortage (see the ETS report America’s Perfect Storm)
Matching skills to the “right” job
Cultural competence
Worldwide sourcing
Change management
Navigating the turbulent seas of uncertainty and ambiguity
Metrics of effectiveness
Compliance at various levels of government
Mentoring, leadership development, succession planning
A “tsunami” of growing regulations (have they ever become simpler?)
Technological advances, automation, e.g., computer-screened CVs
Increasing specialization in organizations and in HR management
Benefits costs and spiraling health care costs
New ways to measure skills, personal attributes and language proficiency
The last point – skill measurement – merits some explanation, as it is a relatively new area in which
some great progress has been made recently. I refer to non-cognitive attributes. I am fortunate
because ETS’s R&D Division has been working on this area for years, and I have access to new research
and knowledge of new measurement tools. ETS developed a complementary measurement tool to the
GRE test, the ETS® Personal Potential Index (PPI). It quantifies such attributes as integrity, persistence,
communication skills, leadership and organizational skills.
ETS has also responded to the need to measure those attributes by creating another assessment we call
WorkFORCE Assessment for Job Fit. It measures perseverance, responsibility, teamwork & citizenship,
customer service orientation, problem solving & ingenuity, flexibility & resilience.
The centrality and criticality of human resource management are recognized more than ever, whether in
the private sector, government or nonprofit world. The successful HR executive MUST be a strategic
partner in the organization’s leadership structure. This implies understanding organizational
imperatives and how decisions contribute to the achievement of objectives. HR managers must help
drive strategic decisions, because those decisions can make or break any organization.

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Today’s HR teams must also be good at numbers – not merely managing headcount, benefits
administration, and tracking payroll or benefits costs, but regulations, audits, budgets, compliance, local,
state and federal laws and regulations – and more. A successful HR manager must be able to find
answers in a maze of numbers, policies and regulations – and be quick to respond.
Now well into the 21st
century, it is useful to pause and consider changes in recent years. The buzz
today – and rightly so – is all about global competitiveness and workforce preparedness. The quest for
talent has become highly competitive; getting the top talent requires talent.
Discussions in the U.S. about immigration reform legislation often speak to the need to attract and
retain innovative talent from abroad, granting residency to those who come for advanced studies. HR
managers and their counterparts abroad, including source countries, want that same talent we in the
United States search for. And they are willing to pay for it. Global HR is a competitive job!
Another vital attribute for HR executives is cultural competency – cultural literacy. She or he must be
able to deal not only with the growing diversity of the workforce but also with the diverse cultures of job
applicants from around the world. Yes, global workforce flows are growing and will only grow more.
Again, the matter of cultural competence and the ability to respond to generational differences and
preferences are key to success in a global setting.
So the pool of prospective employees is more diverse than ever. Some may speak English at various
levels of proficiency. Our HR departments must evaluate those language and other skills and assess how
candidates fit into our organizations. To do that, we must respect other cultures – at headquarters and
in the field.
A few months ago I gave a speech in Brazil about global higher education partnerships. In preparing for
it I learned a lot about talent surplus countries like Brazil, China, Colombia and India; and talent deficit
countries like the United States, Canada and most of Europe. I learned how high tech companies are
poaching from other companies to get the talent they need.
Some companies are now trying another approach: developing talent early at home and growing it
inside the organization. Apple and Google are giving internships and summer jobs to high school and
college students, preparing them for long-term careers. That’s a smart investment; the ROI is priceless!
The Diversity Imperative
An expansive view of diversity goes beyond gender, race and ethnicity. It MUST include diversity of
thought and diversity of geography. Imagine an organization in which everyone pretty much came from
the same background and thought alike. That organization would fail – and many have.
Today’s HR manager must attempt to meet internal needs and expectations as well as external
perceptions and expectations. The business imperative – the organization’s objectives – dictate that
organizations be diverse. Fail to be diverse and you fail.
A McKinsey & Company report early in 2015 found that:
1. Gender diverse companies are 15 percent more likely to outperform others

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2. Ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely “to have financial returns above their
national industry medians.”
3. More diverse organizations are more attractive destinations for top talent.
Diversity is not just about race, ethnic and gender. Korn Ferry released a study just last month which
said that “61 percent of the 250 participating Chief Human Resource Officers and senior HR executives
believe that their organizations employee base lacks in experiential and intellectual diversity.” The
inescapable conclusion, therefore, is that diversity in its broadest sense is not just nice. It is an
imperative for success.
In conclusion, the HR Chief’s success is either thwarted or propelled by alignment with the CEO. Are
they both visionaries and fellow travelers, are their values and mutual influence being leveraged for the
benefit of the enterprise?
If the response is in the affirmative, great! The HR Chief’s place in the C-Suite is secure. Remember, we
can be human even if it’s not in our title. One doesn’t have to be a leader to engage fellow humans at
work in a way that supports optimal performance. In our case, we are leaders, so it behooves us to
respect the human condition and lead brilliantly.
In summary, here are a few key points that encapsulate my views on the C-Suite.
 HR is a critical, essential function in any organization.
 HR is complex and demands many kinds of expertise.
 HR must be at the table where decisions are made.
 HR decisions help propel growth and drive success.
 HR diversity policies and actions have positive outcomes.
 How do you spell success? H-u-m-a-n R-e-s-o-u-r-c-e-s!
Yvette Donado is the Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President of Educational Testing Service in
Princeton, NJ. This article is based on an address she gave at the Harvard Club in New York City in September 2015.