I lead a pair of CIO peer groups here in the area and we met up in mid-December for our final session of 2022. Members of the groups range in size from about $20m – $100m in revenue for the smaller company group and $1B – 2B for the larger company group. Focus areas for the discussions were recession planning, talent, data strategy, and key objectives for 2023.
Recession Planning
These CIOs are approaching planning in different ways. First, they began considering the likelihood and doing scenario planning last year, early in Q2. As we’ve gotten closer to the timing with more clarity on likely impacts, most are not overly concerned.
The consensus was that it was likely to be sector specific and their related diversification would shield them from overly painful impacts. Most were addressing the looming challenge with short-term capital spend reductions and targeted holds on hiring.
Talent
- Demand for talent continues to be strong, not just in IT but across the enterprise.
- One financial services company has been turning away clients for nearly half of 2022 due to their inability to add staff.
- Upward salary pressure continues to be strong; more than one CIO reported losing staff to salary increases of 50% or more.
- Talent acquisition costs are increasing: recruiting/vetting/negotiations are all taking longer.
- The market for talent remains difficult to navigate from the level of competition to the impact of hybrid/remote work accommodations.
- Companies are addressing talent retention issues in different ways: across-the-board increases in PTO allowances, spot salary bumps and promotions that occur outside the normal cycle, customized hybrid/remote work opportunities; unique in-office events and perks (food trucks, etc.).
- Regarding attraction, most were focusing on salary offers, targeting remote candidates outside the region, employee referral programs, and similar tactics.
Data Strategy and Governance
Data informed decision-making remains an important focus area for these CIOs and they’re making investments to capture, digest, and return valuable insights back to the business units. However, at the same time they’re realizing the importance of data governance and good stewardship. They’re investing in tools and business processes to help ensure a single source of truth for the enterprise. But they’re also investing talent capital in the form of business line dedicated BAs and relationship managers to help focus efforts and reduce data-related shadow IT.
Objectives for 2023
Given the unsettled nature of the economy, most CIOs were focused on:
- foundational objectives such as ERP implementation/optimization,
- cloud strategy and migrations,
- managing inflationary pressures, especially from software and technology vendors,
- digesting acquisitions while managing an acceptable cadence in 2023,
- improving talent retention and achieving hiring targets.