The State of Human Resources Leadership Report (2023 Data)

Only one-third of Inc. 100 startups have an HR pro on staff, which suggests that startups may be waiting for growth before adding a dedicated HR role to their roster.

The larger an organization grows, the more vital HR becomes, which is why it’s no surprise that 100% of Fortune 100 enterprises have an HR professional on their payroll.

While companies face unique challenges and opportunities as they grow, every company needs to manage recruitment, employee engagement, compensation, and benefits administration—not to mention labor law compliance.

Even though HR is an essential part of business operations, 26% of the top enterprise companies don’t have a C-level HR role. That means HR is left out of vital business decisions in companies with tens of thousands—or hundreds of thousands—of employees.

Companies With a Human Resource Professional:

When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), there’s a stark contrast between enterprises and startups. 85% of Fortune 100 enterprises have a dedicated DE&I leader, compared to only 3% of Inc. 100 startups.

In general, enterprises have larger HR teams, and can dedicate responsibilities like payroll, benefits, or DE&I to individual roles. Our data reveals that 65% of startups have no HR department at all—meaning they need HR pros who can wear multiple hats and cover a broad range of HR-related functions.

Over the years, organizations have started to get more creative with their human resource managers' titles.

One of the most popular choices is a title featuring “People," such as Chief People Officer. Nearly 2 in 5 HR managers at startups (39%) currently or previously have used a "People" title.

That's nearly double the 21% of enterprise HR managers whose employers use the typical naming conventions of human resources.

Some other human resource titles used by companies in our report include:

• Chief Colleague Experience Officer
• Head of Human Capital Management
• VP of Talent
• Chief of Staff
• VP of Employee Success

There’s no right way to become an HR manager. The paths to an HR career are varied, complete with diversity in degrees, certifications, and company tenure.

Human resource professionals come from a myriad of educational backgrounds, with most holding a bachelor’s degree. This reflects many people’s experience in taking on HR duties for their small company in spite of little to no formal training in HR.

The 5 Most Common Academic Majors for HR Managers:

In fact, fewer than 1 in 10 HR leaders have an HR-specific degree. Meanwhile, nearly one-third (31%) have a non-HR or business degree, meaning you can come to HR from just about anywhere.

However, when it comes to HR leadership, there’s a clear correlation with advanced degrees. More than half of HR leaders (57%) have a master’s degree or higher.

How Many HR Managers Have Advanced Degrees?

If you want to be in HR leadership at a major organization, continuing education should be a priority. But if you’re thinking you need a degree in human resources in order to reach the executive level, think again.

Human resource professionals at the top enterprise companies stick around at their company longer than the average worker, while those at startups tend to jump around a bit more:

• 76% of enterprise HR managers have worked at their current employer for three years or more — and nearly half (48%) have worked there for 7 years or more.

• Nearly 1 in 5 of enterprise HR managers (17%) have been with the same organization for their entire career.

• The majority of HR managers at startups (83%) have been with their current employer for 3 years or fewer.

• More than 2 in 5 HR managers at startups (44%) have worked for 6 companies or more.