Do You Have a Succession Plan in Place?

Rather than looking outside of the organization, more CIOs are turning to their own teams to find their successors. Cultivating CIO talent is an important part of the job these days. Two years ago, when Chubb Corp., a $14 billion insurance agency, could not fill its CIO opening, it convinced June Drewry, a former CIO with 20 years of experience, to come out of retirement to groom its next CIO. Drewry had some revealing things to say in a recent interview with CIO Insight magazine. She reiterates the fact that the CIO's role has changed and so have the skills necessary to take on the job. Leadership, business acumen and relationship management are all necessary skills for tomorrow's CIOs. When asked whether the IT department is the only department from which to attract future CIOs, she responds: "IT can be pretty snobby at times, and not have a lot of respect for people who didn't come up through its ranks." Still, she notes that "because of the integration of IT and business and operations, there is more of a willingness to open up to someone from within the business operations side."

Learn more about succession plans in the full interview:
- see this CIO Insight article