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FROM: MAR-APR 2008 ISSUE | BY ANDREW WAHL
Few would envy Rick Green’s job. Managing the information technology assets of a growing, acquisitive company like CHC Helicopters is a complex task. The company operates a fleet of 255 aircraft in 35 countries, mostly servicing the oil and gas industry. So assets are distributed to support operations in remote parts of the world, including Nigeria, Southeast Asia, and the North Sea. Green’s systems link more than 2,000 PCs for about 3,500 employees, track up to 40,000 parts for 16 aircraft types, and monitor assets and financial information wherever CHC has a presence. Most days, just keeping the network connected over satellite links can be a headache – never mind finding ways to leverage IT for better performance.
Despite these challenges, Green has emerged in the past three years as a key, dependable executive who has transformed the role that technology plays in the business. And that has been integral to CHC’s broader efforts to restructure itself. “He’s extremely focused, probably one of the hardest-working guys I know, very dedicated,” says CEO Sylvain Allard, a longtime colleague. “He will identify problems, but with every problem, he identifies a solution. That’s what I like. Anyone can certainly identify lots of problems, but not as many people can quickly identify a solution to fix those problems.”
A distinct advantage is that Green is no technologist – in fact, he’s an accountant. A native of St. John’s, Newfoundland, he started in 1986 in the finance department of Sealand Helicopters, the predecessor of CHC founded by Craig Dobbin, and worked in a number of finance-related departments. When Allard was promoted in 1994 to run the international operations out of Richmond, B.C., Green was the first person he tapped to join him as his vice-president of finance. And after five years, Allard invited Green back to St. John’s as a vice-president of planning, to help integrate a series of acquisitions.
The result is that Green is deeply aware of what makes CHC’s business tick, and has long-standing working relationships with many of the executives and managers. So in 2003, when the company’s multinational oil and gas clients requested that CHC begin operating as one consistent service around the world – instead of as a holding company for the multiple disparate helicopter services it had acquired – Green was the ideal person to standardize the technology that would underpin the transformation. Beginning in 2004, he integrated the IT department of the eight separate business groups - as well as those of companies acquired in Holland, Brazil, and the U.S.
Green has rolled out three core systems for financial tracking and reporting; maintenance and technical records; and logistical and inventory tracking for maintenance, repair, and overhaul. “If people in Thailand are talking to somebody here in Richmond about parts, and they’re both looking at the same [list of] parts, they’re not so much talking about whether the parts are in or not, they’re talking about how to move them to Thailand,” he says. “It’s visibility and communication that really drives the organization. Once you lay a foundation for them, then to me it’s nothing but positive steps after that, because now they’re all talking the same language, and now they’re all figuring out how to make it better and better and better.”
The transformation was also cultural. Green worked carefully to get his global staff of 43 onside and focused on serving the business. He started by expunging “IT” from the company lexicon in favour of Global Systems and Solutions (GSS). “It was like IT was a back-room function. It doesn’t add value to the business. It hinders advancement,” says Green.
GSS remains closely aligned to the operation’s needs because Green keeps technical teams close to managers in the field and frequently holds meetings with business leaders about how they use the systems. Keeping his ear to the ground has been key, in part to be aware, for instance, of how some people in the company are beginning to use customer-relationship-management software in different ways – and to then start consolidating it into a consistent approach.
With the integration about 80 per cent complete and on track to be done next year, Green can begin building upon the standardized systems with new methods of tracking performance. True to a businessman’s view of technology, he’s more interested in refining the inherent processes than developing new software. “It’s one thing to go out there and put systems in across the world so everybody is as best as possible looking at the same information,” says Green, “but it’s another thing to say, ‘Are all the processes around that efficient and effective?’”
It’s a question that only someone who knows CHC inside-out can begin to answer.
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Facing Challenges with Confidence
Rick Green, B. Comm, CGA, graduated from the CGA program of professional studies in 1995, and is still putting the skills he learned there to good use every day in his job as chief information officer (CIO) of CHC Helicopters Corporation.
“The CGA program was a real confidence builder for me personally,” he says. “We were taught to look at problems and challenges from many different angles, and to ask lots of strategic questions.”
He has a long list of positive things to say about how his CGA designation is still helping him achieve success – from addressing operational issues and human resources concerns to mapping out financial strategy, and conducting analysis. It was while studying for his CGA that he got his first close look at information systems and solutions through the program’s integrated IT component. He appreciates the continuing professional development and networking opportunities that come from being a CGA.
Being named as 2007’s Top CIO in Canada by Canadian Business magazine means a lot to him. “It’s an honour and a privilege. It feels good to be recognized and to know that all my hard work over the years is having positive results.”
Green is enthusiastic about going to work every day, and says that despite the stresses of the job, he loves knowing that each day will be different and that he will work with an outstanding group of colleagues. Finding solutions to tough situations motivates him, and he admits to getting “a bit bored” if his work doesn’t challenge him.
He sees globalization as one of the biggest factors shaping the accounting field. “People coming into the finance world today can’t just focus on provincial or national issues. Lots of businesses work across international boundaries and finance professionals need to have a global view of the businesses where they work.”
Although he thrives on the everyday challenges at the office, he balances his 12-hour workdays with keeping weekends free for getting out to his cottage, walking, and golfing. He also enjoys travelling for leisure, and when he has time for a short break, there’s nothing like finding a quiet corner with a good newspaper.
So what comes next after an increasingly successful career and being named as Canada’s top CIO? “Retirement?” he suggests with a laugh. He still has career goals to achieve however, and can see himself one day managing a business. For the foreseeable future, though, he’ll be continuing with the hectic, challenging, and sometimes unpredictable job that gets him out of bed in the mornings looking forward to what the day has in store.
– Doris Hollett |
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