I am aware that all may not agree with my assertion but let us debate this point a little more. In my opinion, the CIO can take a step forward and provide his support to such an initiative and send a clear message that he is ready to go beyond his boundaries to contribute to important programs of the organization. Let me delve at a few examples wherein the CIO can add value; the possibilities can be a lot more depending on the organizations they work for and the programs they undertake.

Contribute to ongoing programs

Companies adopt villages, work with NGOs, or run their own programs as a part of their CSR drives. The CIO can offer help in various forms. For instance, he can offer to set up communication channels, to develop systems to capture data and monitor progress, to help generate information and statistics, etc. To speak from my experience, my last organization had tied up with an NGO to empower rural women by helping them start some vocation, for example, tailoring, handicraft, etc. We spoke to the corporate affairs department and developed systems which helped them monitor progress of each of the schemes including money spent, number of participants, output generated, money earned by individuals, etc. In another case, we helped develop a mobility solution for data to be captured directly from the field.

Making IT assets available for the needy

In all our companies, whenever the IT assets like the PCs, laptops, and printers get to the end of their life cycles, and as per policy, we replace them. The old equipment is either sold or given as a buy back. It is here that the CIO can suggest and seek approval from the management to give away the old assets to rural schools, villages adopted by the company, or to other needy groups through NGOs, etc. Since the resale value of these equipment is small it makes sense to put those assets to better use this way. In the last three organizations I worked with, I was able to seek management’s nod and we gave away PCs and printers to some rural schools and to others through an NGO.

Saving on energy consumption

Many companies have taken it upon themselves to reduce energy consumption, to seek to lower carbon footprint, or to lower pollution levels. These are important organizational programs and therefore it makes sense to make our own contribution. We, as CIOs, can help by adopting green technologies and by optimizing usage of IT assets to help our organizations to meet this objective. For example, in one of the organizations that I worked with, it was decided to reduce energy consumption levels as a part of its social commitment drive. The major contribution, of course, came from the factory employees who did this by improving shop floor efficiency levels, getting newer energy efficient machines, improving production processes, etc.

The administration department started the move to switch off lights and fans when not in use, and also replaced old incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Not to lag far behind, we, in IT, undertook a concerted program to reduce energy consumptions in the data center. We introduced virtualization and reduced physical servers by over 55%, we replaced the old split ACs with targeted cooling systems and implemented power saving features on all desktops and laptops. We were able to demonstrate drop in the energy consumption by over 40% and the energy audit report was submitted to the management for information.

These are just a few examples of how the CIO can stay a step ahead of the others and pick up initiatives to add value to organizational programs. This also helps him develop his personality and confidence and puts good use of his talents for a social cause.

Coming from the era of ‘command and control’, we often commandeer the staff and lead them as we move along. We pass instructions and we expect them to obey. We think it is our role to think and strategize and it is duty of the staff to execute and carry out instructions given to them. This may sound demeaning but we do act that way many a time.

This approach obviously has negatives. We are pressured and where the staff does not perform as desired, we are left to face the user and even though we may make all those excuses and shift blame, the user is unhappy. There are times when staff and managers do not begin work in your absence and wait for you to come and give instructions. Staff does not participate or add value – they merely do what they are told.

Not a very happy situation, or is it? What if in my absence my manager takes an initiative, solves a problem and saves the situation? We come back and discover that someone has filled up for us. Won’t we like to encourage people who are knowledgeable, competent and who take initiative?

Diverse methods

To ensure that IT staff stands up to perform on various occasions, I have to ensure that they have the right knowledge and competence to tackle various problems. Developing them can be in various forms. One is to send them for technical training courses or even certification courses. They learn new skills and develop greater insights into the requisite technical area that they are supposed to deal with in office.

Another way could be encouraging them to attend various vendor events / product launches and other seminars. This opens them up to new developments and also gives them a chance to network with people from other organizations.

It is also a great idea to introduce the concept of periodic departmental meetings where the IT head first shares the IT strategy drawn up, plan/ budget for the year and also reviews the progress of various projects. This way the staff can understand the overall direction of the function and can also get to know of going-ons in the department.

One great learning was the concept of creating a ‘teaching and learning community’ as taught to me by an HR colleague many years ago. Here, each person is encouraged to read thoroughly about a subject of his choice and then take a session to tell others what he learnt. This encourages learning and creates a certain enthusiasm in the function.

Technical skills by themselves are not adequate to equip IT staff to deal with any situation. Some soft skills are also critical for their success. There are many skills that can make them grow up in confidence. I have seen people blossom after they had gone for courses like communication skills, leadership programs, negotiation skills, team building exercises, creativity and innovation programs, etc.

Impact of education

It must be said that as people move towards developing their wholesome personalities, they turn out to be real assets for the department. There have been times when I would deliberately move out of a situation so that the next in line learns to handle a difficult situation on his own. There have been times when my managers would ask me to relax when on leave, saying that they would handle things in my absence and wanting me back, fresh after a good vacation.

Many of the managers who had worked with me in the past are now full-fledged CIOs on their own and are making news. Little did I understand that they were professionals of great potential and once encouraged they could go on to achieve great heights.