First 100 Days As a CIO

Ashok Jade, IT Next’s Next100 Winner had been associated with the Consumer Electronics and Service Industry for a long time now. However, his primary objective for accepting this role of CIO at Shalimar was to put his experience to good use and apply his skills across the different aspects of the job. He also considered this role to be an ideal opportunity to improve the skills he has acquired and make them more versatile.  In this position, Jade will be able to contribute directly to the growth of the company and will be part of the strategic leadership team.

Did he have an agenda during the first 100 Days?

Several rounds of interviews, the entire selection process and interactions with the Managing Director of Shalimar Paints gave him some insight into the inner workings of the company. “I could understand the difficult areas and the company’s priorities to a certain extent, this helped me frame an agenda that we could follow,” says Jade.

According to Jade, Shalimar Paints is going through a transformation and many new initiatives are being undertaken with changes taking place at all levels. Several positions at the top management levels have been filled recently. These people have been chosen solely thanks to their experience in the field and their dynamic ideas.

“I was part of this new team and in fact, my work began much before I formally joined the organisation for this role,” says Jade and adds that it was important for him to do his homework before taking up the job to ascertain the various aspects of the company’s performance and its initiatives.

As the company had set high revenue targets and profit margins, it was a challenge for IT to play a crucial role in achieving their goals and prove its worth as an enabler of growth.

The agenda that Jade’s team set for the IT side of things included:  

• Increasing employee productivity
• Increasing  the efficiency of the Dealer / Distribution / Partner network
•  Enabling a reduction in AR and Right Utilization of Discount, Rebate and Scheme
• Improving information visibility and accuracy for correct decision-making
• Enforcing better Checks and Controls and improving customer service

Jade carried out the task of setting up all the processes from scratch and this is where his experience came into play.  His main tasks included setting up an IT organisational structure, infrastructure, the support team and ensuring the compliance standard across all functions.

Various Steps Taken to Keep the House in Order

“Formation of a proper IT organisational structure was my first challenge and priority... I was aware that without a competent team I would not be able to justify my role in the organisation,” says Jade “So, the first thing I did was to evaluate the existing IT team and according to the assessment,  form a new structure by hiring / changing the roles of the existing team and surrendering some IT employees.”

At this point, the focus was on the IT Infrastructure which was obsolete and not sufficiently equipped to meet the company’s ambitious growth projections.

As a strategy, while deploying new infrastructure, Jade simultaneously began outsourcing activities that were part of the IT strategy. His first few weeks as CIO involved understanding the organisation and business, it was only after this that he focused on making short-term and long-term priorities and strategies. This included building new systems, introducing new policies and so on.

Highlights of the first 100 days

While there were several little triumphs, one that stood out was the acknowledgement and appreciation of the changes that he and his team implemented.  “My Managing Director Sameer Nagpal who is a true leader, acknowledged every improvement made on the IT front and he doesn’t miss an opportunity to appreciate our contributions which helps boost morale,” says Jade.

Some advice for future CIOs

Jade modestly says that he can only give CIO hopefuls guiding points and will have to leave the advice to those senior to him. He goes on to say that the first 6-8 weeks are the most crucial. It was at this stage that he studied the business in detail and formed the plans that they needed to execute. According to Jade, the role of the CIO consists of doing more than just carrying out the duties of a traditional IT Head.  And therefore, preparation for this role should start long before one is offered the role. During his first 100 days, Jade says that he had to face a lot of criticism but looked at this as opportunity to re-evaluate, correct and change certain ways of doing things.

The key, according to Jade, is to ‘Ask, ask and ask some more until you gain complete insight into the business and its functions.’ Jade did his research thoroughly by visiting multiple depots, branches, factories and interacting with key dealers in order to understand what was needed at every level.  

Important Points to Remember

When one takes up a new role, it is important to have the curiosity of a child, the energy of a young adult and the maturity of a wise man to achieve success.

Jade observes that people across the organisation often do not understand the effort made by the IT department. The work that this department does is often deceptive in that, it appears to be simple.

However, with proper program management and marketing, this image can change, leading to an acknowledgement of its hard work. It would be optimum if IT took control of the business functions in order to move things along faster.

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