Until a few years ago, most Chief Information Officers (CIO) in organisations around the world have had a functional role rather than a strategic one. However, with increasing focus on digitisation in general and digital-led transformation in particular, this mindset is rapidly changing. CIOs are now expected to move beyond their traditional responsibility to simply manage IT to now leverage IT in order to create greater value for their organisation. Companies too are realising that they need to be ‘tech forward’, with technology driving the business rather than vice versa.
But is the reality keeping pace with these beliefs?
Is the CIO role truly expanding? And are organisations as focused on digital transformation as they know they should be?
The answer to both questions seems to be No. Ironically, the former No is somewhat responsible for the latter No. According to McKinsey’s 2018 IT strategy survey, a whopping 79% of organisations are still in the early stages of their technology transformation. One of the reasons for this is that CIOs have not accepted that their role needs to expand beyond their normal responsibilities. As a result, they still rarely look past cost savings and performance metrics, and don’t realise that IT can be a core driver of business value instead of just a supporting function for the core business.
Tech transformation can only happen when CIOs embrace their role as ‘transformative leaders’. And for this, they first need to better understand the nature of the transformation itself. To do this, they need to come to terms with its expanded scope by reimagining the role of technology in the organisation; by updating the IT function and changing its delivery mechanisms; and finally by taking steps to future-proof the organisation through flexible architectures, modular platforms, data ubiquity, and of course cyber security. After they understand what a transformation would – and should – entail, they need to ensure that any such project is implemented in a holistic way rather than as a set of disjointed initiatives.
Only when they achieve both goals will they be known as Transformative CIOs capable of leading a tech transformation initiative that delivers tangible and long-term business value to the entire organisation.
The 5 Must-have Qualities of a Transformative CIO
In an increasingly tech-driven business landscape, a truly transformative CIO needs to develop 5 essential qualities:
1. Have strong business acumen
An IT leader cannot transform a business if he doesn’t understand the business itself. A knowledge of IT tools, technologies and methodologies will not take him far on the transformation journey. He also needs to help shape the business strategy and agenda. To prepare for this additional responsibility, a CIO must learn the business and be prepared to interact with business leaders and managers at different levels and in different ways. They will also have to gain a deeper understanding of the organisation’s customers by paying attention to customer feedback and then by using this information to guide their technology decisions.
A CIO also needs to take responsibility for tech initiatives that impact the business, particularly if they help the business scale its presence in a new market and/or generate revenue.
2. Be a change driver
A meaningful technology transformation happens only when technology is included in the agenda of every strategy discussion and process throughout the organisation. And this inclusion begins with a change in the CIO’s mindset – from someone who simply executes a project to someone who provides positive direction and mentorship, and leads meaningful change.
A transformative CIO needs to develop true partnerships with other business leaders across the organisation to understand goals and issues, set expectations and establish trust. The CIO needs to engage in active collaboration to ensure that any new IT initiatives are prioritised and adopted. They need to be able to articulate the ‘why’ of a transformation project, account for dependencies that go beyond IT, and ensure that initiatives are delivering value by planning well, tracking progress and resolving issues as soon as they arise.
3. Look for and recognise talent
A CIO that relies only on HR to identify, hire and retain talented employees is only looking at a failed transformation project. The modern, transformative CIO needs to focus some energy on both recruiting top people and on retaining them. They need to lead an effort to revamp the organisation’s recruitment and onboarding processes to track, manage and optimise the talent funnel as needed. To do this, they can use different talent sources, outsource work to consultants and contractors, and build up a pool of talented internal people.
4. Change organisational culture
The organisation’s culture must support talent.
Of course remuneration is important, but often, turnover in a company has less to do with good people feeling resentful about inadequate pay and more to do with them feeling like they’re not valued by the company’s leadership. This is where an effective CIO can foster positive change. He must be able to build a strong community that makes people feel valued. He must encourage active participation and urge them to share best practices and bring up ideas or issues for discussion. He must also support active collaboration and ‘intrapreneurial’ partnerships.
When people feel ‘seen’ and ‘heard’, they will support the CIO’s (and organisation’s) goals for IT transformation. If they don’t, the project is doomed to failure.
5. Simplify ‘tech’ talk for the non-tech leadership
The organisation’s business leaders might not understand the implications of tech transformation. It is the CIO’s job to translate tech terms into business language. They must clarify the business implications of tech decisions, both good and not-so-good. Their inputs can help the leadership make informed decisions that can affect the organisation in profound ways, and ensure that a tech transformation project delivers long-lasting value to the firm, its workforce and its customers.
