08/22/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 08/22/2024 14:31
Chief innovation officers (CINO) monitor industry trends, evaluate new ideas, and adopt best practices that align with departmental goals. In this role, you combine technological and management skills to innovate and respond to customer needs rapidly.
Compared to other C-suite positions, this is a new role. So, in this article, let's explore the following:
A few years back, the CINO role wasn't a thing. However, businesses now recognize the importance of innovation, which is why Botswana was a top country that invested heavily in innovation in 2022.
The chief innovation officer drives a business's innovation strategy - that's why their duties go beyond creating new products and services. They also do the following:
CINOs predict future trends and shape how products and technologies will evolve. They lean more into the creative and strategic side. But the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) manages technical infrastructure and ensures the company remains profitable while using technology.
(Related reading: CISO vs. CIO vs. CPO.)
CINO brings in new ideas to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. Chief Strategy Officer, on the other hand, maps out the company's overall strategy, which includes:
Simply put, both roles focus on driving business growth but through different approaches.
If you want to become a chief innovation officer but aren't sure what it takes, follow this path:
Despite the spark in this role, it comes with one big challenge - since the position is new, many CINOs lack the required skills. To address this challenge, you must possess advanced skills to serve your organization.
As a chief innovation officer, you'll lead top technicals and manage daily business operations. That's why you must possess both technical and business skills. Since technical skills allow you to leverage new technologies, here are the most important ones that you must have:
On the contrary, business skills will allow you to guide teams in managing budgets, promoting products, and providing excellent customer service. But to fulfill your duties responsibly, you must possess the following business skills:
Companies look for chief innovation officers who can learn from past experiences and make the right decisions in uncertain times. That's why it's so important to have leadership skills - they help you manage risks and have an innovative mindset.
In 2023, 58% of companies prioritized communication skills as the most important soft skill for employees. This means as a chief innovation officer, this skill is even more important for you considering the level of your role.
With good communication skills, you can convey complex ideas simply and participate in public debates to discuss new ideas and technologies.
In this role, you have to identify new opportunities and areas of improvement. And to do so, you must learn to analyze large amounts of data quickly. Here's how it can be done:
(Related reading: vulnerabilities, risk & threats.)
Now you must be thinking, how do I gain these skills? If so, here are three certifications that you can take to get started as a CINO:
Certified Chief Innovation Officer (CCInO): This certificate is excellent for building your foundation and improving your business innovation capabilities. It will help you think creatively by challenging existing norms along with the following:
On top of everything, you can choose between self-study and instructor-led learning.
Certified Chief Innovation Officer Trainingis for CINOs who want to create products in a challenging environment. Also, if you currently work as a manager but aim to be promoted to chief innovation officer, this certificate would be perfect to step up.
Your responsibilities as a CINO would vary depending on the nature of the business you work for. But I've listed the most common tasks that are a must-do regardless of the industry you operate in:
Since you oversee innovation technology within the organization, your role primarily includes setting clear goals, tackling challenges, and meeting needs. To do so, you will be required to do the following:
You'll also analyze competitors to stay ahead. But how do you start? Well - online reviews are a great place to gain insights into customer preferences. When you're analyzing them, look for the answers to the following questions:
Components of competitor analysis. (Source)
Once you have the answers to these questions, you will know where your competitors and your organization stand. This will help you map things and innovate at a high scale.
As a chief innovation officer, you don't innovate alone. Instead, you collaborate with different teams who equally contribute their creative ideas. But that's one part of the process - maintaining high levels of coordination is more important. You can do this by:
In 2023, reducing costs was the top objective Global Business Service (GBS) organizations achieved. The reason it happened was because their primary goal would be to achieve cost reduction. This shows if you want to achieve a certain thing, you should always set clear goals including the budget and time frame to achieve those goals.
Objectives GBS organizations achieved in 2023. (Source)
So, next time, whenever you have a new idea, ask yourself these questions before directly working on the idea:
(Related reading: the product development lifecycle & the product manager role.)
Staff training fuels creativity and the curiosity to do better within teams. You have to provide your employees with targeted training to improve their problem-solving skills and creativity. But training alone isn't enough. You can also mix things up by:
The salary of a chief innovation officer varies depending on the company location you're applying for, how big the organization is, the years of experience you have.
However, here are a couple of salary reports from 2024:
Note: These salary ranges are subject to change with time.
Chief Innovation Officers (CINOs) lead their organization's innovation strategy by blending technical expertise with leadership and communication skills. By doing so, they drive initiatives to enhance efficiency and reduce costs within their organization. If you also want to become one, take the proper certifications to prepare and lead your teams in developing innovative solutions that meet customer needs.