Appoint A Chief Shift Officer

Digital Transformation 2.0 isn’t a program, it’s a permanent operating mode and state—dynamic, AI-accelerated, skills-based, and distributed by default.

"Realising [AI-related] gains requires a systematic approach to deciding where to implement the technology, plus investment in data readiness, integration of GenAI into technology platforms and workflows, and effective programmes to build workforce skills." - ​PwC's 28th Annual Global CEO Survey​, Jan 2025.

As digitalisation and AI adoptions increase, the crucial missing piece in most organizations is a single owner who is responsible for working across talent (HR), tech (IT), and place (Real Estate / Workplace) AND drives, guides, fosters, coordinates, and tracks critical, integrated shifts throughout the organization.

Without one leader’s dedicated ownership—bringing a human-centric approach and cultivating and sustaining company-wide buy-in—the odds of failure may exceed the 70% experienced in 'Digital Transformation 1.0' [​McKinsey​].
‍

Official Shift Officer

Your organization needs one person who is committed and accountable for stimulating, orchestrating, and sustaining the five essential shifts described over recent weeks. This C-Suite executive is responsible for determining and facilitating how digitalised work happens, with what tools, by whom, and where:

• Strategic Integration: Aligning and seamlessly integrating HR, IT, and RE/Workplace operations [options in '​Integrate to Amplify​' last week].
• AI-driven Work Design: Re-mapping jobs into tasks and skills, codifying human–agentic blended teams and enabling learning in the flow of work [​Unilever​, ​Moderna​].
• Experience/Productivity Lens: Treating physical and digital workplaces as one product with measurable outcomes such as time-to-value, cost-to-serve, and retention [​Mastercard​].
• System Shift: Enabling and communicating ongoing cross-organization transformation, nudging and tracking usage to keep momentum, new positioning, and purpose elevated.
  ‍

COO: Charged with Change

A natural Chief Shift Officer is your COO—existing or hired—currently present in around 40% of (usually larger) organizations. The COO is well-positioned:

• Familiar Territory: Expanding a known role generates less resistance.
• Strategy Executor: Involved in strategies, COOs lead implementation.
• Enterprise POV: Cross-functional remit can align capital and plans.
• Operational Muscle: Existing oversight of shift areas e.g. culture, talent.
• Unaffiliated Arbiter: Adjudicating across units without functional bias.
• Succession Potential: Offering board-friendly possible CEO transition.
  ‍

“The COO role is evolving from its roots in the back office into a catalyst for technology-driven growth, strategic expansion, and employee empowerment.”” The role itself has changed—it’s bigger, bolder, and more transformative than ever”. – McKinsey, 2022 ​Stepping up: What COOs will need to succeed in 2023 and beyond​'.

Adding to the HR, IT, and RE/Workplace combinations and integrations mentioned in my '​Integrate to Amplify​' newsletter last week, more C-shifts:

​FIS Global​: ​Stephanie Ferris​ as COO managed technology, HR, and enterprise transformation for integration and reinvention. She is now CEO and President.

​Comcast​: ​Michael Cavanagh​ as President took on technology and operational integration across Comcast’s businesses working with the CEO and Chairman.

​BP Downstream​: ​Tufan Erginbilgic​ as COO spanned global supply chains, technology modernization, and workplace safety. He then became CEO.

​SpaceX​: ​Gwynne Shotwell​ as President and COO oversees daily operations and cross-functional integration - engineering, people, manufacturing, launch.

​Meta​: ​Sheryl Sandberg ​when COO shaped Meta's operating system overseeing overseeing people, policy, and product.

​ANZ​: ​Mark Hand​ as Group Executive had retail and commercial banking responsibilities, previously managing units and integrated operations.
‍

"The COO role has traditionally taken a backseat to other C-suite functions within the organization. Its recent resurgence and increasing visibility showcase the importance of the job in building resilience and positioning organizations for success in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment." '​Stepping up: What COOs will need to succeed in 2023 and beyond​.’ McKinsey article, 2022

Is a collaboration of impactful workforce and workplace strategies that Corinne Murray and I have developed to respond to digital transformation, AI- and people-related challenges of adapting to modern work environments.

​System Shift​ helps companies identify leadership primed for the Chief Shift Officer role and cultivates the foundation team to enable the transition to launch or guide and monitor integrated transformative shifts successfully.

Corinne and I also elevate familiar non-tech frameworks which have dynamic characteristics to integrate flexible principles. These core themes increase clarity, reduce worker stress and facilitate participation and adoption, enabling accelerated, sustainable growth.

To find out more, go to ​SystemShift.Work​ to enable the successful leadership and growth for accelerated progress and effective transformation.

Metrics that Matter

When appointing a Chief Shift Officer or assigning the COO this mandate, clear measures must prove integration and transformation deliver value and cover employee experience, performance, resilience, and system-level ROI:

• Employee Experience & Adoption: Time-to-productivity for new hires (baseline vs. post-integration); Digital tool adoption rate (percentage of licenses actively used); Help-desk call deflection through self-service or AI support; Employee Experience-Net Promoter Score.
• Performance & Efficiency: Cycle-time reduction in core processes (e.g., onboarding, approvals); Cross-functional project completion time; Percentage of workflows redesigned for human-AI teaming; Collaboration effectiveness (measured through digital signals: meeting load, cross-team participation).
• Workplace & Resource Usage: Space utilization by activity type (focus, collaboration, hybrid); Workspace cost per productive hour; Sustainability KPIs: energy efficiency, carbon footprint/employee; percentage of roles supported by hybrid/remote-ready setups.
• Transformation Health & Resilience: Percentage of employees reporting confidence in transformation direction; Change adoption rate (measured through usage of new systems/processes); Mean time to recovery (MTTR) for incidents/disruptions across HR, IT, and RE/workplace; Business continuity and resiliency test pass rates.
  ‍

Shift Blockers

• ​Mindsets Matter​ - Struggles to absorb change can be mitigated by infusing exploration with curiosity and trialing new approaches. A common vision aligns priorities, goals, timeframes, risks, budgets.
• ​Fixed Frameworks​ - Worker burnout rising from change fatigue and rigid structures that reduce adaptability is improved using familiar models (e.g. sports teams) to embrace dynamic updates and pivots.
• ​Digital Maturity​ - Highly clustered or superficial usage and training that hinder digital adoption and experimentation benefit from coordinated, shared integration to accelerate flexibility and fluency.
• ​Skills-first Focus​ - Static and out-of-date job assignments prevent internal mobility, shifting to skills enables higher human resource allocation for better profit margins and business growth [​p17 PwC​].
• ​Workforce Mix​ - Limited employment arrangements constrain talent hiring and utilisation, including more types and non-human workers increases business capabilities and responsiveness.
  ‍

“Employees are worn down by transformation fatigue. What they need is visible leadership, clear priorities, and a system that makes work easier.” — ​Josh Bersin​, global HR industry analyst.

📘 ​Beyond Digital: How Great Leaders Transform Their Organizations and Shape the Future​ - Looking ahead to see where we're going.

🗞️ ​Transformation from Chief Operating Officer to Chief Resilience Officer​ - COOs roles are becoming more important for many reasons.

📹 ​The Digital Transformation of Industries​, World Economic Forum 2024 - Different issues industry leaders are experiencing and acknowledging.

🎶 ​Rise Up​, Andra Day - Uplifting as we navigate much change, daily!

Leading systemic change isn’t just about structure — it’s about leadership. Integrating people, technology, and workplace demands vision, resilience, and the ability to inspire teams throughout the ongoing transformation. That’s where the role of the Chief Shift Officer — possibly your COO — becomes pivotal.

With my executive coaching, I help leaders build the confidence, clarity, and systemic mindset to adapt to modern work. My insights strengthen your leadership and C-suite impact and ensure your organization doesn’t just adapt — it accelerates. ​Click here to book a 30-minute session.​

Until next time!

‍

Sophie