The document summarizes discussions from breakfast seminars on CIO succession planning. Key points include: 1) Succession planning requires an organization-wide strategic approach involving HR and senior leadership. 2) Factors like competencies, culture, and the CIO's relationship with the CEO/board must be considered. 3) Responsibility for succession planning should be delegated throughout the organization and regularly reviewed.

1. CIO Breakfast Seminars
CIO Succession Planning
15 and 17 February 2006
Prepared by:
Paul Rush
Talent2 International Limited
t: +61 2 9087 6257
m: +61 402 599 614
e: paul.rush@talent2.com

2. Table of Contents
1 Introduction 3
2 Group Findings 4
Group Wide Strategy 4
Behaviours and Competencies 4
Delegate and Mandate 5
C Level Sponsorship 5
Communication/ Open Culture 5
Gene Pooling 5
Negative / Positive 5
Organisation Structure and Fluidity 6
Give Responsibility Early 6
3 Closing Comments 7
4 Conclusion 8
5 Attendees 9
6 Apologies 9
The views in this paper are a record of the views expressed by participants in the breakfast forums hosted by Talent2
in Sydney on 15 and 17 February 2006. They are not intended to represent the views of Talent2.
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3. Introduction
1 Introduction
For the second CIO business forum, two breakfast sessions were held, focusing on CIO succession
planning. The outcomes of these sessions have been summarised in this document.
Glyn Brokensha, the facilitator, introduced a specific scenario to the group for the purposes of the
discussion:
You are a newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of an organisation not unlike your own. Your
Chief Information Officer (CIO) has resigned unexpectedly without notice, having just won US$26 million in
the Texas Lottery. This makes you wish a) that you had been nicer to them in the past and b) that you had
sent them to a succession planning course or that preparation had occurred in their area.
If you could transport yourself back in time two or three years before this moment and be your
predecessor:
6 What steps could you take to ensure that a proper succession plan is developed and executed?
6 What should be in that plan?
6 What factors might assist or thwart the development and execution of the succession plan?
Make sure you consider strategic, systemic, cultural and individual personality factors.
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4. Group Findings
2 Group Findings
Group Wide Strategy
The role of succession planning should not belong in a single functional area. There should be an
organisation-wide strategic plan, which starts by engaging with HR and the C suite to get their
endorsement and build the parameters to create a succession-based culture.
Behaviours and Competencies
Before engaging in succession planning, an understanding is required of the functions to be included in
order to build a competency based programme to identify suitable talent.
> Identify the company culture and market conditions. (e.g. at present companies are recruiting talent
externally, however, this could change.)
> Ensure the CIO’s goals are the same as the needs of the company (An example given by Glyn was a
manager, appointed to management from the floor of a production company, who was not happy in
the new role).
> The CIO’s personality must complement that of the Board.
> Look for a CIO who is flexible
> The CIO needs to have a good relationship with the CEO. The CEO and Board should be educated
on the role of a CIO (i.e. not as numbers-focused as a CEO).
> A company must frame a CIO position – the job description must be specific and detailed while at the
same time being flexible enough to allow for changing company strategy.
> Identify talent – what does a leader look like in your business and how are leadership capabilities and
the gap against external talent measured?
> The CIO must be able to interact across the entire organisation and should build a strong internal
profile with the leadership team.
> Observe the behaviour of potential CIOs during the selection process. To accurately assess
applicants it is imperative that a cross-section of the business is involved in the interview process.
There is a destructive nature in competition and behaviour must be carefully gauged across indicators
which include team work, political behaviour, performance and feedback.
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5. Group Findings
Delegate and Mandate
It was suggested that the need for stakeholders to take responsibility for succession planning and leaders
throughout the organisation to ensure they are wearing an HR hat as part of their duties/responsibilities
along with facility planning.
Succession planning reviews, to assess the success or otherwise of the process in place, should be
implemented at least twice a year in board meetings .
The reviews also serve as an opportunity to benchmark and review candidate profiles across the
business. This is a dynamic process; new talent can join the pool as easily as talent can exit the pool – the
board must understand the role(s) and the gaps between the ideal and current talent pool.
C Level Sponsorship
The board/leadership team must take a forward, rather than a current, view of the business in order to
appoint the right people for future leadership. This reflects what the needs and wants are for the new CIO.
The rule of thumb is to ‘expect the unexpected’.
Communication/Open Culture
Internal communication is the key. It is mandatory for there to be open communication at all levels.
A succession based culture cannot be effective if the decision makers and potential leaders of the
business do not know that a strategy exists and have knowledge of the accompanying processes.
Gene Pooling
In house talent needs to be reviewed and benchmarked against external talent. To be proactive as an
organisation, future talent can be ‘flagged-up’ to the business, a concept known as ‘gene pooling’. This
keeps the talent pool fresh and, provided this talent is tracked, you will have an exemplary record in
attracting and retaining the best possible talent for your business.
Negative/Positive
Succession planning needs to be viewed in its entirety. This applies especially to dealing with rejected
candidates. It was recommended that the reason for a candidate being considered unsuitable is
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6. Group Findings
communicated to them and to advise areas to address so that they are better prepared next time or
alternatively get the chance to make a career elsewhere.
Organisation Structure and Fluidity
A structure to allow people to grow must be created. This also means the ‘blockers’ need to be removed
from the structure. Expectations must be managed but, as an organisation, there is a moral responsibility
in help people developing their careers.
Do not concentrate solely on the next level down – talent needs to be nurtured across the organisation.
Similarly, succession planning at the leadership end of the business should look at seconding individuals
to other functional areas of the business to provide greater exposure to the whole business and prepare
them for the future.
Strategies to deal and communicate with ‘blockers’ were discussed. It was suggested to involve a ‘change
agent’ in the business to counteract the situation. Other options suggested were to generate change and
implement this change over time – ‘actions speak louder then words’.
Give Responsibility Early
It is mandatory to test and trial a new CIO in the role and with their peer groups. For example, as a CIO
taking leave, give someone acting responsibility during that period. Equally, a succession plan is a long
term goal so you can lend your talent to other business areas. To take this one step further, talent can be
seconded externally – i.e. to your clients.
Succession planning should be ongoing. It should be imbedded into the company’s methodology. There is
a cost element to this which should be considered from the start.
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7. Closing Comments
3 Closing Comments
Glyn asked the group: Who has a finalised, legal and binding Will and Testament?
Planning is the key! To plan effectively you must plan for uncertainty.
For example, if you are leaving a company and the search begins for your replacement.
Inevitably you contemplate the following possibilities:
> No one could be possibly be better than me!
> What if they are better than me?
> Everyone is better than me!
With each of these personal views there is the inevitable issue of personal behavioural style. The best way
to overcome such factors is to ensure that you ‘reality-check’ yourself across the organisation and your
peers in other organisations.
Glyn suggested that, when looking at possible successors, the ‘Clone vs. Competitor dilemma’ is often
faced – do I want someone just like me or do I risk identifying someone better than me?
The answer should be neither – you have to plan for diversity in a successor – someone who has views
that may differ from your own in a number of ways. The greater the variety of views, the richer the results
for both the company and yourself.
We may have then come full circle, as we may have hired a very different individual from the original
specification – this is succession planning in action!
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8. Conclusion
4 Conclusion
> Succession planning is an increasingly important part of a company’s strategy if it is serious about
attracting retaining and developing talent.
> Succession planning should be company wide and not functionally isolated.
> Ensure the strategy and success are communicated effectively throughout your company.
> Succession planning should not be only inward facing; the ’gene pooling’ approach should be adopted
by looking at the available pool of talent within the marketplace.
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9. Attendees
5 Attendees
Andrew Carline CIO Baycorp John Childs Westpac
Paul Cavanagh-
Colin Knowles CIO ABC Downs CIO Aristocrat
Ed Binney IT Executive Consultant Con Colovos CIO Executive Council
Gina Bernard CIO BNP Paribas Bobby Lehane CIO Multiplex
Michael Dodd Commonwealth Bank of Australia Gary Smith CIO TNT
Russell Wright CIO Freehills John Banks Director Talent2 Consult
Joe Demian Goldman Sachs JBWere Keith Roscarel CIO Executive Council
Bob Hennessy CIO AAPT Dr Glyn Brokensha Consultant Talent2 Consult
Sean Linkson Partner Talent Partners Paul Rush Practice Lead Talent2 CIO Practice
Chuck Stegen CIO HSBC
Paul Gardiner Commonwealth Bank of Australia
6 Apologies
Chris Holmes CIO Allens Arthur Robinson Fiona Balfour CIO Telstra
Mick Campbell CIO Ramsey Healthcare Gary Whatley CIO Corporate Express
David Hackshall CIO AAV Gary Clarke CIO Clayton Utz
Tim Catley CIO Sydney Water Geoff Wilson CIO ABN Amro
Simon Smith Head of Operations Customer Ian Dart Managing Director Logicaltech
Services AAPT
Sue Bartlett CIO Executive Council Karen McLachlan CIO David Jones
Ann Fabella CIO State Street Marg Williams Project Director BT Financial
Group
Brenton Hush CIO General Pants Michael Vinter CIO AHL Entertainment
Andrew Lees CIO Agility Peter Yarrington CIO Goldman Sachs JBWere
Darryl Warren CIO Lion Nathan Rob Kliman JP Morgan Investor Services
David Fryda CIO Tyco
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