A View from the C-Suite

Jerre Stead, Chairman and CEO, IHS Inc.
Monday, June 9 8:00am — 9:00am

A gentleman that has taken four companies public and attended 120 conference calls pushed the point that CEO’s must focus on the training and development of employees. The idea that if a company has one dollar left it should be spent on training and development of employees. The result is low turnover as employees meet their expectations and prepare themselves for future career growth.

On that note, he has stated that he has been blessed with an excellent IR team for three reasons:
1. Each person always reports to him. Or as he considers it “partners with him”.
2. Each person is an integral part of the company’s IR strategy. He never says no to anything his team has to say because he completed trusts his team to know the company inside out.
3. The IR person leads the team to their objectives and delivers the message and facts both internally and externally to shareholders. In order for the entire team to be successful, each member needs to know the entire story.

Throughout his presentation he mentioned that we must treat “facts as our friends”- The importance of using the intense external intellectual information about customers for the company’s benefit. Companies need to think about the customers from the outside in.

Jerre leaves the audience with a few things to keep on top of mind: “There is no right way to do a wrong thing” and “We are in a global race for success”.

Question & Answer
1. What is the most effective way for the IRO to report to the board? Deliver a 15 to 20 minute presentation summarizing the critical aspects the company is working on with the public. It is a good idea to tell the board to speak up if too much information is being reported on.
2. What skills do you to look for in an IRO? An IRO needs to: 1) Know how to listen, 2) Is able to work with complex and complicated issues in a parallel path, and 3) Is able to draw the demands from the public and provide annual guidance.