The view from the top
The sense that a role in IR is a life-long vocation is waning. Not only are IROs some of the most visible people in their organization, both internally and externally, but the role also provides unparalleled exposure across the functions of a publicly traded firm.
It’s perhaps no surprise then that the route from IR to the C-suite is becoming well worn. But where the CFO chair was once seen as the default destination for IR professionals, the CEO role is less frequently considered.
Indeed, a survey of 667 IROs in IR Magazine’s Global IR Salary and Careers Report 2022 finds that ending up in the C-suite or on a company board is the least-important career aspiration for those polled: just 42 percent say it’s of high importance, while more than three in 10 IROs rate their feelings about that particular path as ‘indifferent’ at best.
It might be that IR is a very fulfilling vocation, or that those in the role are modest about their aspirations. But Oskar Yasar, managing partner at IR and corporate affairs recruitment firm Broome Yasar, says it could be because many IROs don't even realize they could end up as a CEO.
‘As an industry, we should all realize that we’ve come a long way,’ he points out. ‘IR is no longer just a back-office function. It’s now at the forefront of corporate positioning and strategy.’
Oskar Yasar, Broome Yasar
Paths to the top Smooch Repovich Reynolds, CEO of executive search company Smooch Unplugged, says IROs tend to come to the top seat via one of two paths.
‘There are those who just inherently know they want to become a part of the upper echelon of the C-suite,’ she explains. ‘And then there are those who discover it along the way, when their bosses place them into unexpected roles they would never have taken on for themselves.’
Reynolds describes the second route as ‘oftentimes a more enriching career path’ than the alternative because it is less ‘tightly scripted and architected’. She adds: ‘In my opinion, people don’t get 10 or 15 years into their career and say, I want to be a chief executive. Most people are thinking maybe five or seven years ahead.’
Smooch Repovich Reynolds, Smooch Unplugged
She tells an anecdote about meeting the CEO of an industrial firm for which she was seeking a head of IR. Earlier in his career, he had served as IRO himself, but said he went ‘kicking and screaming’ to the role after his CFO asked him to take up the mantle.
Later, says Reynolds, he said his time as an IRO ‘was the single best chapter of preparation’ for his path to CEO. ‘It’s a great example of someone who did not architect his career path to the CEO chair,’ she says. ‘But it is also an example of how time as an IRO can open the door for other things.’
This feeling is shared by Gerbrand Nijman, former head of IR at telecoms firm VimpelCom and life insurer Aegon and now CEO of Global Telecom Holding. He says he sees IR as the perfect preparation to becoming group CFO – a role he took up in 2015 – thanks to the knowledge and skills it brought him along the way.
‘There’s no other position, in my opinion, that suits that transition better than IR, because you bring knowledge of the capital markets and of your sector and, over time, you develop both of those further,’ he notes.
‘It’s a fantastic step for your career. You can learn so much. Too often a CFO or CEO has been appointed at a listed company without that experience, and it can take at least a year to get up to speed.’
For Gillian Karran-Cumberlege, co-founder of board development and executive search agency Fidelio Partners, there are other routes into the role aside from the communications or CFO path.
‘In the UK, we’ve had a proliferation of non-executive roles,’ she explains. ‘There’s a lot about IR that prepares you quite well for thinking through governance issues and understanding what the market is looking for.’
She adds that IROs’ increasing ownership of ESG within an organization makes them well suited to the non-executive director route, as does the ‘opening up of the diversity discussion’, which means it might suit female IROs or those from minority ethnicities. ‘There’s also a lot of research that shows IROs can make good CFOs – and that CFOs make for good chairs, which is an interesting stepping-stone,’ Karran-Cumberlege points out.
Gerbrand Nijman, Global Telecom Holding
Too often a CFO or CEO has been appointed at a listed firm without that experience, and it can take a year to get up to speed
Skills of the game Nijman says it was his ‘financial capabilities’ and his knowledge of internal processes, controls and risk management that helped on his journey to the C-suite, but adds that the single best asset was knowing the firm’s active investors well.
‘And having the experience to not get stressed if they came to me with angry complaints,’ Nijman continues. ‘Being able to listen was also crucial, so you can take into account what your shareholders think and act on it. It gains you a lot of credibility.’
For Yassar, it’s crucial to translate your IR skills into ‘management talents’ and broaden your portfolio within the business, adding strategy or even corporate affairs to your IR remit.
‘It’s interesting how few IR directors do any professional development or focus on their own professional brand awareness, but those who do are on the fast track to business leadership roles,’ he explains.
Karran-Cumberlege says it is important to avoid being ‘siloed’ in the IR department and to ‘lean into the company’ to get as close as you can to it. ‘Visibility is also crucial,’ she continues. ‘Ideally, you’ll be presenting at board meetings or to management. Being seen both externally and internally opens doors.’
All four highlight the need for confidence and presence, too, which comes from believing you belong in the room. That intangible quality was recently coined by Lorne Gorber, former long-time IRO at CGI, as Fingerspitzengeful, a combination of intangible traits that include tact, diplomacy, sensitivity and flair.
Another theme that runs through both Nijman’s and the recruiters’ thoughts is the need to take the opportunities offered by your own bosses. ‘Be open to the possibilities,’ says Reynolds. ‘Your boss is not going to put you in a job where you’ll fail. It’s because she or he sees something in you that possibly you haven’t recognized yet. Don’t be afraid to take on what feels like an area you know nothing about, or that feels awkward.’
Don’t be afraid to take on what feels like an area you know nothing about, or that feels awkward
Gillian Karran-Cumberlege, Fidelio Partners
Tricks of the trade So what can those with their eyes on that CEO chair do to make the most of their chances? ‘If you want that career path I think you have to make the decision deliberately,’ says Nijman.
He advises those in his current investor relations department to aim for three to five years in post: long enough to immerse themselves in a unique role, but not so long that it becomes the rest of their career. ‘Though I’m an example of the exception to that rule!’ he jokes.
Reynolds recommends that IROs gain ‘as much operational knowledge about their current company as possible so that they are articulate about how it works’ in service of that goal. ‘If you’re a sponge and you’re intellectually curious and driven to know, it could be a very powerful role from the standpoint of what you can choose to do next,’ she explains.
‘Talk to your boss about your career, too, as she or he will have a plan that makes sense.’
Overall, Karran-Cumberlege notes the transition does not happen ‘automatically’ and requires ‘deliberate’ effort. She recommends talking to HR managers and advisers as soon as possible, and getting as close as you can to your business.
‘Think a little bit about what it is you want in the end,’ she summarizes. ‘Aspiring high is great, and definitely something you should do in an IR role.’
