Introduction

The role of Human Resources (HR) has changed drastically over the years. HR undertook a transformational process shifting from an administrative, payroll and bureaucratic function to something deeper, people oriented and increasingly connected to the strategic direction of the company. Organisations that want to achieve success, excellent level of customer
satisfaction and improved stakeholders’ relationship, can no longer avoid understanding that people and the workforce are the major ingredient for an outstanding recipe. The scope of this report is to critically assess this transformation through the analysis of the article released by Harvard Business Review: “People Before Strategy: A New Role for the CHRO”.

Moreover, the paper will discuss the main theories around motivation at work, by comparing and contrasting some well–established models with the final objective of delivering some important recommendations for the professionals in the field. The final section of the report will present a reflective blog, an experiential journey of the student, which includes the main
challenges and lessons learnt during the past ten years.

Findings suggest the need for executives to push for the evolution of the role of the CHRO as a strategic business partner, exploiting his or her skills, knowledge of the workforce, past experience and holistic view, to deliver better results for the firm. Furthermore, motivation is not a perfect formula, it requires adaptive leadership and the right triggers as it varies for each individual. Finally, people are challenging and complex, but this complexity hide a great potential for further studies and the development of practitioners in the human resources management sector.