So, what kind of HR leadership is required to be successful in hypergrowth? Firstly, let’s dispel the myth that only young people can fit in. “I don’t think it is about age – it is about the chemistry you have with your CEO and the leadership team,” said Wong. Beyond that, a few leadership abilities will make a lot of difference.

 

• Be a data-driven problem solver. Most hypergrowth companies are a technology play. Data and fact-based analysis are in their corporate DNA, and HR needs to follow suit. As Godwin explained, “every time we adopt a new HR technology, it is important that it has an analytics capability, and it is foundational to all that we do. That allows us to be preventive rather than reactive”. Poddar concurred that “you need to figure out quickly what is working or not, and why. The why is most important”. To achieve that, a problem-solving mindset is key. As Xue remarked, “I have observed several great HR leaders in our company. They are great adaptive problem solvers. Their common trait is open-mindedness. They seek different opinions from the ground up and listen well. A lot of the challenges we face are new, so we need strong problem solving and adaptability”.

   

• Relish failure, it is a given. Many CHROs highlighted that hypergrowth companies are environments where you are expected to take risk, and sometimes fail. Chandrashekhar explained that “failures are guaranteed, so let’s just learn from it and move on”. “You are constantly doing moon shots, so you must be comfortable with failure. Not everything is always going to go as planned. You need to be open to learning from mistakes” agreed Godwin. Ong shared a similar experience “Don’t be afraid to fail and learn from it. I can’t tell you how many times I failed in my role. Be a fast learner and try all over again”. Shek summed it up by saying that “we want to empower people to be bold. Therefore, we understand mistakes can happen and we don’t mind. Just take calculated risks. Fail cheap and move fast”.

   

• Dare to hire people who are smarter than you. No one person can have all the solutions. Great hypergrowth CHROs know how to surround themselves with other great HR leaders. “The challenge will be more than you imagine, but you need to be optimistic. You need to always believe that the solution will come. Build a strong team, hire people who are even stronger than you. Be a talent scout. The magic will happen when you have a great team” said Xue. Ong agreed “always build a team who is better than yourself. Every team member should be better than you in their area. I feel my job is to get the team so ready that I can leave any time. Lack of secure leadership is one of the biggest problems”.

   

• Pace yourself. Several CHROs we interviewed compared working in a hypergrowth environment as a relentless treadmill. “You are running a marathon, and sprints at the same time. You are constantly going to be at that pace, and it never stops. Initially it can be exhilarating, but you need to pace yourself, to not burn out in the long run” mentioned Jain. Godwin agrees “you must pace yourself, since you must run all the time. There is never a low week for me, you are always working at speed. A lot of people in larger organizations do not truly understand the difference”.

   

From speaking to these eight hypergrowth CHROs it became clear that, until you have been in a hypergrowth company, you cannot truly know what it is like. “I sometimes think I was mad to go to a start-up – in hindsight I am quite proud to have taken that risk, because I learned so much from it. But you just need to realize that you may work a lot more AND be paid a lot less. So, you really need to know why you are doing this” said Chandrashekhar. Ong also highlighted the need for a ‘why’: “Really ask yourself why you would do this. This is the only thing that will keep you sprinting during that marathon. It is about whether your mind can keep your body moving. At the end of the day, you need the strength of the ‘why’ to push you forward”.

Despite all these challenges, many CHROs feel there is no way back for them to a large corporate environment. HR in hypergrowth is fast and challenging… and addictive. One CHRO we interviewed has since left to start his own HRTech company, and another has shared similar ambitions.

From hypergrowth CHRO to CEO? Will that be the next evolution? Stay tuned.