Howard Schultz believes HR could be the most important function for a company. Do you agree?


There is no shortage of interesting CEO interviews out there, but every now and then, something in one of them really grabs my attention.

This week’s Corner Office Q&A in the New York Times features Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks. In it, he describes his rags-to-riches rise in corporate America.

He also talks about building a corporate culture, and offered this nugget:

“People ask me what’s the most important function when you’re starting an organization or setting up the kind of culture and values that are going to endure.

“The discipline I believe so strongly in is HR, and it’s the last discipline that gets funded. Marketing, manufacturing — all these things are important. But more often than not, the head of HR does not have a seat at the table. Big mistake.”

I can’t say I’ve heard too many corporate leaders—CEOs or other C-level execs—make the case for HR so emphatically.

I’ve seen HR leaders and teams do some amazing things inside their companies. But I’ve also seen HR people do very little—to the point where there department is barely noticeable, except to ask questions about benefits or corporate policies.

Still, I can see where Schultz is going here. We’ve talked a lot about how important IT is to a company’s success—and culture—simply because it touches every aspect of the business. HR, in its own way, does the same thing. The challenge is doing it effectively—and doing more than just being a benefits clearinghouse.

Soon we’ll be featuring some perspectives from some of the top HR thinkers around. In the meantime, we’d like to hear from you: How have you seen your HR leaders truly impact and improve the culture at your company?

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