HR careers | What skills are boards (really) looking for in their CHRO?

By now, everyone probably knows that Steven Bartlett – the unapologetic Gen Z entrepreneur, Dragons’ Den ‘dragon’ and ‘Diary of a CEO podcaster’ – likes to do things differently.

So when he recently advertised for a CPO role at his company, FlightStory, he didn’t actually say he was hiring an CPO; rather that he was hiring a ‘head of happiness and health’ – because, well, that’s cooler isn’t it?

So far, so unsurprising. But what was significant about his ad was the criteria he set for what he thinks a CPO (or equivalent) should be.

Some obvious stuff was duly required: he wants his new head to give staff ‘access to resources and experience that elevate their personal and professional growth’. He wants someone who will ensure his team is ‘supported with ‘tools, knowledge and other resources to achieve their sustainable high performance.’ But mostly, specific requirements were thin on the ground. What Bartlett says he cares about most however, was that applicants should be: ‘kind’; ‘willing to learn’ and be ‘hard working’. He says he won’t exclude people because they don’t have a university qualification (fair enough), or based on their age (that’s good, because otherwise it would be illegal), but more significantly he also welcomed applicants if ‘you don’t have experience in this role’.