Running an Effective Office of the CIO Key Findings from the Chief of Staff Time Allocation and Responsibilities Survey CEB CIO Leadership Council
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KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Nearly 50% of companies either have already or plan to put in place an IT chief of staff. Although around 65% of IT chiefs of staff have been in seat for less than three years, the vast majority have been in other roles within organization for at least six years. 2. The design of the IT Chief of Staff role is driven by the incumbent CIO that creates it. This shows in the high degree of variance in responsibilities and outlook between holders of the role. 3. The core responsibility of the Chiefs of Staff is to run IT s planning activities, but beyond that, their responsibilities vary widely. The vast majority of chiefs of staff have IT strategy and planning, IT communications, and IT finance and budgeting reporting to them either directly or indirectly. Oversight of other activities varies more significantly across companies. Significant pluralities of Chiefs of Staff oversee PMOs, EA, and IT vendor management. 4. Chiefs of Staffs fall into one of two archetypes. Depending on how they allocate their time, chiefs of staff are either Orchestrators (focus on execution) or Direction Setters (focus on strategy design). 5. Chiefs of Staff are at significant risk of over-commitment. Despite a diverse portfolio of responsibilities, over 70% of chiefs of staff want to increase their ownership of at least three other activities, while only a very small proportion are prepared to reduce their ownership in any area. 3
ROADMAP FOR THE PRESENTATION A Role Tailored to Fit the CIO Orchestrators Versus Direction Setters At Risk of Over- Commitment Additional Resources 4
While more than a third of organizations already have a chief of staff in place, another third have no current plans to develop the role. OVER A THIRD OF COMPANIES ALREADY HAVE A CHIEF OF STAFF Chief of Staff Adoption Plans 17% Unsure 36% Already in Place 34% No Plans to Adopt 10% Developing in Next 12-18 Months 2% Developing in Next 2-3 Years n = 138. Source: CEB 2014 IT Budget Benchmark. A ROLE TAILORED TO FIT THE CIO ORCHESTRATORS VERSUS DIRECTION SETTERS AT RISK OF OVER-COMMITMENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 5
Organizations that already have a chief of staff in place tend to have a higher number of full time employees (FTEs) in both the business and IT. CHIEFS OF STAFF ARE FOUND IN ORGANIZATIONS WITH A LARGER WORKFORCE Average Size of IT Organizations with a Chief of Staff Average Size of Companies with a Chief of Staff Companies with a high information intensity in both their product and process are the most likely to be developing the role in the next 12 18 months. 700 Conversely, those with low 350 information intensity in their product and process are the least likely to be developing the role, though they are most likely to already have one in place. 0 n = 137. 605 Median FTEs Source: CEB 2014 IT Budget Benchmark. 368 Organizations with a chief of staff (n=50) Organizations without a chief of staff (n=87) 14,000 7,000 0 n = 137. 12,550 Source: CEB 2014 IT Budget Benchmark. 8,915 Median Business Entity FTEs Organizations with a chief of staff (n=50) Organizations without a chief of staff (n=87) Chief of Staff Prevalence by Information Intensity 50% 33% 37% 42% High Product, High Process Low Product, High Process Low Product, Low Process 25% 14% 8% 8% 0% Already in Place n = 74. Source: CEB 2014 IT Budget Benchmark. Developing in the Next 12 18 Months 6
More than 80% of chiefs of staff are in newly created or redesigned roles. This means the role is often created to meet the particular needs of the CIO or IT function at the time the role is created. THE CHIEF OF STAFF ROLE IS TAILORED TO THE NEEDS OF THE CIO Chiefs of Staff by Role History Percentage of Chiefs of Staff 19% The role was already established at my organization in its current form. 47% I am the first person to hold this role. 35% The role existed at my organization but with significantly different responsibilities. n = 43. Source: CEB 2014 Chief of Staff Time Allocation and Responsibilities Survey. Note: Total may not equal 100% due to rounding. A ROLE TAILORED TO FIT THE CIO ORCHESTRATORS VERSUS DIRECTION SETTERS AT RISK OF OVER-COMMITMENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 7
Although 65% of all chiefs of staff have been in seat for fewer than three years, 70% of chiefs of staff have been with the organization more than five years. THE ROLE IS NEW, THE PERSON IS NOT Tenure in Role Percentage of Chiefs of Staff Tenure in Organization Percentage of Chiefs of Staff This suggests that insider knowledge of the organization is key when the CIO selects their chief of staff. 9% More Than 5 Years 26% 3 5 Years 28% Less Than 1 Year 16% More Than 20 Years 28% 11 20 Years 2% Less Than 1 Year 28% 1 5 Years 37% 1 2 Years 26% 6 10 Years n = 43. Source: CEB 2014 Chief of Staff Time Allocation and Responsibilities Survey. n = 43. Source: CEB 2014 Chief of Staff Time Allocation and Responsibilities Survey. A ROLE TAILORED TO FIT THE CIO ORCHESTRATORS VERSUS DIRECTION SETTERS AT RISK OF OVER-COMMITMENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES CIO0122814SYN 8
Chiefs of staff are most experienced in IT functions, but many also have substantial non-it experience. Within IT, the most common paths to the chief of staff role are predominantly businessfacing (Office of the CIO and service management and business relationship manager). CHIEFS OF STAFF HAVE CONSIDERABLE BUSINESS-FACING EXPERIENCE Work Experience Prior to Becoming Chief of Staff Percentage of Chiefs of Staff Selecting Functions in Which They Have Worked 100% 100% 98% 98% IT Experience Non-IT Experience While nearly 50% of chiefs of staff have worked outside IT for more than five years, 23% have no experience working outside IT. 67% 56% 50% 40% 37% 28% 33% 30% 26% 16% 14% 12% 12% 5% 0% Applications Development and Testing Service Management and Business Relationship Management Office of the CIO (e.g., IT HR, IT Finance, IT Vendor Management) PMO IT Strategy/Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure Information Risk/Security Procurement (Non-IT), Operations, Manufacturing, or Supply Chain Sales and Marketing Business Line Management Corporate Finance Corporate Strategy and Communication R&D Customer Service HR n = 43. Source: CEB 2014 Chief of Staff Time Allocation and Responsibilities Survey. A ROLE TAILORED TO FIT THE CIO ORCHESTRATORS VERSUS DIRECTION SETTERS AT RISK OF OVER-COMMITMENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 9
IT Strategy, IT Communications, or IT PMO are the functions most likely to report directly into the chief of staff. In contrast, the most common functions that report indirectly to the chief of staff are IT Finance, IT HR, and IT Vendor Management. STRATEGY MOST LIKELY TO REPORT DIRECTLY, WHILE FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT REPORTS INDIRECTLY Chief of Staff Oversight by Function Percentage of Chiefs of Staff 90% The majority of IT chiefs of staff have IT strategy and planning, IT communications and IT finance and budgeting reporting to them either directly or indirectly Reports Indirectly to Chief of Staff Reports Directly to Chief of Staff At the median, chiefs of staff have three functions reporting directly into them and one reporting indirectly to them, suggesting that success requires a low degree of influence over functions outside their direct authority. 45% 10% 10% 12% 12% 14% 36% 71% 62% 43% 10% 19% 19% 12% 10% 21% 14% 0% n = 43. IT Strategy/ Planning IT Communications PMO 33% IT Finance/ Budgeting 33% Enterprise Architecture Source: CEB 2014 Chief of Staff Time Allocation and Responsibilities Survey. 29% IT Vendor Management 19% Service Management 19% Information Risk 17% IT HR BRM 14% 7% 2% Applications 2% 2% Infrastructure A ROLE TAILORED TO FIT THE CIO ORCHESTRATORS VERSUS DIRECTION SETTERS AT RISK OF OVER-COMMITMENT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 10
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