Jennifer Weber, chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has all the qualifications you might expect from a top-level HR executive – and then some. Before joining Lowe’s in 2016, Weber was executive vice president of external affairs and strategic policy for Duke Energy Corp.; a position she took after 20 years as an HR consultant and practitioner, including CHRO for Duke Energy.
Moving out of HR for a season was “daunting,” Weber told attendees at a 2015 conference. However, it was ultimately an opportunity that allowed her to test her mettle and prepare for a role at a larger company.
Based on the traditional expectations of CHROs, Kathleen Hogan was a surprising choice for the top HR role at Microsoft Corp. Before being hired in 2014, she was corporate vice president for worldwide services and chief operating officer for worldwide sales. She never held an HR position, yet Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella saw her “as the right person to push our cultural transformation” regardless of functional experience
Thoughts from a more-than-occasional writer
