3 Misalignments of Executive Teams

Many CEOs miss the mark on the design of their executive team.

It may seem basic, but unless the CEO has the right direct reports, managing performance is going to be tough.

The issue usually involves one key function reporting to another function — rather than straight to the CEO. The three classic misalignments of this kind are:

1. HR reports to finance or operations. Despite lots of talk of a “seat at the table” for human resources, HR leaders often sit below a CFO or COO on the org chart (13 and 10 percent, respectively, according to SHRM).
   
   But HR isn’t just a cost center or an elaborate process to be managed. Rather, it’s a strategic function so vital that it should be overseen by the CEO him- or herself.
   
   Anecdotally, I’ve seen CEOs much more in touch with their HR leadership recently thanks to the pandemic upheaval of 2020 and beyond.
   

2. Marketing reports to sales. My colleague Veena Vadgama wrote about this one recently. Marketing is a strategic function that defines, describes, and prom…