Client Overview
The client is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising innovative medicines for people with serious diseases. With a strong commitment to improving patient outcomes, they operate in multiple regions and employ a diverse workforce dedicated to advancing healthcare.
Challenge
The HR Leadership Team (HRLT) had become increasingly aware of a number of opportunities to improve the HR Operating Model in response to a number of challenges, including:
- Slow resource mobilisation during moments of urgent business needs;
- Fragmentation within HR functions, leading to inefficient change implementation on key business initiatives;
- Poor integration between Centres of Excellence (COEs) and other parts of the HR Op Model;
- Misalignment of roles with COEs performing operational delivery work;
- Imbalanced workload distribution, causing burnout for some and underutilisation for others e.g. HR Operations struggling for capacity to deliver enterprise-wide people interventions.
They were keen to improve integration and collaboration across the various functional teams within their existing Op Model, consolidate operational work into dedicated delivery teams, liberate COEs to focus on strategic and company-wide initiatives, and optimise resource allocation across the function to increase agility and deliver greater business value. With these considerations in mind, a thorough review of the existing HR Op Model was undertaken, resulting in a combination of structural, process and people changes.
Beyond this, the CPO and her leadership recognised that for the model to work there would need to be an ongoing process of change leadership in the function to embed and sustain the changes.
Approach
Working closely with HR leaders, Sophy facilitated an OD process that helped the HRLT identify key risks and opportunities across the function which resulted in the development of a comprehensive, integrated organisational change plan. Key interventions focused on the set-up of new teams and ways of working, and clarifying interfaces across teams and agreeing decision rights. For many individuals a key shift required was towards a more matrix way of working, requiring much more ongoing contracting and discussion on roles and accountabilities. Building these skills was a key part of the implementation and change plan.
Outcome
After 6 months the business and the HR function were already seeing some of the benefits of the HR operating model in action, including the benefits of much stronger capabilities in data and analytics, organisational Development and Change.
Beyond this, individuals in the function were particularly appreciative of the care and thought that leaders had put into the change journey, enabling them to focus quickly on providing the best support to their business, and ultimately patients.
