Consumer & retail companies call on their techies to boost productivity
Awards and speakers spark annual event for top IT pros
"Many increases in productivity and cost-cutting measures can be achieved through technology." – Ben-Saba Hasan, Wal-Mart
"It’s neat to see something you do impact the business and to see that your improvements save the company money." – Andrea L. Ridgeway, 3M
By Laurel A. McKee Ranger
Contributing Editor
The consumer sector of the economy is taking a hard hit from the economic downturn. But in some cases this will actually create opportunities for IT professionals and engineers, as companies look to increase productivity and reduce waste.
Sharon Bevis-Hoover of the Coca-Cola Co (Atlanta, GA), who is currently transitioning from CIO for Europe to director of global IT transformation, believes that "In general, the IT career market appears to be staying strong."
A company that wants to reduce travel expenses "may bring in videoconferencing instead, for example," Bevis-Hoover suggests, and open more jobs for techies that way. "Better use of technology and IT can bring a lot to the table in terms of addressing the overall need to keep costs down.
"IT suppliers are seeing some pressure on pricing, but the demand for services remains strong," Bevis-Hoover concludes.
Gregory Marrufo is senior director of human resources at Wal-Mart (Bentonville, AR). He notes that "The economy has had an impact on every business, and one of the effects is that this has been a year of extremely low personnel turnover."
"Like most businesses, we won’t be adding to our headcount, at least during the first half of this year, but when we do we expect to bring in the best."
Wal-Mart’s Ben-Saba Hasan:
unlimited demand for IT
"There is unlimited demand for IT services here, because many increases in productivity and cost-cutting measures can be attained through the use of technology," says Ben-Saba Hasan. Hasan is VP of people systems at Wal-Mart (Bentonville, AR), which is probably the world’s largest retailer with more than two million employees worldwide and 350 company officers.
Of course, the "unlimited" demand for IT must adjust to limited resources and competing priorities. "That’s the challenge," Hasan says. "But it is also the epitome of problem-solving, and what drew me to an IT career in the first place."
Hasan and his teams are responsible for the IT systems that support functional areas like human resources, payroll, training and development, diversity, compensation, time and attendance and benefits systems. The teams also support corporate communications, in-store clinics, intranet, philanthropic efforts and much more.
For example, "We have a huge, privately run benefits organization to support. More than a million people are enrolled, and it’s our responsibility to ensure that the applications behind it run perfectly," Hasan says.
His work also involves business initiatives intended to drive growth and increase productivity. Based on available resources, "There are constant trade-offs. You have to balance current needs, implement new applications and manage expectations," he says.
Hasan has a 1983 bachelors of business admin with a concentration in CS from Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) and a 1994 MBA from Amber University (Dallas, TX). He grew up in North Philadelphia and began at the University of Idaho on a basketball scholarship before he went on to Temple.
He left school to work at various jobs and owned several small businesses before he went
back to complete his degree at Temple. He held three part-time jobs in his final year there,
he recalls.
Armed with his business degree and CS concentration he landed a job as a programmer with EDS (Dallas, TX). The next year he moved to a programming position with Enserch Corp (Dallas, TX), a company involved in oil and gas exploration, distribution and transmission. He stayed with Enserch for fourteen years, working in IT, HR, rate and regulatory affairs and customer service, and finally as an IT director.
In 1997 he joined Dell (Round Rock, TX) as director of IT. In 2002 he became VP of IT, directing teams that supported most business areas, including product group design centers in Austin, TX, Shanghai, Taipei, Singapore and Bangalore. "I spent a lot of time in Asia when I was with Dell," he remembers.
At the end of 2007 he joined Wal-Mart. The decision was not made quickly.
"Three different people told me about the job: a friend at the IT Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), a Wal-Mart colleague and a recruiter. When I researched the company I was impressed by its corporate values," he says.
ITSMF is an organization of high-level IT pros dedicated to advancing minorities into executive IT positions in major U.S. firms. Besides ITSMF, Hasan is a longtime member of BDPA and the National Black MBA Association. "Mentoring is one of the most rewarding things I do," he says. "I love seeing the ‘Oh-I-get-it’ look on people’s faces!
"I’ve had a lot of great coaches along the way and learned that building relationships and understanding the culture you’re working in is as important to your career as your performance," he notes.
Hasan is looking forward to the emphasis on alternative energy in the Obama stimulus package. "Because Wal-Mart is so large, it’s one of the biggest consumers of electricity. Changes like alternative energy at a corporation of our size can have a large positive impact."
D/C
Laurel A. McKee Ranger is a freelance business writer headquartered in Randolph, NJ
source: Diversitycareers.com