By Andy McCue, 26 January 2006 16:40
NEWS
Getting boxed into technology roles is still a barrier to career progress for many IT workers, according to UK IT execs.
IT training companies have this week reported increased demand in business-related courses from techies keen to avoid getting dogged with the 'geek' stereotype and ending their days in a dark basement office next to the server room.
But half of silicon.com's 12-man CIO Jury IT user panel claim there are still significant barriers preventing both IT professionals and IT executives from moving into broader business roles within their organisation.
Michael Elliot, IT director at toy-maker Hasbro, said: "The stereotype of the technical specialist in an ivory tower from 20 years ago is difficult to breakdown."
Paul Broome, IT director at 192.com, suggested that honesty is the downfall of IT people. He said: "Most IT types are principled and disarmingly honest about things. They will say 'the least worst option is X' in boardrooms where such disarming candidness is seen as alien in a culture of marketing buzzwords."
That is slowly changing as CIOs are gaining more credibility and respect as businesses become more and more dependent on technology, according to Victor Kemeny, IT director at William Hill.
But Ric Francis, operations director at the Post Office and former CIO, said getting boxed into IT and allowing it to drift into a peripheral role comes down to the behaviour of the individual rather than any organisational barrier.He said: "Fix these issues, become relevant and earn your seats at the table. It's not the function or its role but leadership."
Yawar Murad, CIO at GE Life Insurance, agreed: "The barriers are mental - CIOs and IT directors must understand the business drivers and where the industry is heading and make sure they are included in the business conversations in addition to managing the bits and bytes."
Today's CIO Jury was
Nicholas Bellenberg, IT Director, Hachette Filipacchi UK
Paul Broome, IT director, 192.com
Colin Cobain, IT director, Tesco
Kirk Downey, CTO, Centrica
Michael Elliot, IT director, Hasbro
Ric Francis, operations director, Post Office
Victor Kemeny, IT director, William Hill
Nick Masterson-Jones, IT programmes director, Voca
Yawar Murad, CIO, GE Insurance
Rob Neil, head of ICT, Ashford Borough Council
Sean Powley, head of IS strategy, London Borough of Barnet
Jacques Rene, IT director, Airclaims
If you are a CIO, IT director or equivalent at a large or small company in the private or public sector and you want to be part of silicon.com's CIO Jury pool, or you know an IT chief who should be, then drop us a line at editorial@silicon.com
Comments
There are 3 comments. Join the discussion
1. Steve Berry
Whether an individual becomes "boxed" is surely a matter for the individual don't you think ?
Paul's statement about IT workers is spot-on.
IT workers are principalled and brutally honest because if they're being honest with themselves they absolutely have to be to accomplish tech level goals. There will always be "conflict issues" with Management because of that.
If that doesn't translate well to Boardroom politics whose fault is that ?
The tech for telling the truth as he/she sees it ?
The rest of the Board who invariably have the view "We employ others to do that". We're really just concerned
with continuing to "steer the boat".
The Company culture for not allowing techs to be represented at the highest levels ?
Ultimately Ric is also right. The decision as to whether a tech is represented at board level will come down to the individual and whether they choose that route for themselves, which will necessitate a different series
of perspectives/belief/value systems.
However, I would argue that a tech who has successfully managed that transition is arguably a darn site more valuable than a Boardroom member who hasn't. Someone with both sets of "perspective values" is a very valuable asset.
2. Nick Cole
This is a complex issue.
Yes leadership is probably the most important skill, but many IT execs at a senior level will already possess that. They are currently leading teams providing the services.
The biggest problem is trying to get out of as the title suggests the 'geek' image. Non IT people do not recognise the skills and experience held by us practitioners, they fail to understand that because of what we do we have an inciteful knowledge of the business and usually not constrained by the pre-conceived views the business practitioners have of themselves.
IT execs can learn and practice lots of business skills but very rarely does the old-school acknowledge this. It is a hurdle just as strong as the gender glass ceiling.
In many respects the old-school business leaders come from a generalist background, which sees specialists as something to be tolerated but kept in the background. This is particularly pertinent in medium sized business. In a small business there is unlikely to be a single role, and in a big business the IT exec has been detached from the coal-face for long enough for the image to have diminished.
Ultimately the problem is a joint one. The IT people have to learn business, but to be accepted in the board room the business has to respect and value the IT expertise, and also welcome it! At the end of the day it is the board that has to bring people into the fold, it is not an automatic right for the IT exec to be there.
3. Mike
We have to free IT from the dead hand of the Finance Department.
Yes - historically finance provided the information, because they could derive it from the data they had to provide for company accounts. But that was in the days before we had the computing power we have today.
Now that IT is central to the business, it is more important than accounting, and should not report in to the financial director, who can only see things in terms of financial performance indicators.