There’s a new co-boss in town at Paycom!
Yesterday afternoon, the Oklahoma City HR software giant announced they have promoted Chris Thomas – the company’s former COO – to the title of Co-CEO.
With Paycom being a big employer and an important cog in the Oklahoma City economy, the news is a pretty big deal in the local business community. So, naturally, the story hasn’t been picked up by any local media outlet.
Here are details via a Paycom press release:
Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC) (“Paycom”), a leading provider of comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software, its board of directors and CEO, Chad Richison, announced the promotion of Chris Thomas, former Chief Operating Officer, to the role of Co-CEO, effective today. Thomas will serve as Co-CEO with Paycom’s founder, President and Chairman, Richison, whose innovative leadership propelled the organization into the S&P 500 within less than six years of becoming a publicly traded company…
Listen. I’m not going to be arrogant and say that our big report from a few weeks back where we revealed that even former Paycom Sole–CEO Chad Richison thinks the company’s software stinks triggered this leadership shake-up.
Trust me. I want to, but I’ll resist the temptation.
Large public companies usually plan leadership transitions like this months or even years in advance, so I’m sure this move has been in the works for a while.
I wonder where Chris came from? What he did do before joining Paycom? Did they lure him to Oklahoma from the mines of Silicon Valley?
Prior to Paycom, Thomas held numerous senior leadership positions at Love’s, one of the 10 largest privately held companies in the U.S. with $26.5 billion in revenue in 2023, according to Forbes.
Yep, from the heart of the highway to the halls of HR. That’s an interesting career transition, huh? I bet his first order of business as the new Co-CEO will be to include a Godfather's Pizza ordering app in all Paycom software.
My big question regarding the news is what exactly is a Co-CEO???
If you ask me, CEOs are a bit like quarterbacks. If you have more than one, you don’t have any at all!
Plus, I think we all know who the real CEO at Paycom still is.
Here’s how the new Co-CEO responsibilities break down:
In their Co-CEO roles, Richison’s key focus will be product innovation and strategy, and Thomas will continue to focus on operating other aspects of the business.
I’ve been self-employed for nearly 13 years now, so I’ll admit that my knowledge of burdensome HR software and organizational charts of the companies that design them is limited, but…
If Chad is going to focus on product innovation and strategy, and Thomas will focus on operating the business, why not just give the guy a raise and keep his title as COO?
That seems to follow a K.I.S.S. business philosophy and will get rid of a lot of co-confusion at the company.
Either way, we wish Chris the best of luck in his new co-role, and really hope he enjoys spec’ing.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
