The Wharton School

Chief Human Resources Officer Program

The Wharton School

Online

About Programme

The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Program from Wharton Executive Education equips senior HR leaders and aspiring CHROs to align talent strategy with organizational objectives and lead enterprise transformation. In today’s fast-evolving business environment, where talent is central to growth and resilience, the CHRO must act as both strategist and change agent, driving workforce transformation, business performance, and sustainable advantage.Led by renowned Wharton faculty, this 9- to 12-month program integrates HR strategy, organizational development, and leadership capabilities with customizable electives to prepare you for organization-wide impact. You will gain the strategic insights, leadership mindset, and advanced tools to elevate the HR function, strengthen organizational performance, and shape the future of work.

Programme Content

Elevating the CHRO Role

The Opportunity and the Trap

Strategy Assessment

Human Resource Systems and Strategy

Strategy Creation

Strategy Implementation

Solving Challenges with Human Resources

Human Capital and Talent Strategy

Talent Strategy

What Do Your Employees Want? A Career Perspective

Managing the Talent Pipeline

Performance Management

Diversity

Analytics and New Technologies in Talent Management

Leading Culture and Organizational Change

What Kind of Leader Are You?

Generating a Compelling Vision: The Science Behind Creativity and Cascading

Making Your Vision a Reality: The Science Behind Culture and Communication

The Rider: Creating Change by Shaping the Way People Think

The Elephant: Creating Change through Emotion

The Path: Creating Change by Molding the Situation

Note: Session topics are subject to change.

Executive Presence and Influence: Persuasive Leadership Development: Gain the skill set needed to have an impactful executive presence through strategic persuasion and craft your unique leadership style.

Corporate Governance: Maximize Your Effectiveness in the Boardroom: Gain a deeper understanding of corporate governance and increase your impact on board-level decisions by understanding the role, structure, and responsibilities of corporate governance.

Mastering Talent Management: Hiring, Engaging, and Rewarding A+ Talent: Gain the knowledge you need to hire and nurture top talent. Understand tried-and-true strategies you can use to stay ahead of the curve.

Future of Work: Leading Modern Workplaces: Learn to create a reliable framework to successfully navigate changes in modern workplaces.

HR Management and Analytics: Unlock the Value of Human Capital: Combine theory with practical application to get a holistic view of strategic HR management that also includes an overview of people analytics.

M&A and Corporate Development Strategies: 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.

High-Impact Leadership Communication: Elevate your executive communication with structured frameworks, AI-enabled tools, and a customized leadership communication approach.

*Electives are subject to change.

Meet your cohort peers and faculty in person on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia at an optional two-day recognition ceremony and networking event*. This event takes place once every four cohorts, providing an opportunity to network with your peers and professionals from other cohorts to create a lifelong community of global executives.

Note: *A registration fee of US$250 is applicable.

Strengthen your strategic leadership with live, application-focused sessions* that help you navigate the accelerating impact of AI across enterprise models, customer ecosystems, regulatory landscapes, and organizational strategy.

AI and Search: From SEO to LLMO, Kartik Hosanagar

Led by Kartik Hosanagar, this session examines how commerce is shifting as AI systems and autonomous agents research, recommend, and purchase on behalf of consumers and enterprises. It introduces the move from search engine optimization (SEO) to AI engine optimization (AEO) and AI agent optimization (AAO) as well as its impact on brand strategy, data foundations, and go-to-market planning. You will learn how marketing, sales, and customer experience must adapt for a future in which AI guides most purchase journeys.

Responsible AI: Ethics, Regulation, and Governance, Kevin Werbach

Led by Kevin Werbach, this session explores how AI systems are becoming central to enterprise decision making and why leaders must ensure that their use is ethical, transparent, and aligned with emerging regulations. It outlines the foundations of responsible AI governance and how to design oversight, manage accountability, and support innovation responsibly. You will also examine global regulatory approaches to AI and understand the context required to lead adoption in complex, international environments.

Measuring Productivity Gains of AI in the Workplace, Pinar Yildirim

Led by Professor Pinar Yildirim, this session examines how organizations can rigorously assess the impact of AI on workplace productivity and business performance. It explores which metrics truly matter, how to link them directly to AI initiatives, and how to avoid misleading signals that overstate impact. You will learn how to set realistic expectations, design meaningful experiments, and build dashboards that distinguish genuine productivity gains from activity that appears effective but delivers limited value.

*Note: Session topics and speakers are subject to change.

Programme Audience

The CHRO Program is designed for senior HR leaders who are ready to expand their influence from functional expertise to enterprise-wide strategy. It is ideal for:

Current and aspiring CHROs or chief people officers seeking to strengthen their strategic HR leadership capabilities, act as strategic partners to the C-suite, and advise senior leadership or the board of directors

Current and aspiring CHROs or chief people officers seeking to strengthen their strategic HR leadership capabilities, act as strategic partners to the C-suite, and advise senior leadership or the board of directors

Senior HR executives, including VPs or heads of talent acquisition, people management, compensation, employee engagement, diversity initiatives, or operations, responsible for advancing organizational development and enhancing the HR function

Senior HR executives, including VPs or heads of talent acquisition, people management, compensation, employee engagement, diversity initiatives, or operations, responsible for advancing organizational development and enhancing the HR function

HR leaders who are tasked with aligning people strategy to organizational objectives, applying a strategic mindset, and driving workforce transformation that improves organizational performance at scale

HR leaders who are tasked with aligning people strategy to organizational objectives, applying a strategic mindset, and driving workforce transformation that improves organizational performance at scale

Program eligibility criteria include:

A minimum of 10 years of work experience

A minimum of 10 years of work experience

Fluency in written and spoken English

Fluency in written and spoken English

Programme Benefits

The Wharton CHRO Program will enable you to:

Analyze the application of HR strategies to organizational approaches

Analyze the application of HR strategies to organizational approaches

Evaluate an organization’s human and social capital for competitive advantage

Evaluate an organization’s human and social capital for competitive advantage

Explore different types of AI and their applications in HR, from talent analytics to workforce productivity

Explore different types of AI and their applications in HR, from talent analytics to workforce productivity

Assess talent approaches to succession planning and strategic workforce management with internal development and external hiring

Assess talent approaches to succession planning and strategic workforce management with internal development and external hiring

Examine approaches for career development, hiring processes, and diversity

Examine approaches for career development, hiring processes, and diversity

Understand effective leadership principles and practices to analyze and navigate aspects of change management

Understand effective leadership principles and practices to analyze and navigate aspects of change management

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+91 9403890085[email protected]Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm IST

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Chief Human Resources Officer Program | The Wharton School