Chief Human Resources Officer Program

Executives In Meeting

Today’s HR leaders are tasked with reaching beyond the traditional, tactical scope of the position — recruitment, compensation, benefits — to broader initiatives that extend across all sectors of the organization. You are expected to adapt digitization and technology advancements, incorporate diversity initiatives, and continually provide talent management guidance to company leaders. You are also being asked to shape company culture and articulate inclusion efforts that provide a workplace conducive to nurturing a committed employee base.

The Chief Human Resources Officer Program is an immersive, nine-month experience that can better prepare you to take on these increasing responsibilities. Through a mix of timely, highly impactful modules that combine theory and real-world case studies, along with video lectures and virtual fireside chats, this robust program will empower you to develop a strategic mindset, hone your effective decision-making skills, and guide you in taking your organization’s talent to the next level. Gain the skills to tackle the entire life cycle of a deal-making process, including corporate development strategy, M&A decisions, due diligence, divestitures, and negotiation strategies.

Program Highlights

  • Learn at your own pace with online sessions and customize your learning journey with a wide array of electives
  • Glean fresh insights from global industry experts with guest lectures throughout the program
  • Examine real-world business cases and understand how to apply the learnings to your job immediately
  • Interact with and learn from top-ranked faculty who teach in Wharton Executive Education’s senior executive programs
  • Build your professional network with high-achieving peers from around the world

PROGRAM DETAILS

Duration: 9 months

Location:
Online + On Campus*

*Includes a two-day immersion on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, USA

The program fee is US$22,000 and covers teaching fees, all academic material, and access to online coursework. The fee does not include accommodation for the on-campus recognition ceremony and networking event, transport expenses (domestic, international, visa fee, and more), and other expenses not specifically mentioned in the fees.

Program Format

The CHRO Program combines an online curriculum of 18 weeks of core modules and electives, culminating in two days of invaluable on-campus connection and networking. Choose three out of eight topical electives (of six weeks each) to gain relevant skill sets specific to your role.

Three core modules

(18 weeks total)

Elevating the CHRO Role Human Capital and Talent Strategy
Leading Culture and Organizational Change

Three online electives

(Six weeks each)

Executive Presence and Influence: Persuasive Leadership Development Corporate Governance: Maximize Your Effectiveness in the Boardroom
Mastering Talent Management: Hiring, Engaging, and Rewarding A+ Talent M&A and Corporate Development Strategies
Future of Work: Leading Modern Workplaces HR Management and Analytics: Unlock the Value of Human Capital

Two-day on-campus recognition ceremony and networking event

Who Should Attend

Ideal candidates for the CHRO Program possess a deep understanding of all aspects of human resources management, as well as industrial relations policies, practices, and operations. You are strategists, organizational orchestrators, and compliance regulators who are steeped in the complexities of human resources. You are often tapped for the counsel you offer to senior leadership or the board of directors.
Job titles and job functions include:

  • Chief HR/people officers
  • Senior HR leaders across talent management, compensation, engagement, performance, and HR operations

A minimum of 10 years of professional work experience and fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Pathway to Wharton Alumni Status

After completing the CHRO Program and subsequent open-enrollment programs, subject to further qualification criteria and additional tuition, you have a pathway to apply for Wharton Alumni Status.

Executives who successfully complete the CHRO Program have the option of applying to the General Management Program (GMP). The GMP provides a further opportunity to enhance your leadership skills and business acumen with a flexible curriculum. The CHRO Program provides one credit towards the six required to complete the GMP and earn alumni status. Learn more about GMP ».

Upon qualifying for Wharton Alumni Status, you will be eligible to receive:

  • Full access to become a member of 77+ Wharton Alumni Clubs
  • Invitation to attend future Wharton Global Alumni Forums
  • A Wharton email address

Please also note that participation in the Chief Human Resources Officer Program (a) will not result in a degree from, alumni status with, or earned credit at the University of Pennsylvania or the Wharton School (or, to Wharton’s knowledge, any other institution), (b) will not be recorded on a University of Pennsylvania or Wharton transcript; and (c) does not guarantee or suggest that a participant will be admitted to the University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton School, or to any other university or institution.

To learn more, please contact:

+1.567.587.1541

Learn More and Apply

Delivered in collaboration with program partner Emeritus:

Emeritus logo


Matthew Bidwell

Matthew Bidwell, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Xingmei Zhang and Yongge Dai Professor; Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Careers, contingent work, firm boundaries, human resource management, knowledge workers


Andrew Carton

Andrew M. Carton, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Associate Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Managing intergroup relations; establishing a sense of purpose


John Paul MacDuffie

John Paul MacDuffie, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Human resource management systems, managing people over distance, organizational learning and collaboration


Nicolaj Siggelkow

Nicolaj Siggelkow, PhDSee Faculty Bio

David M. Knott Professor; Professor of Management; Co-Director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Competitive strategy, firms as systems of interconnected choices