Chief digital officer (CDO). What do companies look for in a CDO?
The chief digital officer, also known as CDO, is still a non-existent position in many companies, but this position might reach a great relevance in certain companies or organizations.
This is a job position, which is quite unknown to the general public; the CDO has a fundamental role when it comes to understanding and developing the digital transformation of the company. But before we get into what a Chief digital officer is, we will briefly talk about the tasks of a Chief digital officer.
What is a Chief digital officer?
A CDO is responsible for carrying out the digital transformation in a company or organization. Have you ever heard of this? Do not worry; let’s find out all about the chief digital officer.
The Chief digital officer is in charge of transforming the company in order to take advantage of digital technologies. We are going to analyse this concept, this way you will understand it better.
The job of the CDO is to transform the company. This means that the company must change anything so that digital technologies become part of the organization, as well as part of the operation, as well as the company’s own philosophy, in order to improve the business.
In addition to this, the job of this person will be to introduce digital technologies into the company. And this must be understood in a broad sense: from opening new ways of electronic commerce to introducing new channels of communication with customers, and also implementing all kinds of technological tools in the company in order to improve the operation of the company.
Finally, in order to round off the concept, we need to know that the job of this person will include the use of this type of technology, but also these people must make the most of this. It’s not about using technology, but about using it properly and getting the most out of it. And remember, that the job of the CDO will not only be focused on the technical aspect, but will also have a business vision. So, what do you think now?
What are the skills of a chief digital officer?
This is a highly important figure (as you can imagine, transforming a company means great responsibility and requires great training) in order to find the chief digital officer, this person should have a specific profile, so it is not always easy to find this person. If we look at the job vacancies online, we will find that these are some of the most common requirements:
-Leadership
A Chief digital officer is a leader. The transformation implies changes, often quite important, and this requires the ability to direct the people who must carry them out. In order to achieve this, the classic qualities of a good leader are charisma and the ability to persuade people, these qualities are quite important.
-High strategic ability
A chief digital officer must know how to set strategies at all times, which includes being able to establish clear objectives and goals and defining how to achieve these.
-Technology knowledge
Since it is a high-level position, the demands of knowledge will also be high. The chief digital officer should be a broad expert, not only of digital technologies, but also should know how take advantage of these and implement them in the company.
-Business Knowledge
Wait, there’s more. The chief digital officer should also know all about the business and should keep in mind that customer satisfaction is the key to digital transformation.
-Empathy and people skills
Transformation implies changes, and changes imply effort and, sometimes, restlessness. In some companies, a figure like the chief digital officer may be uncomfortable for other traditional profiles. A chief digital officer must have enough levels of empathy to put themselves in someone else’s shoes (specially with the members of the company and should know how changes will affect them, and the ability to manage all those changes, also at the human level.
-Experience
Part of the knowledge required in the position of chief digital officer, will only be achieved with time. In order to have a long career and experience in the specific position of chief digital officer, you will need qualities that companies value.
-This person should know several languages
Nowadays, English is the main language, but also we have to consider other relevant languages, such as French, German, Chinese or Japanese, the ability to communicate in other languages will also be valued when hiring a chief digital officer.
-This person should know how to work side by side with the most important executives of the organization
Without this, the job of the chief digital officer could not be understood. From the CEO to the CDO, the chief digital officer must maintain a direct and continuous contact with the people who carry out the decision making in the company. Otherwise, it would be impossible for this person to carry out his/her work effectively.
So this is it, with this article, we have discovered what a chief digital officer is and what companies demand when looking for this type of position.
Are you a CDO? Would you like to be one in the future? Undoubtedly, it is one of the high-profile positions, which is quite popular in large companies, and it is also starting to be integrated into SMEs.
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Ehorus is a remote management system for computers (remote desktop software) that can be part of the digital transformation of a company.
Have you ever heard about a remote management system? Would you like to find out more about it? You can do that by clicking in the following address: https://ehorus.com
Or you can also send us any question you might have about eHorus. You might be wondering: How can I do that? Well, by using the contact form that can be found at the following address: https://ehorus.com/contact-us-remote-management-software/
The eHorus team will be happy to answer all your questions!
