A Preview of The Most Inclusive HR Influencer List

Lately, we’ve seen a lot of lists that all look like Forbes’ recent Most Innovative Leaders list. And, frankly, we’re tired of it. We’re tired of lists that lack representation. In creating The Most Inclusive HR Influencer List, I’m hoping to celebrate HR influencers who are representative of and truly making an impact in the global HR community.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been sharing non-stop about The Most Inclusive HR Influencer List. I wanted this list to be unlike any other. I wanted it to be a list “of the people, by the people.” That’s why I left the nominations up to YOU.

Yesterday was the last day to submit nominations for the first edition of The List. I’m still working on the complete list. But, I wanted to share a sneak peak at the results we’ve seen so far.

Roles and Functions

HCM functions play a critical role in our workplaces as well as in society. They impact the people we bring into our organizations, the way we treat them, and how we prepare our organizations for the future.

With that said, many believe real influencers and decision makers classify as “HR Managers and above.” Sixty-two percent of nominees fall into this category. However, it turns out HR influencers and decision makers come other forms, too. For example, approximately….

• 28% nominees are Founders or Cofounders
• 26% are C-level Executives or Presidents
• 8% are SVP or VP-level Executives
• 3% are HR Business Partners
• 10% are Director-level
• 10% are Manager-level
• 3% are HR Generalists
• 8% are Consultants
• 4% work at HR organizations like HRCI, Cue Inc., SHRM, or HROS
• 8% are Industry Analysts
• 3% are Professors
• 9% work for HR technology companies

When looking at these status, it’s important to remember that some nominees can fall under more than one category.

Additionally, breaking the above metrics out even further by topic, it looks like roughly…

• 44% talk about Core HR
• 21% are interested in Recruiting-related fields
• 18% discuss HR Technology
• 13% focus on Diversity and Inclusion
• 2% focus on Employment Law
• Less than 1% is in Compensation and Benefits

Based on role and function, it’s clear HR leaders and decision makers come in all forms and discuss a wide range of topics. It also shows a need for more HR folks to discuss topics including benefits, compensation, payroll, and similar topics! If you know someone talking about these topics, please share!!

Geography

We’re thrilled that nominees come from all over the world. The geographic breakout of nominees looks like…

• 79% of the nominees come from North America
• 6% are from Europe
• 5% are from Asia
• 4% are from Africa
• Less than 1% are from South America and Australia

Broken out even further, the top locations of nominees include:

• 15% are from the Greater New York area
• 11% are from California
• 5% of nominees are located in Texas, Ohio, and Washington D.C.
• 3% are from North Carolina
• 3% are located in Ontario

Diversity

As we all know, representation matters. I’m thrilled this is not one of those “all male” lists. With just a sneak peak, it looks like 59% of nominees are women and 40% are men. Additionally, our estimates indicate roughly 64% of nominees are caucasian and 35% of nominees are non-white and are from (currently or ancestrally) African, Asian, or South American countries.

My goal in putting together The Most Inclusive HR Influencer List is to identify and celebrate diversified industry voices. We’re proud of the geographic, role, and personal identify diversity. However, we still have a long way to go. My hope is over time, as we continue to accept new nominations and update the list, we will continue to close the gaps we’re seeing.

I also want to thank everyone who nominated someone or shared The Most Inclusive HR Influencer List messages with your networks. We hope you’ll continue to share and nominate new voices over time. This will help us close the gaps!

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me and I’ll be in touch with the full list soon!

Thank you to The Most Inclusive HR Influencer List Sponsor