立即打开
未来高管7大新贵

未来高管7大新贵

Colleen Leahey 2011年06月28日
公司最高管理层急需新鲜血液。随着技术的进步,监管法规的变化,以及文化规范的演变,传统的高层职位在应对新挑战时显得力不从心。

    高管猎头公司光辉国际(Korn/Ferry International)副总裁丹尼斯•凯利认为,在未来三到五年内,将会有新的高管职位出现。他表示,公司正面临“严峻的挑战”,“在某些情况下,甚至是史无前例的挑战”。

    约翰•伍德也赞同这种观点。他是另外一家高管猎头公司海德思哲(Heidrick & Struggles)的副总裁兼全球执行股东,负责CEO与董事会业务。他表示:“[一些公司]得出的结论是,这些[新]领域的工作内容证明了创建新职位的合理性;这颠覆了专业人才应该由通才来管理的传统。”

    有鉴于这一转变,《财富》(Fortune)杂志采访了凯利和伍德,并总结出七个新高管职位,这些职位将会使未来的公司管理层更加完善。目前看来,这些职位能否最终出现尚不确定。但凯利表示,尽管“新管理层结构的变革尚未开始,但也为时不远了。”

首席创新官

    公司需要不断创新。如果没有新点子、新产品和新服务,它们便无法生存。而随着互联网的发展和社交媒体的兴起,如何吸引客户,成为它们面临的新挑战。

    《财富》500强(Fortune 500)公司中,至少有五家意识到这种需求,并因此设立了一个新的高管职位——首席创新官,以应对全新的挑战。比如近期,百事可乐公司(PepsiCo)的CIO米克尔•达勒姆创建了一个“社交网络自动售货机系统”(Social Vending System)。利用这一系统,顾客只需摁一下按键,就能为朋友购买一瓶汽水,不论他们身处世界的何方。

    随着技术的发展,客户与公司之间的壁垒被逐渐打破。如何将这些壁垒保持在较低水平,同时又能将客户的兴趣保持在较高水平呢?首席创新官是解决这一命题的关键角色。

首席云计算官

    云计算技术又称“空中硬盘”,它将使我们的工作和生活发生重大的转变。数据将不再存储在个人计算机中,而是存储在外部服务器内,需要时可以随时调用。

    凯利认为,未来几年内,公司将产生一个新的职位——首席云计算官。由于更多的重要数据和个人信息将在云中存储和共享,必须要有人对这些数据进行管理、监控和保护。

    凯利表示,CCO的部分职责将与首席信息官的职责重复,但是云计算技术的发展势不可挡,为了保证信息的安全,公司必须增设这一管理层职位。

首席风险官

    2008年金融危机期间,为了应对困境,许多金融公司费尽了心思。他们通过寻求外部顾问的协助,才逐渐稳定了局面。此后,许多公司都意识到,他们需要一位首席风险官。

    凯利表示:“在《财富》500强公司中,约有10%的公司设有首席风险官一职,在不到十年的时间内,这一比例已翻了一番。”通过设立首席风险官,在公司需要制定决策时,由CRO对风险进行分析,确定决策是否可取,而不是由其他高管用押宝的方式来决定。CRO还需协助管理风险问题造成的影响,并确保公司的决策符合更加严格的新规定。

    由于首席风险官直接向CEO汇报,因此,他们对公司的决策过程有着非常大的影响力。凯利表示,之前CRO通常对首席财务官(CFO)负责。但随着经济衰退的状况日渐恶化,CRO被赋予了更多权力,甚至在最高管理层中比CFO更受重视。

首席隐私官

    从健康报告到财务记录,包括员工与雇主的隐私,都将由公司的首席隐私官负责提供保护。

    这一职位的职责是,确保公司遵守美国联邦隐私法和相关规定,同时最大程度地保护员工的隐私权。员工还可以咨询首席隐私官,了解公司与个人信息相关的个人隐私规定。

    部分《财富》500强公司,比如IBM和宝洁公司(Proctor & Gamble),已经意识到,公司需要一位“秘密守护者”,于是便设立了首席隐私官职位。目前,隐私泄密状况日益严重,且数据盗窃的手法日益高明,越来越多的公司都将设立这一职位。

首席社交媒体官

    从人际关系网(LinkedIn)、Twitter到Facebook,社交媒体对公司品牌的重要性超出了所有人的想象。约翰•伍德认为,在未来三到五年,甚至更短时间内,首席社交媒体官将成为许多公司不可或缺的职位。

    CSMO不仅要为社交媒体网站提供内容,还要对员工进行培训,学习如何利用这些平台。为避免员工将专用数据发布到个人的Twitter或Facebook主页上,保证公司品牌形象完好无损,CSMO需要对员工进行培训,帮助他们区分哪些内容适合公开,哪些则不然。

首席人才官

    多年以来,人力资源顾问一直在大力宣扬内部招聘的理念。目前,许多人力资源主管开始意识到,他们可以从公司内部挖掘人才,接任高层管理职位,而不是从公司外部招聘。

    伍德认为,一旦公司注意到这一点,首席人才官将成为未来公司管理层的重要成员。CTO将从公司内部挖掘技术娴熟的员工,作为高管职位的优秀候选人。之后,CTO还将长期提携这些候选人,帮助他们打磨技能,不断进步,使他们最终能够步入公司的高层。

首席认知官

    2008年金融危机期间,美国公司在媒体宣传方面受到重创,迫使许多公司重新评估和塑造它们在公众心目中的形象。

    这一新的战略重点使首席认知官的出现成为必然。CPO并不是一个被动的职位,而是要主动配合CEO,在做出决策之前,对决策进行评估,确定它们对公司声誉可能造成的影响。

    从根本上来说,CPO是公司形象的旗手,他要确保公司的形象与客户的价值观保持一致。

    翻译 刘进龙

    The C-Suite is in bad need of a facelift. As technology advances, regulations change, and cultural norms shift, traditional, high-level positions are showing their wrinkles.

    Dennis Carey, vice chairman of executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, believes several new C-Suite titles will be created in the next three to five years. Companies are facing "an onslaught of challenges," he says, "which in some cases have no historical precedent."

    John Wood, vice chairman and global managing partner of the CEO and board practice at Heidrick & Struggles, another executive search firm, agrees. "[Some companies] have come to the conclusion that the content of these [new] areas justifies the creation of new titles, eclipsing the tried and true notion that specialists should be reporting to the generalists."

    In light of this transformation, Fortune talked to Carey and Wood and created a list of the seven executives that will round out the new C-Suite. It remains to be seen if these new titles will stick or see the light of day. Regardless, the "transformation to a new C-Suite structure is not here yet," says Carey. "But it is coming."

Chief Innovation Officer

    Companies have always needed innovation. They cannot thrive without new ideas, new products, and new services. But with the rise of the Internet and the emergence of social media, they are now faced with a new breed of challenges on how to engage their customers.

    At least five firms in the Fortune 500 saw these needs and created a new executive role -- chief innovation officer -- to find solutions for those new challenges. A recent example: PepsiCo's CIO, Mikel Durham, created a "Social Vending System." With the push of a button, customers can buy a soda for a friend who lives across the world.

    As technology expands and barriers between customers and companies crumble, chief innovation officers will be the keys to keeping those barriers down and customer interest high.

Chief Cloud Officer

    Cloud computing, aka the "hard drive in the sky," is going to cause yet another major shift in the way we work and live. Data will no longer live on individual desktops or laptops; it will be stored on an outside server waiting to be called up on demand.

    In the next few years, Carey sees companies creating the new position of chief cloud officer. As more important and private data is stored and shared in the cloud, it will need to be managed, monitored, and protected.

    Some CCO responsibilities will overlap with those of a chief information officer, Carey says, but the inevitable growth of the cloud will create the additional need for this executive at any company that wants to keep its information safe.

Chief Risk Officer

    In the crisis of 2008, many financial companies struggled to cope with the messes they faced. Looking to outside consultants for help, they slowly got back on their feet, and many realized the need for a chief risk officer.

    "Ten percent of Fortune 500 companies now have a chief risk officer, double from what it was less than a decade ago," says Carey. Rather than allowing executives to gamble when making business decisions, a CRO analyzes the risks and determines if the moves are advisable. CROs also help manage the consequences of a risk gone awry, as well as ensure that business decisions adhere to new and stricter regulations.

    Reporting directly to the CEO, the chief risk officer has great clout in the decision-making process of the company. According to Carey, CROs used to report to CFOs. But as the economic downdraft worsened, they were given more power, giving the title even more value within the C-Suite.

Chief Privacy Officer

    From health records to financial records, the private data of a company is guarded by a chief privacy officer. Both employees and employers are protected by this executive.

    The position has the responsibility of making sure a firm adheres to federal privacy laws and regulations, while maximizing the privacy rights of employees. Workers can also turn to a CPO to learn about their company's personal privacy laws concerning their data.

    A number of Fortune 500 companies -- such as IBM and Proctor & Gamble -- have realized the need for a gatekeeper and have created CPO positions. As privacy breaches grow and thieves become more clever in breaching personal and business data, many more companies are following suit.

Chief Social Media Officer

    LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook: Social media has become more important to a company's brand than anyone could have imagined. John Wood believes a chief social media officer will be essential to many companies in the next three to five years -- if not sooner.

    A CSMO would not only produce content for social media sites, but he or she would also train employees on how to use the platforms. In order to keep a company's brand intact and private data from being tweeted or posted to an employee's Facebook page, the CSMO would also educate workers on what is and is not appropriate to share.

Chief Talent Officer

    Human resources consultants have been chanting the same mantra for years: Hire from within. Instead of looking outside a company for successors to high-ranking positions, many heads of human resources are now realizing they can mine for top talent from their own ranks.

    With that new focus, Wood believes a Chief Talent Officer will become a staple of the future C-Suite. CTOs look within a company for skilled workers who are great candidates to succeed in top positions. A CTO then helps employees fine-tune their skills over time, grooming them for success so they can rise to the top.

Chief Perception Officer

    During the financial crisis of 2008, corporate America took a beating in the media, forcing many companies to reevaluate and reshape the way the public saw them.

    A new focus on strategy has created the need for a chief perception officer. It is not a reactive role, but a proactive one, in which the CPO works with the CEO to assess decisions before they're made, to see how they may affect the company's reputation.

    In the end, the CPO is the standard bearer for a company's image to ensure that its values and those of its customers remain in line.

  • 热读文章
  • 热门视频
活动
扫码打开财富Plus App