InformationWeek

July 6, 1998

Secret CIO:
The Real Power Broker

Summit on salaries and turnover draws an unlikely guest, but the outcome is still the same

By Herbert W. Lovelace

ornish rarely confides in me. In fact, never was the last time. As chief financial officer, he feels it is his God-given right to ignore everyone but our mutual boss, the CEO. So it was a profound moment in my existence when Sid sat down across from me in the cafeteria. Not knowing what to say, I waited until he decided to talk. It took only a moment. "Herb, what are we going to do about Stephanie's latest brainstorm?"

On several levels, I pondered his question. First, for him to ask my thoughts about anything was unusual, since I believe he feels no one in IT has the ability to think about anything other than microchips. Second, I wondered why I had earned the right to be included in the word "we" with respect to the initiative of our VP of human resources, the indomitable Stephanie Stone.

Stephanie was concerned about an increase in staff turnover. She proposed we initiate employee conclaves to discuss problems, formulate options, and ensure everyone was simpatico with the company's objectives while fulfilling their own career goals. Sid was appalled when he heard about it. He raged that it was a waste of time and would stir up discontent unnecessarily. My reaction was that, at least with respect to IT, we should simply pay people the market rate for their talents and stop treating them as if they were contractors who were tolerated as a necessary evil. Neither of our opinions were enthusiastically received by our HR guru. I found this rejection amusing. As someone at the edge of influence, I can be ignored; Gornish, however, is a real force in the corporation. Stephanie-bless her theory-driven little mind-ignored him.

Empowered with my newfound place in Sid's sphere of "that which exists," I contemplated his question. On the one hand, if I said nothing, I would confirm his view of me and my technical brethren. On the other hand, even though I head a large staff group, I resigned myself a long time ago to the fact that my opinion on anything is a footnote compared to his. Finally, I suggested we talk privately to Stephanie.

Later that day, the three of us got together. We spent a few minutes on pleasantries and then got down to business. I told Stephanie I agreed with her objective but was uncomfortable with the complicated process. I said maybe we could accomplish things faster, and without costly meetings that could increase cynicism. We should seek employee input, perhaps with a written survey or individual discussions with our groups, and then take on-as a management responsibility-the identification of solutions. Sid agreed, but Stephanie was unmoved. In a somewhat dismissive tone, she said HR is familiar with the psychology of our work force and she would handle the costs involved.

There was silence for a few moments, and then Sid cleared his throat and said that while HR has the money to fund the meetings-he quoted the numbers from her various department accounts as if they were emblazoned upon his brain-he did not agree with the expenditure. I just sat and listened. To drive the point home, he said the corporation needs to watch its spending and may have to review all budgets before the end of the quarter.

Without missing a beat, Stephanie changed the subject by asking Sid his opinion of the general economic outlook, and a few minutes later-out of the blue-said she saw no reason why we couldn't use a survey approach to achieve her objectives. She thanked us for stopping in, and we left. Outside her office, Sid patted me on the shoulder and said he appreciated my help.

The next time that we have a management-level disagreement, I may just sit and watch, but in any case, I'll place my money on Gornish.

Herbert W. Lovelace is the CIO at a multibillion-dollar international company. Herb practices his day job under an alias and has changed the names of colleagues to protect the guilty. Send him E-mail at lovelace@home.com. He'll provide real answers-and whimsical comments-to your questions on InformationWeek Online.

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