Who do most HR executives report to?

Whether an HR pro goes through an intermediary to get to the C-suite or not, most employers recognize the importance of the position.

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The top HR executive reports to the CEO, president or owner in three of five organizations, according to XpertHR’s HR Staffing and Resources Survey 2021. In other companies, HR reports to:

“The survey results show that at a majority of organizations, HR has a direct line to a topmost company executive rather than needing to go through an intermediary such as the CFO, which is probably a reflection of the importance employers place on human resources in today’s complex working world,” said Andrew Hellwege, surveys editor for XpertHR.

The median staffing level is 1.5 full-time equivalent HR staff members for every 100 workers, a figure that varies by workforce size.

Employers with fewer than 250 workers reported a median ratio of 2.2 staff members per 100 workers. The ratio drops to one or fewer for companies with 251 or more employees.

“The inverse relationship between workforce size and the HR staff-to-employee ratio highlights economies of scale, as larger organizations are able to achieve necessary HR results without needing the same proportion of HR staff as smaller companies,” Hellwege said.

Thirty-two percent of employers with fewer than 250 workers have a budget for their HR function. This percentage increases to 51 percent for firms with 250 to 999 employees and to 77 percent for companies with 1,000 or more workers.

“These findings illustrate that the likelihood of having a separate budget for HR grows as workforce size increases, which one might expect given larger organizations’ higher levels of overall spending and resources,” Hellwege said.

The survey, which includes the responses of 417 U.S. employers of various industries and workforce sizes, was conducted in early February.

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