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07.10.06
The Market For Executives
 By
David Tittle
Despite increased demand for high-caliber leadership in all segments of the technology
community, it wasn't until fairly recently that we saw the migration of top information
technology executives between the federal and corporate sectors.
Hank Philcox went from the Internal Revenue Service to become chief information
officer at DynCorp, and Renny DiPentima moved from the Social Security Administration
to SRA International Inc., where he became president of SRA Federal. It has quickly
become clear that federal IT leadership experience laid the foundation for their
success.
As far back as the late 1970s, there were some non-political appointments into
federal IT leadership roles. And in the late 1980s, Janet Barnes moved from MCI
to become the first designated federal CIO at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
In recent years, more high-profile federal positions have been filled from outside
government, with candidates coming from such companies as Oracle Corp. and FedEx
Corp. Although critics complain that the average tenure of these federal appointees
is only two years, the reality is that the tenure of private-sector CIOs is no
different.
Federal agencies now commonly utilize executive
search firms to recruit key IT talent. My firm, Paul-Tittle Search Group,
has effectively recruited CIO-level executives, program managers and senior technologists
from outside government.
Our clients, particularly at the major defense/intelligence agencies, are interested
in hiring candidates with strong business acumen and competitive, market-driven
experience.
Although some candidates decline these opportunities because of compensation,
we have been able to fill positions with strong candidates with exceptional private-sector
experience.
In the current soft market for IT executives, agencies have an opportunity to
attract outstanding candidates. Opportunity, challenge and relative stability
are as important as compensation. If an influx of talent from the commercial world
is brought in, we can expect to see continuing changes to the federal IT marketplace.
The most notable change that will eventually accrue is bridging the perception
gap between the two communities. As more experienced private-sector executives
flow through the federal community, there will be an increasing number of examples
to follow.
Eventually, at least in the Washington, D.C., area, there may well be a much-improved
respect for federal executives and significantly increased flow of executives
in both directions.
The downturn in the dot-com and telecommunications sectors in the local marketplace
means the greatest hiring needs for IT executives are with federal systems integrators.
Those firms should more aggressively seek out federal IT leaders who already understand
that business from the "client" side. The strategic technology leadership role
of the senior IT executive today is very similar in the private and federal sectors.
About
the Author:
David Tittle, a veteran of over three decades in the executive search industry,
is a co-founder of Paul-Tittle Search Group, an executive search firm. He leads
searches for senior executives within the federal government and professional
services communities. Dave has a BS in psychology from Duke University and has
done extensive postgraduate work in industrial psychology. |
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