Reference no: EM133089512

Executive Succession Planning for the CIO Position

As with any executive search, finding the right CIO (chief information officer) can be very challenging since often the requirements for an individual company's CIO are somewhat subjective. The average CIO lasts three to five years at a company, and about two-thirds of the time a replacement is found outside the organization. At E. & J. Gallo Winery, the current CIO, Kent Kushar, has made it a point to work with the Human Resources Department to find himself a successor. He found one possible candidate in the Sales and Marketing Department, a vice president named Kevin Barnes. Barnes understood Gallo's strategy of linking technology with a customer-oriented approach. Barnes was sent on a CIO training course, so to speak. The course, run by Harvard Professor Jim Cash, is a six-month training course with workshops, teleconferences, and personal advisers. The cost of the course is $35,000, but those who complete it generally find themselves ready to step into a CIO job.

Experienced CIOs have put together a list of key ideas for creating a good succession plan, as explained in the magazine, CIO:

• Perform needs assessments-Focus on the skills and the type of information technology leadership that the company will require in the future. HCM software can help a company standardize the assessment of potential candidates for leadership positions. Also, find out who is going to retire over the next several years.
• Determine how far down the ladder the plan will go-Ideally, successions plans should also be developed for middle management, so if someone leaves the company, the transition to promotion is smooth. Again, HCM software can be used to track the skill set of each employee to identify those who are ready to move up.
• Evaluate skills, performance, and goals for growth-Performance evaluations of employees can accomplish this task. At Marriott International, an employee's performance evaluation is compared to a set of company "key dimensions." This helps Marriott to not only do succession planning, but also to ensure their employees are utilized to their full potential.
• Identify potential-This task is usually performed by senior management, such as the CIO. While potential can be difficult to assess, international shipping company, UPS, has a standardized way of assessing employees in four areas of leadership-business, people, results, and self. This balanced evaluation is shared with all groups across the organization and is used when evaluating people for senior-level management positions.
• Put potential leaders to the test-Give employees opportunities to show their potential and develop new strengths. UPS rotates upper-level IT managers through different IT functions and business areas to gain experience. CIOs can groom future leaders by putting them in charge of projects or meetings.
• Keep succession criteria consistent and up to date-Succession plans should become part of an organization's culture. According to George Hall, senior vice president at Marriott, "Succession planning is not a means to an end; it's the end itself. It's really what falls out of doing other things correctly."

Questions: 

1. Assume that Fitter needs to replace their current CIO who is retiring. Make a list of the pros and cons of hiring a new CIO from outside the company as opposed to promoting someone from within the company. Which do you think is the correct approach? Explain your answer.