Situation: A CEO’s company has struggled due to difficult business conditions during the last year. Top among the challenges has been poor execution in hiring quality people, not because they weren’t available, but due to uncertainty. He is also concerned about infrastructure issues, particularly in IT. How do you manage growth in a difficult economy?
Advice from the CEOs:
- Focusing on IT, a key element for success in IT is having a clear definition of company needs. How does IT serve the company? What are the goals and objectives of the IT system? What kind of load must it be able to handle? What aspects of the system are most critical to company success?
- Finding quality talent with the necessary experience is a challenge; particularly if solid goals and objectives haven’t been developed.
- One CEO shared success managing IT. The company hired two IT professionals and had them report to an internal committee. This committee then communicated effectively with management.
- Another CEO observed that some IT people look at their job as a process rather than a function; they just show up and fix things. Management of IT was improved by establishing clear objectives and holding the IT staff accountable for their performance against these objectives.
- Another CEO told the story of terminating their IT person due to lack of consistency. IT must operate under management oversight, with clearly defined goals and objectives, and accountability.
- Outsourcing some IT functions can help if used with care. On-site staff can focus on system maintenance and fight the inevitable fires.
- IT costs should be thoroughly reviewed. They can be expensive. Look at IT costs as a percent of sales and compare expenditures with others in the industry sector.
- Take a similar approach with other functions needing attention.
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