Why Modern Hospitality Businesses Demand a Chief Growth Officer (CGO)

Chris Stock, Managing Director at Percipient, looks at the rise of the Chief Growth Officer, and highlights why new market dynamics in hospitality require new responsibilities

In the not-too-distant past, company growth looked very different to that which we recognise today. It was almost an expected by-product of having the right long term strategy, and ‘rinsing and repeating’ in the quest for a consistent outcome.

For hotels in particular, not making changes, rather than embracing them, was key to achieving steady, acceptable levels of growth. And in a world which knew no different, this was a formula that broadly speaking, worked.

New thinking  

Fast forward to today, and things have changed exponentially.

Increased market saturation and competition, spiralling consumer demands fuelled by social media, and an intense geo-political and regulatory landscape are all converging at pace to turn the market on its head.

This means that rather than change representing something to be avoided for fear of upsetting the apple cart, it has become something hospitality organisations embrace and seek out opportunities from. In parallel, growth is now tied directly to how quickly and effectively plans are put in place to address the plethora of dynamics at play.

New roles and responsibilities

In line with the demanding nature of the environments we now operate within, the CFO’s role has evolved from record keeper to value creator. They must consistently demonstrate fulfilment of dynamic plans to multiple stakeholders, and leverage insights from which to pursue innovation.

The challenge is that while many CFOs are relishing the opportunities commensurate with this era, some are feeling the pressure of wearing multiple hats, and resisting new responsibilities.

Entering our CGO era

Against this backdrop, we’re seeing a rising number of Chief Growth Officers (CGOs) to lead the charge. In fact, recent research claims that 14% of organisations now have a CGO as part of their executive team. Bridging the gap between traditional financial management and a need for more intelligent and strategic advice to the business, the CGO is focused on understanding the moving dynamics and variables impacting performance, analysing where efforts should be channeled/changes made, and delving deeper into anomalies and trends which hold potential for opportunities.

Modern tools for modern responsibilities

But in the same way traditional roles no longer meet the needs of forward-looking organisations, nor do traditional tools.

Straightforward record keeping was commensurate with previous business models, and almost served to illustrate that nothing major had changed or gone wrong. A steady pace of doing what had always been done was the hallmark of success.

But while the legacy systems and basic finance packages installed to support this record keeping can absolutely provide the “what” (typically with help from spreadsheets and manual intervention) they typically fail to deliver the “why” or the “how” which are crucial to providing meaning and context.

CGOs therefore need modern finance systems such as Sage Intacct at their disposal to fulfil a new set of obligations.

Though its ability to assign codes to an infinite number of items and fields for in-depth analysis; dynamic intelligence, and easy to view reports at pre-defined levels of detail, Sage Intacct unlocks new possibilities.

This dashboard-centric intelligence effectively acts as a console to react, and shift left or right, depending on what is emerging or standing in the way of plans.  

Its ability to bring scale, agility and intelligence in an easy-to-use interface represents a powerful force, expediting growth potential.

More than a buzzword

So much more than another buzz-title or trend, the rise of the CGO is a strategic response to a rapidly changing business environment.

Against a backdrop of a constantly shifting landscape, and unprecedented potential to leverage data to respond to it intelligently, there is a huge opportunity to expedite growth. And with so much data to analyse and contextualise, it’s a much-needed bridge between traditional financial management and new economy demands

While not every hospitality organisation will be in a position to appoint a dedicated CGO, the principles and responsibilities of the role are integral to modern business.

Understanding the scope of these principles and assigning responsibilities appropriately is key to maximising market share in the short to medium term, and future-proofing for the long term.