A little bit of history about the C-suite: Before the 1980s, it was less of a suite and more of a person. The CFO role didn't really become mainstream until the mid-1980s, according to a new article by McKinsey & Co. Later, chief marketing and chief strategy officers entered the mix. Traditionally, consumer-facing, publicly traded companies have been the first to make changes to the C-suite, and other industries, including healthcare, slowly follow suit.
While the C-suite make-up of health systems varies, most generally include a CEO, CFO, COO, Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer, Chief Medical Officer and occasionally a Chief Marketing and/or Chief Strategy Officer. McKinsey is predicting though that C-suites of the future will include yet another important executive: The Chief Data Officer. According to McKinsey:
"Today, the power of data and analytics is profoundly altering the business landscape, and once again companies may need more top-management muscle. Capturing data-related opportunities to improve revenues, boost productivity, and, sometimes, create entirely new businesses puts new demands on companies—requiring not only new talent and investments in information infrastructure but also significant changes in mind-sets and frontline training. It's becoming apparent that without extra executive horsepower, stoking the momentum of data analytics will be difficult for many organizations.
Because the new horizons available to companies typically span a wide range of functions, including marketing, risk, and operations, the C-suite can evolve in a variety of ways. In some cases, the solution will be to enhance the mandate of the chief information, marketing, strategy, or risk officer. Other companies may need new roles, such as a chief data officer, chief technical officer, or chief analytics officer, to head up centers of analytics excellence." (Emphasis mine)
McKinsey goes on to describe six key tasks that the data analytics team must take on, and urges business leaders to consider these tasks as they assign data analytics responsibilities and roles within their organizations:
- Establishing new mindsets
- Defining a data-analytics strategy
- Determining what to build, purchase, borrow or rent
- Securing analytics expertise
- Mobilizing resources
- Building front-line capabilities
"[For] Companies pursuing the potential of data analytics, a decision about leadership capacity looms — regardless of where in the end they decide to place it. For some, such as the consumer-facing companies described earlier, current top-team members will be asked to step up and assume broader leadership responsibilities, often with additional support from new, senior lieutenants. For others, such as the financial-services company we explored, establishing one or more new senior posts to drive the analytics agenda will be the best solution," write the authors.
So, despite the structure that your organization ultimately chooses to pursue, one thing is certain: In the future, how well the power of data analytics can be harnessed (through executive leadership, data analytics "centers of excellence," organizational structure, or otherwise) will play a critical role in the competitiveness, and ultimately, the success of nearly all organizations.
In doubt? Earlier this year, Harvard Business Review called data scientist "the sexiest job of the 21st century."