IT Folks Are Rightly Paid, Enable Me to Grow More: CEO

CEOs expect IT teams to possess a business mindset, critical thinking capabilities, along with innovative problem solving methods across financial and risk management

CEOs across organisations do not mince words when they say IT is the backbone of the company which is enabling them to drive growth. But a lot more could be done if senior IT decision makers start expanding their horizon and thought process and changing their mindset. 

What CEOs expect from IT folks
Interestingly, most CEOs are actively involved in the recruitment process of their core IT teams. Rajesh Aggarwal, MD of Insecticides India, clearly states that IT has been the biggest growth enabler and helped him in his learning curve. The `950 crore company has plans to grow at 35 per cent in the coming fiscal and Agarwal has completely empowered his IT team to bring in the necessary changes required to enable the company to grow at that pace. 

"IT teams are compensated well. They need to have the right skill sets, experience and attitude" -N H Bhansali, CEO-Finance, Strategy & Business Development, Emami 

“The fact that our IT investment has grown year on year and is almost running into spending a crore every year indicates that the business needs have grown, and thereby, IT enablement to drive the business value and growth,” says Aggarwal.

While Aggarwal believes in paying the IT teams adequately at par with the industry if there were standards, he believes, however, that the salary structure would vary with the verticals one is associated with. “At Insecticides India, there is a constant evolution in terms of IT requirement and since we are aggressively targeting the rural market, the back end needs to be strong to support various business functions and users,” points out Aggarwal.

Right mix of skill, experience and attitude
N H Bhansali, CEO-Finance, Strategy & Business Development, Emami Ltd, who gets associated in the recruitment process of senior IT teams, says that IT teams are compensated well. “They need to have the right skill sets, experience and attitude. Besides technical evaluation by IT experts and senior management, I, too, get personally involved  in the hiring process,” says Bhansali. Yogesh Agarwal, CEO of Daffodils Software Ltd., which comes with Applane solutions, states that it is critical for the senior management team to interact with the candidates before the offer is finalised. 

“We compensate employees at par with industry standards and continuously look for ways to make our compensation packages more lucrative in terms of the value an employee seeks from the organisation.” -Yogesh Agarwal, CEO, Daffodils Software 

“I, too, am involved as it gives the IT candidates certain insights into the organisation’s DNA and an opportunity to interact with the talent pool.” Agarwal observes, “We make it a point to compensate employees at par with industry standards and continuously look for ways to make our compensation packages more lucrative and fulfilling in terms of the value an employee seeks from the organisation.” 

IT teams to be enablers of business growth
Bhansali expects senior IT teams to be enablers for business growth and efficiency. Daffodil’s Agarwal expects the senior IT teams to come with a business mindset, good interpersonal skills, critical thinking skills, a problem solving approach and have the ability to manage finance and risks of any nature. Insecticides’ Aggarwal expects IT teams to help the business in taking it through the technological learning curve and help in taking business decisions by equipping them with the right data and information.  

CEOs see growth opportunity for IT teams

Emami’s Bhansali underscores the view that having the right exposure and experience is more critical than certifications. Still, SAP cerfications, network certifications and other training related to management would help in understanding the profile and capabilities of the person better. He sees good opportunity of growth for the IT teams in future and recommends that the HR should work towards evolving tactics around enhancing the commitment of IT and ways to retain them. Daffodil’s Agarwal safely predicts that IT managers’ role would gain importance within the organisation’s value chain with IT innovations, disruptions and evolutions taking place rapidly across the globe.

 “The fact that our IT investment has grown year on year and is almost running into spending a crore every year indicates that the business needs have grown” —Rajesh Aggarwal, MD, Insecticides India   

Need for certifications and skill set
Agarwal suggests that it is crucial to have certifications like Project Management Professional (PMP),Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), Oracle DBA, ITIL and CCNA. Besides this, Aggarwal says that IT industry should try to hire from diverse backgrounds and thought processes. 

According to Rajesh Aggarwal, his IT team comes with the right skills--this was explicitly showcased during the SAP ERP implementation process. “The IT team ensured that I was kept in the loop on every piece of information that was associated with the project.

“I think since the role of IT is expanding, the salary packages need to be reworked on by HR and bring in some changes in the job profile,” Aggarwal agrees.   

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