CAHRS Roundtable Event Largest Ever

On August 21, 2012, the Statler Hotel in Ithaca, NY hosted the largest CAHRS Roundtable session in history of its 15 years, where 114 MILR students had the opportunity to talk with 22 CAHRS partner HR executives. The Roundtables are an opportunity for students to meet with HR executives to hear about current issues and challenges for the function, advice regarding career paths and key competencies to develop while they are students in the ILR School. This unique opportunity allowed a range of students from first-year to graduate level to discuss with top HR leaders key issues such as managing disruptive changes to industries as well as competitive environments. This topic will be a main focus of the CAHRS Fall Partner Meeting in Ithaca, NY on October 10-11, 2012.

It was clear at the end of the four-hour session that both students and executives were inspired by one another’s energy. One executive, who was particularly appreciative of the difficult questions that the students were asking, told students “My advice to you would be to keep asking the difficult questions. Being agile in your learning will enable you to develop new strategies.”

Another theme that rang true with executives and students alike was the importance of business acumen. Clearly, importance was placed on data and understanding how to use it. Rather than going by what “feels right,” students were urged to respect what the facts state. (To watch ILR’s HR Professor John Hausknecht as he discusses HR Analytics in his Webcast on September 19th, register here.)

From a student’s perspective, the most valued part of the session was the fact that executives were approachable and honest. One of the students remarked about how pleasantly surprised she was to have a conversation with a top HR executive on a personal level. The stories that were shared by executives made the students realize that there is not just one path to becoming a CHRO.