“Beyond the Job Description”: CHRO Peter Fasolo on Bringing Value to the Boardroom

CHRO as strategic architect

Peter Fasolo’s journey to the boardroom was hardly coincidental. As CHRO — most notably during his 14 years leading the HR function at Johnson & Johnson — his approach was to ensure functional excellence while cementing his status as a strategic C-suite member who could also lead on strategy formation, top-team alignment and organizational transformation. His value is evident based on his serving as co-leader (with the CFO) of the separation of J&J’s consumer unit.

Fasolo said that as boards and CEOs understandably demand more from their CHROs, those HR leaders must deliver business outcomes, not just process excellence.

“CHROs need to be equally participating members of strategy formation, not just strategy execution,” Fasolo said. “You have to link people practices to the strategic direction of the firm.”

Anne Mulcahy, the former lead director at J&J, echoed that sentiment. She said that many CHROs stay within the boundaries of their functions, responding to the board rather than proactively initiating business conversations. Fasolo, she said, had created greater awareness on the board of the workforce implication of board decisions — and challenged the board if those decisions might not be in the best interests of the company’s people or its culture.

“He’s not passive,” Mulcahy said. “He’s confident enough to initiate dialogue around something he sees through the human resources lens that the board needs to engage on.”

Preparedness over courage

That attitude carried over to Fasolo’s own participation on private and public boards. Fellow board members often describe Fasolo as “courageous,” an assessment that Fasolo reframes as preparedness. “I don’t go into a conversation unless I have done my homework,” he said.

Colin Watts, CEO of Thorne, praised Fasolo’s ability to help the board better understand the company as a “living organism” — considering the company’s broad strategy and linking it to its people and culture. While Fasolo’s knowledge on people processes — recruiting, onboarding, retention, performance planning, compensation — is valuable, it’s his strategic foresight that makes him an indispensable board member.

“When we go to the board to talk explicitly about strategy, Peter is the first person we talk to,” Watts said. “He has the ability to elevate the conversation to strategy and enterprise value…. Peter does an exceptional job anticipating some of the larger people challenges that will come with our growth, and then posing smart questions that others may not necessarily know to ask.”

Ultimately, Fasolo said, the key to being a good director is understanding what the board and other stakeholders want to know, and ensuring that you are addressing that.

“CHROs often get stuck in running the function and don't think deeply enough about what CEOs and boards care about, which is top line, bottom line, free cash flow, new markets, market access, shareholder return,” Fasolo said. “You need to link your people practices to the outcomes that stakeholders really care about.”

Redefining board composition

The value of having a great CHROs has never been greater. Nor has the value HR executives can bring to boards ever been greater — perhaps as valuable as the finance leadership so commonly sought after on boards.

“Boards are about governance, about risk, about navigating big issues like external reputation, risk, succession, executive comp,” Fasolo said. “These are things that I bring to the table. But I also think I bring discipline around where value is truly created. I am another voice around the table related to the human capital story, but I can also specifically link it to shareholder returns.”