From Nuisance to Necessity: Selling Information Governance to Leadership

The ability to take another perspective has become one of the keys to both sales and non-sales selling. And the social science research on perspective-taking yields some important lessons for all of us. ~ Daniel H. Pink

As information management professionals, we understand the critical importance of good information governance practices. Effective information governance ensures compliance, reduces risk, enables better decision-making, and drives efficiency across the organization. However, despite these clear benefits, many of us still struggle to get buy-in and support from leadership.

Too often, information governance is seen as a burdensome compliance exercise or an IT issue rather than a strategic imperative. Executives may view investments in information governance as a sunk cost rather than a competitive advantage. They fail to see how complete and strategic information management practices can unlock significant value for the business.

So how can we change this perception? How can we elevate information governance from an underappreciated back-office function to a top priority for the C-suite? Here are some strategies for framing the conversation in a way that resonates with leaders:

Speak Their Language

One of the biggest pitfalls is getting too deep into technical jargon and process minutiae when discussing information governance with executives. While the nuts and bolts are important to us, leaders care more about the “so what?” They want to understand how information governance drives strategic priorities like growth, innovation, risk mitigation, and operational excellence.

Tailor your messaging to highlight the specific challenges and opportunities that are top of mind for the CEO, CFO, CDO, and other C-suite leaders. Does the CEO worry about maintaining a competitive edge? Emphasize how information governance enables data-driven decision-making and can offer advanced analytics capabilities. Is the CFO focused on controlling costs? Underscore the potential for information governance to streamline processes, reduce redundancies, and minimize risk exposures that lead to expensive litigation or penalties.

Quantify the Value

Anecdotes and hypotheticals have their place, but hard numbers and evidence tend to be more compelling to analytically-minded leaders. Quantify the value and ROI of information governance through metrics and concrete examples relevant to your organization.

For instance, you could estimate the amount of money spent on legal discovery and compliance efforts due to poor information management practices. Or highlight the amount of employee time wasted searching for critical business information across disparate systems and file shares. Tie these costs directly to core business drivers like profitability, productivity, and speed-to-market.

Another powerful approach is contrasting your current state to an optimized future state enabled by information governance. For example, “Our current document retrieval process takes an average of X hours and costs $Y per matter. With the proper information governance framework, we could reduce this by 40%, unlocking $Z annually that could be reinvested in growth initiatives.”

Make It Personal

While statistics and numbers are compelling, don’t overlook the power of personal narratives. Storytelling can help leaders relate to the challenges and recognize the very human impact of suboptimal information practices.

For example, you could share a qualitative account of the hair-on-fire scramble during the last regulatory audit or SEC inquiry, with people working around the clock to pull together the required information. Or recount the pain of trying to onboard a new executive who was unable to access critical institutional knowledge and context due to information siloes and knowledge gaps.

These types of vivid stories can crystallize the risks and downstream effects of poor information governance in a way that dry statistics and figures cannot. They underscore how information governance enables the firm to operate with greater velocity, consistency, and confidence.

Point to Competitive Advantages

Any advantage that allows a firm to operate with greater speed, agility, and insight is invaluable. Explicitly connect the benefits of information governance to strategic advantages that resonate with leaders’ priorities.

For example, you could emphasize how optimized information management accelerates cloud adoption and enables digital transformation initiatives that increase operational flexibility. Or highlight how it unlocks new revenue streams by facilitating the sharing and monetization of proprietary data assets.

Effective information governance is also a key enabler of data-centric business models, advanced analytics capabilities, and AI/machine learning initiatives that can supercharge innovation and competitiveness. Keep the focus on how it drives strategic growth opportunities and future-proofs the organization.

At the end of the day, leaders care about results. They need to understand not just the theoretical importance of information governance, but how it tangibly impacts the metrics they are incentivized around—revenue growth, cost optimization, risk mitigation, speed-to-market, and so on.

The path to C-suite buy-in lies in building a business case that explicitly connects the dots between sound information stewardship and the operational discipline and strategic edge required to win in today’s unforgiving market. When we reframe the narrative and change mindsets in this way, information governance transitions from a check-the-box obligation to a mission-critical driver of success.

Views are my own and not those of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.