Sure.

Although it is pretty unlikely, in most companies.

HR is a service organization, a support function. Much of their work is administrative, keeping records, making reports to the government, assuring compliance with all laws and regulations affecting employees, seeing that benefit plans function properly, and the like. Very important tasks, essential to the operation of the business.

But HR doesn't produce a dime’s worth of revenue. They do not make nor improve nor sell nor ship any products. They don’t account for one red cent of profits. They are just an overhead item, a large element of overhead, an unavoidable expense which diminishes the earnings produced by the operating groups.

The function of the company is to make and sell products. Making products which are functional, safe, durable, and sited to customer needs is central to the business Producing those products, in required volumes and of high quality, yet at low cost, is another essential function. Most of all, in some sense, is selling those products and delivering them to customers, at a price which will be profitable and will stimulate future sales, while discouraging competitors.

Ordinarily, the Directors of a company want to have a president who has long experience in more than one of these functions, and who has been conspicuously successful in creating or improving the products, decreasing costs steadily, increasing sales volumes and perhaps prices consistently, and showing healthy and growing profits in various sectors of the business. A president may have spent some time working in HR and/or other staff functions, but rarely if ever is that the primary career thrust of one who become president of a company.

The Directors, after all, are concerned with profits, growth, competitive strength, and dividends. Much more than they are concerned with government reports or seeing that pension payments are made regularly. So they will likely choose as a new president, someone who has successfully managed large sectors of the company’s operations — not its staff services.