CIOs Should Resist Making Themselves Indispensable

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. And, even more uneasy lies on the one that has to take it off and pass the baton on. Choosing the right successor can be quite a daunting task even for the most successful of leaders, whether it is Ratan Tata or the slew of outgoing Infosys CEOs from Narayana Murthy to Kris. While CIO succession might not have the same bearing as a CEO succession, both guarantee some sleepless nights to the outgoing party.

Biztech2.com tries to decode CIO succession planning from the eyes of both the successee and the successor, to bring to light some of the best practices that can help CIOs smoothen the ‘way out’ for themselves and the ‘way in’ for the successor. And, in the process ensuring that IT continues to function seamlessly even in the middle of the transition with least disruption.

Taking The First Step

Like with any business plan, which involves lot of strategy and planning, succession planning is also something that requires time, thought and, of course, planning. CIOs need to plan in advance and strategies need to be charted out well and executed in a phased manner.

Talking to CIOs, a majority believe that ‘identifying the right candidate’ is the most critical step in the entire succession planning process. More so, as a wrong choice can not only spoil team dynamics, but also result in attrition, negativity, loss of productivity, and more. Having said that, it’s not just about displaying a discerning sensibility when the moment arrives to choose the right successor, but a long drawn, conscious process that starts even before the CIO decides to move out. Simply talking, it is about identifying and grooming the next level to make them competent enough to replace the current authority.

An emerging trend which we see today is CIOs spotting their successors way before it is actually required. “We identify the growth process of an individual during recruitment itself. This facilitates the transition process and we have a fairly good understanding of his capabilities. In a scenario where backfills are not looked at senior management level on immediate basis, businesses suffer when the CIO/IT head decides to leave. Having a back fill is not only important from an organisational stand point but also from the employees as well, believes Jayabalan, CTO, Netmagic Solutions.

You Are Dispensable

The most common mistake that a lot of CIOs, or for that matter any senior management executive, can’t resist, is making themselves indispensable. Many CIOs build teams around them, at the same time keep themselves indispensable. So, when time comes for change of guard, what comes as a rude shock is lack of leaders down the line that can take over the baton without wasting too much time on acquainting themselves to the leadership role. While there might be no dearth of technically and functionally proficient replacements available, they are not always leaders.

The two-pronged strategy that works here is – removing people dependency and test by fire. Delegation of duty has to be in place with the CIO getting involved only in the planning stage. A CIO should be able to plan for future and get involved only at macro planning. Micro level should be handled by middle management only.

“Middle level managers should be equipped with decision making powers. Only then grooming and bringing them to the next step becomes easy. A company sees growth only when delegation of authority takes place,” points out Jayabalan.

With authority comes responsibility, and the CIO needs to ensure that they keep an eye out for the performer. “When the migration happens, there has to be a mix between present and futuristic goals. Some part of the work has to be allotted to the successor before he is elevated. This will show his performance levels and capabilities. A hands-on experience is essential. Assuming a role is easy but delivering goods is a tough task,” explains Kamal Sharma, Group CIO & Head IT Business Services, Mindlance.

Handing Over The Baton

Once the critical part of identification is over, the grooming process starts to gain more momentum. Bigger responsibilities, decision making ability, authority – as exciting as these may sound, getting into the role is not as easy. This requires significant handholding and grooming, areas that CIOs need committing their time to along with their usual tasks. When speaking to the CIOs, they opine on the need for their fraternity to start delegating few of their tasks to the sub – ordinates and oversee how it is executed.

According to Sharma, “Finding a replacement is never easy. A well thought process has to be in place. When an individual is moving out, a benchmark is already set. Also the CIO should allocate at least 30 % of his time in mentoring and ensuring that business is not getting affected.” A successee should create short-term training programmes. He should motivate and let the successor handle the tasks in his presence. This helps in sensitising the workforce and also setting up a pedestal for the successor.

A senior CIO on conditions of anonymity reveals, “When I joined the company, there was no formal training given. I had to learn everything right from scratch, and it was a nightmare. You have to face external as well as internal pressures and also keep up to the expectations.”

During the grooming process its critical for the CIO to understand better and in detail the mindset and the qualities that the potential candidate brings along, and judging them against the parameters set by them. While at a micro level the parameters may vary from one CIO to the other, overall, some of the common judging parameters include – understanding the organisational dynamics, setting the right expectations to the business and team, ability to handle the challenges in terms of attrition, time, etc.
Grooming the potential CIO well in advance assumes all the more significance considering the changing role of the CIO. Earlier, the CIO’s role was limited to sourcing inventory and IT equipments, which could perhaps have been satisfactorily met with technical proficiency to a great extent. However, the CIO’s role is undergoing significant change, with him/her being considered at par with the other ‘C’ level executives and even aspiring to the top spot. The CIOs are not only undertaking the traditional role but also equipping themselves with the business understanding to spot new business trends, make impact on costs, drive business value. The role of the new crop of CIOs is more strategic in nature and requires grooming themselves to undertake business roles. Hence, the grooming around the business role gains even more significance in the current scenario.

In Loop With HR

HR also plays an important role in grooming, especially when people management is involved. Grooming both the successee and successor is critical and complete documentation of the handover process has to be done. A quick parameter check has to be done by HR on whether the candidate has enough business understanding, has the ability to understand and mitigate the pressures of a CIO, is easily approachable, and is a people’s person.

Internal Vs. External

A perpetual, but important debate, during any succession planning process is the one around internal or external candidate. But, as it turns out, there is no one right answer to this. While the ultimate decision to hire from outside or decide on someone from internal ranks will vary from situation to situation, a common view point is that when leaders are brought from outside, there can arise some resentment within the team. A common trick of the trade is to identify from existing resources and look out for a person who has more exposure to the next level than his current role. Only in absence of a resource, one can scout for outside options. Even within the choice of internal candidate there is the question of hiring from the mid level or senior management ranks. According to Sharma, many organisations choose from the senior level management since hand over is smoother and faster.
But, there is another school of thought that believes otherwise, as the external candidate can bring in a different scale of experience that an internal candidate might lack. Jayabalan pointed out, “To scale operations from 10 crore to 50 crore, I would look at a person who has already done that. A potential candidate within the company may or may not have that kind of exposure. It is always beneficial for the company to source talent from companies which are higher in scale because of the exposure levels of the employees.” In defence of the internal candidate, though, is his/her understanding of the dynamics of the organisation and its work culture.

Change in guard, whether internal or external, is bound to bring with its share of conflicts. Hence, change management forms a critical part of the whole process. Even though the change management aspect becomes more critical after the transition, it is important for the CIO to lay the foundation for this change management during his/her tenure itself.

Though there are numerous theories and best practices espoused for the CIOs to enable a smooth succession, it’s not always that every theory will fit in as organisational and individual dynamics differ. What works is for the CIO to find his/her own ‘comfort space’ among this deluge of theories, one that allows to translate his/her vision into reality.