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ROBERT LEACH
is vice president of information technology for Stora Enso North America.
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As an industry, are we attractive enough to draw the top information technology (IT) talent in the world? If not, why aren't we? Are these questions imperative to the future of our industry?
Allan Greenspan, chairman of the U.S. federal reserve, has proposed in his testimony before congress that the world is shifting from an industrial age to an information age. According to Mr. Greenspan's premise, productivity will increase at a rapidly accelerating rate because of advances in IT. If this is true, then the relative competitive success of individual industries and companies will be impacted based upon the use of IT and access to top IT talent. All things being equal, if the paper industry can find a way to utilize IT more effectively than the average industry, it should reflect positively in the return on its employed capital. Therefore, long-term access to IT talent is as critical to our industry as access to fiber is.
COMMUNICATING PAPER INDUSTRY OPPORTUNITIES. Top IT talent evaluates potential job opportunities on four basic criteria: challenge, recognition, growth, and location. They seek positions where they feel they can solve important problems. Although most people naïvely assume that the best IT positions are in industries such as financial services, software development, or computer equipment, I disagree. I firmly believe that the paper industry can provide all of these things and more to IT professionals. The problem is not that our industry lacks these criteria, but that we have not effectively communicated our position.
Measured by business importance, variety, or sophistication, we are very competitive. Con-sider our businesses' dependence upon process control technology. Clearly, this use of IT is as important to us as IT work in financial services. While most software companies are working on niche products with a limited number of technologies, our portfolio of business needs requires using a greater variety of programming languages than any niche software company. Also, computer equipment manufacturers generally use a discrete manufacturing process supported by simple technology, while, as a process industry, our manufacturing requirements are complex. This complexity has required us to build some of the most sophisticated networks in the world. Since our global business needs have created a high rate of innovation, communicating that we offer challenges should not be an issue.
In the area of recognition, we have a hidden asset that must be better deployed by our industry. That is this: the environmental message of the paper industry is strong. We are the champions of sustainable development and environmental stewardship permeates our work. Efforts to protect the air, water, land, and wildlife in our communities are issues that we must better communicate to the public at large.
CREATING AN EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. When it comes to career growth opportunities, size does matter. Compared to most industries, we are made up of large companies. Individual employees are only limited by their ability and desire. At Stora Enso, geographic location is a major strength that many other employers cannot match. Jobs are available in rural, metropolitan, and worldwide locations. Careers, job assignments, and locations are tailored to meet an individual employee's changing needs.
Stora Enso anticipates its IT needs on a one- five- and ten-year basis. It is a fundamental responsibility of leadership to prepare current employees to meet those future needs. This is accomplished through the employee development process.
As part of this process, all of Stora Enso's IT employees are challenged to define their own long-term definition of success. Then, care is taken to match each employee's aspirations with future company needs. Working with their manager, capability gaps are documented, and a formal skill development plan is drawn up. Activities in the plan might include a cross-functional job assignment, additional responsibilities, participation on a global project team, or training and coaching from a mentor. To ensure execution of the plan, results are formally measured as part of the appraisal process.
This process is not free of charge, but the benefits outweigh the cost. Successful employee development raises productivity, lowers turnover rates, and helps in recruitment. Stora Enso's financial commitment is in leadership time and training dollars. To this end, the company has partnered with a world-class training company that provides two weeks of customized training per year to every IT employee. The results of this process are IT leaders who are able to blend deep industry knowledge, strong business acumen, and solid technical competence to solve meaningful problems.
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