Professor
Moise Azria has spent more than
30 years as a research and development scientist
at Novartis. Among dozens of projects he’s worked on
over the years, three medicines ultimately reached the market, including Miacalcic
nasal spray, used to treat bone disorders such as osteoporosis. After devoting
several years to each successful project, Professor Azria moved on to new opportunities
inside the company. Today, however, that kind of lifelong
loyalty is increasingly rare. Globalization has intensified competition for world-class
researchers as well as executives in marketing and sales, technical operations
and other functions. Novartis remains an attractive
destination for top global talent – reflecting the company’s rapid growth and
one of the pharmaceutical industry’s richest new-drug pipelines. Yet retaining
world-class talents once they are on board remains a major challenge.
“The best way to foster loyalty and commitment is to generate opportunities for
professional advancement that match personal aspirations of employees,” says Juergen
Brokatzky-Geiger, Head of |
| assessment
that tracks performance and updates development plans for promising executives
and associates. For top Group management, the reviews help gauge the depth of
the talent pipeline – a critical dimension of succession planning.
The OTR program employs uniform global processes and methodology to identify talent
in a vast cascade. It begins with discussions between managers and their direct
reports at Novartis sites worldwide, and culminates in a final, Group-wide OTR
review with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Vasella. To identify the
right talent to grow the business, the scope of OTR has expanded dramatically
in recent years – from only a few dozen senior managers five years ago, to more
than 15 000 Novartis associates who participate today.
In development discussions, managers and their direct reports assess strengths,
weaknesses and development needs; pinpoint career aspirations; and propose concrete
actions. At the next level, managers as a group review this information – increasing
the visibility of talented candidates to senior executives and Human Resources
staff . “We aim to build an exciting workplace where our people can realize their
full potential,” Dr. Brokatzky-Geiger says. |
| BLUEPRINT
FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT In the blueprint for career
advancement at Novartis, learning from experience goes hand in hand with systematic
accumulation of skills to prepare managers for challenging future assignments.
Expansion of the OTR program has refined planning for upward career moves. Rotations
between assignments in country organizations, regional organizations and Group
headquarters in Switzerland have become more frequent across our broad and diverse
worldwide talent pool. Mercedes Echauri began her career with Novartis in her
native Spain as a regulatoryaffairs specialist – but moved to Munich, Germany,
in 2002 as Head of Business Development and Licensing for the Pharmaceutical Division’s
European Office. Last year, Ms. Echauri returned to Spain as Head of Partnering
and Market Access for the new Emerging Growth Markets organization.
In recent years, Novartis has taken steps to insure that there is room at the
top to reward loyalty and commitment. In 2005, Novartis achieved a Group objective
of filling 70% of leadership positions with internal candidates for the first
time. As recently as 2003, the proportion of internal |
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