Many factors transform organisations, prompting new leadership positions. Consolidation and automation are driving new efficiencies at the most fundamental level of digitisation. As companies become leaner and more agile, leadership roles are being changed.
So says Jonas Bogoshi, country manager of EMC Southern Africa, who explains that digitisation has brought about a turbulent time for designating new C-suite roles. As digitisation stabilises, Bogoshi anticipates there will be many new titles that may grow over time or be merged into more established positions.
"Many future C-suite roles will depend on the priorities of the organisation as well as how it values its talent. A business that interacts heavily with end-user environments, such as through software or user manuals, might consider a chief user experience officer. But a business heavily invested in manufacturing infrastructure might find use for a chief automation officer.
It all depends on what the company needs, how segregated the related responsibilities have to be and how top-heavy a company is prepared to become, in order to reach its goals, he notes.
Brandon Meszaros, chief information officer at Digital Solutions Group, says consumers and businesses today are virtually creating the experience they would like to have with a certain product or service and this is creating a shift on how businesses engage with customers, their products and service delivery.
"As a direct result of this shift, we are noticing that a number of the 'traditional' C-suite roles are changing, new roles are coming into play and other roles evolving. Some of the most noticeable role changes include; chief experience officer, chief innovation officer, chief technology innovation officer, chief digital officer or a chief digital information officer and many others.
The list of executives and their roles and functions in the digital space is expected to expand in sync with the business sectors' growth in understanding of the age of experience, adds Meszaros.
This is because the more channels of communications which are introduced, the more businesses will need to take control and learn what the digital industry can offer in order to remain competitive and relevant, he asserts.
"The chief digital officer is not only a digital expert, but may also be a seasoned general manager. As the role frequently is transformational, chief digital officers are generally also responsible for the organisations' IT strategy and adoption of digital technologies across a business.
"A chief innovation officer is to lead the organisation's efforts to find and develop ideas for new products - through the adoption of the latest digital technology to ensure the overall process is as innovative and efficient as possible," he explains.
The chief technology innovation officer role is typically held by a person with broad technical expertise in that organisation's industry and who is able to originate new ideas and recognise innovative ideas that are generated by other people, Meszaros continues, while the chief experience officer is charged with bringing holistic experience design to the boardroom and making it an essential part of the organisation's business strategy and culture.
Bogoshi says some organisations often encounter pushback against digitisation due to a fear that old positions will be reduced or even made redundant.
"That is a fear that resonates across a workforce, but often the leaders are those who have become comfortable with the status quo and who resist the change most.
"Even if a company welcomes the change, it will realise some functions and roles are not adequate to adopt new opportunities. A chief data officer role may be necessary because the company lacks the skill, scope or focus to maintain and grow its data assets," he elaborates.
That can extend from governance to policies to analytics, areas that other roles may not have the time or understanding to tackle, observes Bogoshi.
Meszaros adds currently these roles are predominantly recognised and found mainly within three industries, namely; advertising, marketing and telecoms - as this is where these new C-suite roles can be the most influential and make the most impact as there is a direct link to the end customer.
"However, as time goes on, we can expect to see these roles begin to filter through to other industries within the South African market, particularly as organisations become increasingly aware of the crucial importance that customer engagement and customer experience management has on the competitiveness of the business and associated sustainability," he concludes.
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