Hail to the Chiefs

But the chief reason for selecting Nelson over more seasoned technical vets was that she was "really, really sharp," Rollo says. "We take what appear to be exceptional people and teach them what they need to know about our business. In this case we judged right."

Nelson's first order of business was to solve the database problem, which she did with dispatch--combining five flat databases into one relational database so that "instead of getting just one piece of the pie, you get all the primary research as well as the ancillary information in one search," she explains.

The new CIO then turned her attention to the Internet, which she saw as an informational--as opposed to a technological--challenge. Assuming the role of cyberlibrarian, Nelson began the exhausting process of locating Web sites, databases, and other on-line resources she thought the firm's recruiters should be using. She evaluated each site (Is it industry specific? position specific? a good place to start a search?) and then created on-line libraries of URLs that she or one of the recruiters could use to find reliable information--fast. She also trained staff members to conduct swift pinpoint searches. "If I spend half an hour teaching someone to do smarter searches on the Internet, it saves the company hours later on," Nelson says. That estimate may be understated: as a direct result of Nelson's efforts, Rollo says, his company can now place more CEOs than ever within 90 days. (It usually takes 150 days to place a CEO, according to industry averages.)

Nelson's teaching carries over to other applications as well. Worried that his company was using only a small fraction of its software's functionality, Rollo asked his CIO to create a training program for such packages as FileMaker Pro and Microsoft Office. Now every Monday morning the whole staff gathers for a College Bowl­like competition--with Nelson acting as quizmaster--on things like the uses of F-function keys in Microsoft Word.

Perhaps most important, Nelson is helping Rollo Associates build for the future. She is involved in creating new products, including salary-comparison reports that leverage information in the company's own database. About 30% of her time is spent investigating new technologies that might be helpful to her employer, such as voice-recognition software, which she hopes will reduce word-processing time. And by the end of the year she will be overseeing the company's migration from Macs to PCs.

Last year Rollo Associates increased revenues by 20% without expanding its staff--the result, says its president, of more job placements made possible by broader, more efficient searches. His goals--for the time being--achieved, he waxes rhapsodic over the person who made it all happen. "The CIO position should be regarded as just as critical as the head of manufacturing or marketing," Rollo says. "I can't think of a business today that isn't being driven by its ability to manage information."

Emily Esterson is an associate editor at Inc. Technology.

ANATOMY OF A TECH LEADER

The ideal CIO candidate has--

• A strong general understanding of business and--in the best of all possible worlds--of the prospective employer's industry

• An understanding of technology, especially the Internet, local and wide area networks, and databases

• The ability to align technology with business goals

• A vision of how emerging technologies may affect the company's business environment

• The political skills to win internal support for technology investments

• A desk-side manner that will calm technophobic employees

• The ability to communicate with employees at all levels of the company, as well as with outsiders such as consultants, systems integrators, vendors, and customers

• Teaching skills or the ability to supervise training

• Project-management skills

• Negotiating skills

• Writing skills

• A balanced view of technology's importance in relation to other business functions

• Experience (the ideal candidate has been a CIO or held another high-level technology position in a well-respected IT consultancy or has had a senior-management role influencing technology decisions)

• A solid understanding of finance

Source: Mike Christy, managing partner of the international-technology practice at Heidrick and Struggles, and Robert Rollo, CEO and managing partner of Rollo Associates.

 PREV  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5