In terms of corporate structure, there are few roles that have seen as much decline as the COO. The Chief Operating Officer is the second in command behind the CEO. It’s an essential role to supplement and fill in the roles that the CEO can’t. This comes in the form of organization, structure, and task juggling. They’re all things the CEO must be proficient at, but which the COO can manage on more specific levels.
The challenge today is that 75% of CEOs lack a COO. Even for the ones that do, the COO often lacks training and resources. In practice, this leads to an extremely top-heavy structure. The CEO has to tack on any roles that are passed to them, and delegation becomes very complex.
However the impact that a COO can have is undeniable. Not only does it lighten the load on the CEO themselves, but leads to distinct and unique advantages. For instance, companies lost 20 to 30% of their revenue to inefficiencies, a rate which COO’s can help with massively. The long term strategizing and planning a COO can do is something distinct to that role. Most CEOs have too many daily obligations to regularly and consistently plan in this way.
In practice the results of having a COO are clear. More than 40% of the world’s top companies have a COO. And the companies that don’t often have an effective COO without the title. In this lies the most central problem of COO’s today, even when present, they’re not respected. Many COO’s that are in power lack the ability to allocate their time. This isn’t due to the nature of the role, but rather the training and respect the role is most often given.
These are the modern challenges of the COO in today’s corporate landscape that can be solved with COO coaching. Corporations are going through a lot of changes very quickly today. More new businesses and management methods are popping up than ever. From the past to today the role of the COO has fallen out of favor, but that doesn’t mean it can’t come back. Many people are doing the role of the COO, what’s important is that the role is recognized and respected.
Source: Diane Integrates
