A recent trend among dynamic companies, particularly in the fashion industry has been the introduction of a new role, the Chief People Officer. Now, while this may sound like a precocious made-up job title attempting to make HR (Human Resources) sound cool to aspiring millennials, it’s actually an important role that goes hand in hand with the increased importance of the office culture.

Of all the things a company can invest in, its workforce is probably one of the most important. But finding the right people is just the beginning, you also need to make sure you keep them and that they are giving their best.

So what does a Chief People Officer do?

A Chief People Officer is more than a glorified Head of Human Resources, his job goes further than just recruitment. A CPO is responsible for redefining the office culture and transmitting the company goals to all employees.

The CPO ensures that the office culture runs not only horizontally across all departments, but also vertically from the executive team right down to the interns. He drives the company strategy and also works as the bilateral means of communication, taking news and views from the top down and from the bottom up.

A recent study has shown that the greatest incentive to work harder on a daily basis isn’t more money (that came in third, just after free pizza), but rather personal praise and feeling valued at work. For this reason, many companies now are embracing the importance of the office culture and making sure that talented employees want to stay and want to do their best. And to achieve this, a passionate Chief People Officer who exudes the company’s culture is a great help.