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Organizations today are much more effective and agile trying to cope with ‘do more with less’. One key thing forward-thinking companies today ensure is performance management to evaluate and measure individual performance to optimize productivity. One key purpose of this activity is aligning employee’s productivity and performance to his compensation.
While all organizations may not conduct this exercise thoroughly to decide on the perks and increments for its employees, there are many who do this to recognize and reward employees for their exceptional efforts which in turn contributes to job satisfaction.
Now when this comes to IT which is an indispensable parcel of their business, it all depends on how IT as a function is being positioned in their business.
We spoke to senior CIOs on this to know their perspective on IT managers’ compensation package vis-à-vis their skill sets.
Adequacy is a perception and there is no exact science to determine, says CIO of TPG Wholesale, Mukesh Kumar. However, in general, the answer is yes and even if it’s not adequate as per their responsibilities and skill sets, there is a natural course of correction over a period of time, adds Mukesh.
Are IT Managers compensated adequately
Yes, certainly, says Group IT Head, Sanjaya Mariwala Group.
This must be looked at from the perspective of the business. If IT as a function is important to the business then it reflects in the amount that is set aside to be spent on the IT dept's compensation, adds Jawed. Once that is done, the individual has to rise up to that level and earn that. Otherwise the individual is quickly replaced. That is how equilibrium is maintained, says Jawed.
When IT ceases to contributes to business success
Ultimately the compensation is driven by the importance of IT to the business, along with his skills and capabilities. In case of a mismatch in the first case then the function ceases to contribute to the business success. And if there is a mismatch in the second case then either the individual is replaced with the better one or the individual jumps to a better paying job, argues Jawed.
Compensation varies substantially by industry vertical and skillet. And looking at the responsibility and accountability of IT managers, the compensation should be higher, feels Dinesh Chandra Gupta, Group DGM – IT, Godrej Consumer Products.
Key skill sets of IT managers
The area of understanding business is the key requirement for IT managers, says Mukesh. The key skills required are technical and project management. In addition, people and finance management will soon be required to the role, adds Mukesh.
Identifying, developing and implementing projects and initiatives to meet customer technology needs comprise the key roles of IT managers, says Dinesh.
Negotiation and putting your points across –powers of convincing and engaging your counterparts across other departments lead the ingredients that comprise IT managers’ role, highlights Jawed. Besides, he also points business acumen as an important thing for managers of technology.
Jawed also emphasizes on application of technology to the business and not technology alone for tech managers to have grasp on. The CIO also point out the ability to see the larger picture and think beyond the traditional boundaries of the IT function as the other important trait of new age IT managers.
Defining the metrics of ‘right’ salary package
Do IT managers have the right skills to get the right job or right salary package? Not all necessarily, only a few. In fact fetching the right job is striking the right opportunity and there is nothing called “Right” salary package, argues, Mukesh.
‘Till now, IT Managers have been focusing only on the Hard Skills of the technology domain. ‘I strongly feel that this is a given, IT Managers have to go beyond this, and develop the soft skills which become more relevant as they rise up the hierarchy’, opines Jawed.
Bridging the gap with new skills, certifications
There are two ways to bridge this, says Mukesh. First is personal coaching with management classes and the second is providing on job real opportunity.
Jawed puts forth another angle to it. He says, before one gets to run the IT function, the individual must be made to work in any of the line function which is critical to the business. This is essential to bring in the customer perspective to the IT department. The IT Manager can be relevant to the business and be successful only when there is an alignment of the IT department’s priorities with the business priorities, says Jawed.
When asked about the gaps in the skills senior IT managers grapple with which in turn hinder their growth, Mukesh says, understanding the business objective and aligning it with tech adoptions creates the major gap.
Dinesh cites not getting holistic view of organizational interdependencies as the main hurdle for IT managers. He also points imbalance of technical versus generic management skills and focusing on strategic priorities as other gaps to attend to.
New approach to compensation management
It’s time to go for a new compensation system that relies not only on experience and skill sets but also on their outputs. This helps employers identify the top technology managers and compensate them accordingly to able to dissuade them from quitting.
Also with IT’s role becoming more and more significant to businesses, it is imperative that you they get the right due just like people in the other function of the business.
--with inputs from Debashis Sarkar
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