The New MVPs of Business…

CIOs and Chief HR Officers

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and universal remote work became the reality, CEOs had two leaders on speed dial: Chief Information Officers and Chief Human Resource Officers. Suddenly, both of these leaders find themselves in a bright spotlight. CIOs need to ensure the technical systems and processes they’ve established – and paid big budget for – are resilient and embraced. CHROs are expected to have the answers about how to navigate workforce challenges ranging from employment reduction strategies to galvanizing employees for greatest productivity to work life after COVID-19. So, what does it mean to have these functions anointed as the business MVPs?

IT and HR complement each other beautifully as they each enable productivity in today’s brave new world.

The Situation: A Permanent Pivot

First, we need to consider the backdrop. With so much uncertainty, one thing seems certain: the workplace has changed permanently. Offices with thousands of employees in close working quarters will no longer exist. Some executives will decide to move toward a hybrid working from home model, with an increased number of employees encouraged to work remotely… similar to Twitter. Others, such as Nationwide, might never reopen their corporate offices, instead opting for a permanent working from home scenario. “Even before the coronavirus pushed remote work to its limits, virtual work was on the rise. The number of people telecommuting in the U.S. increased 159 percent between 2005 and 2017, according to data from Flexjobs,” writes Nicole Lewis for the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). Not surprisingly, according to PGi, each person who works from home saves companies on average $10,000 annually.

As a result, shrewd CIOs and HR leaders have wisely started to prepare for a permanently dispersed employee base.

Yet, today’s sudden working from home reality challenged the C-suite – namely CIOs – by amplifying the already massive technical skills gap.

The Yin and Yang: Hard and Soft Skills

IT and HR complement each other beautifully as they each enable productivity in today’s brave new world. IT aligns businesses with technologies to efficiently succeed. With the support of communications and HR, IT leaders persuade employees to adopt new ways of working. Yet, today’s sudden working from home reality challenged the C-suite – namely CIOs – by amplifying the already massive technical skills gap. To succeed post-pandemic, McKinsey suggests employers need to reskill and upskill workforces now to deliver new business models for tomorrow. Cue the role of HR and learning teams.

Savvy and well-targeted communication strategies make the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately, IT and HR teams today are resource constrained and oversubscribed with priorities.

A key responsibility of CHROs is to understand how to best segment and reach their populations to drive action. Moreover, HR leaders help set the culture and environment to support employees and executives – essential during this time of tremendous transition. These skills make CHROs perfectly positioned to make bold decisions during uncertain times. A Deloitte white paper on Workforce Strategies for Post-COVID Recovery notes: “For many, this requires a pivot toward HR designed for speed, new ways of working, digital first, teams, adaptable organizational strategies, and changing business requirements.” As HR leaders help executives build for resiliency, they must adopt the digital tools deployed by CIOs. Suddenly, HR teams find they need to expertly navigate previously unfamiliar tools/systems, such as Office 365, ServiceNow, and a host of other digital tools for business.

Enabling More with Less

Now that CIOs and CHROs have this lofty responsibility, they also have fewer resources. The pandemic caused an overnight cash-crunch, forcing executives to do more with less. Yet CIOs must still demonstrate employee adoption of tools for their digital investments. And CHROs must continually pivot, staying agile as they adopt the newest and best technologies for their employee programs. Savvy and well-targeted communication strategies make the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately, IT and HR teams today are resource constrained and oversubscribed with priorities. Many simply don’t have the wherewithal to focus on communicating to their employees – a recipe for mid-term failure.

CIOs must still demonstrate employee adoption of tools for their digital investments.

Ellebridge Can Help

Ellebridge steps in as a temporary resource to create strategic and scalable communications that empower employees. Whether creating an ongoing communication strategy for disparate teams or building the launch strategy for new technologies and executing, Ellebridge has deep expertise leading Fortune 50 programs from zero to one. Contact us to learn how we can help your internal initiatives succeed. When your customer is your employee, you need Ellebridge.