Insights
Spencer Stuart: The Future of Technology Leadership
The onset of Covid-19 and the lockdowns that followed across the world had a profoundly disruptive effect on every business. The combined impact of a health crisis and temporary economic shutdown would have been a devastating blow a decade ago, but in 2020 most businesses were in a position to make the rapid adjustments necessary to continue operations, despite the wholesale closure of offices and other work locations.
New ways of working have brought numerous benefits, including greater efficiency. “There was a 25% increase in productivity, thanks to no commuting, fewer disturbances, better-managed meetings and more respectful exchanges between colleagues who became better at listening to each other,” says Catherine Jestin, CIO of Airbus.
But the pandemic has also altered perceptions about the IT function which may have a lasting impact. Andrea Ciccolini, CIO of Amplifon, says that “Technology is pervasive across the business. This ‘revelation’ puts us at the center of the conversation about the alignment between business and IT.” Van Kemenade agrees: “Going back 5–10 years, IT was viewed as a line item on the expense report, as a backroom function. Now, it is viewed as a strategic differentiator, which means that as a CIO you have a responsibility to influence the growth and profitability of your company; you can influence your customer’s businesses through digital channels. Now you measure IT’s success not only through internally-facing KPIs but also through business-facing KPIs.”
Main topics discussed in this article:
- Value creation
- Skilling up
- Harnessing purpose and diversity
- Leading to unite