In addition to inflammation, the Nutley operation serves as headquarters for Roche’s oncology disease biology area, as well as RNA therapeutics—an emerging area based on increasing understanding of how genes are activated in cells. Pharm Exec recently got the opportunity to speak with the facility’s Director of Human Resources Marcie Geremakis, who shared her thoughts about the ongoing recruitment process.

Pharm Exec: What are the biggest challenges for HR during these times?
Marcie Geremakis: One of the challenges we’ve been addressing is that on the Roche Nutley site there are some functions moving to San Francisco as part of our acquisition of Genentech. It’s a growing mode, so we have to make it clear to the external world that we’re growing and looking for people to come in. We always want to represent ourselves truthfully to a candidate that this is happening.  

Another challenge when recruiting a candidate is to present the mission of research at Roche, making it very clear that this is what we’re all about, this is what the job is about, and this is what their responsibilities would be. In a time of organizational change, it’s very important to do that with a clear and consistent message to a candidate coming into any organization.

PE: How is Roche creating a work environment that encourages innovation, and vouching for job security in midst of such a challenged business model?

MG: By being committed to clarity as a message and purpose as an organization. We are committed to delivering and communicating news to employees. In the research world, we’ve made the mission of our research very clear, including our goals for 2010 and 2011.

I think that people find stability in our message. They also become aware of the type of work environment we have here at Roche, at Nutley in particular, and how we value talent and how we take care of talent. So, I think that’s the message [potential employees] get both when we interview them and when they come on board.

PE: What is being done at the company to address corporate reputation?
MG: It’s a very exiting time for the people we’re bringing to Roche for the first time. With the acquisition with Genentech, we are forming a new relationship, so the research population is very excited about Roche’s prospects for the future. The message has been a motivating factor.

I don’t want to leave out the other units at Nutley that have been affected by the transitions. However, in this time of organizational change, we as a company have handled it very well.

PE: How do you envision the human resources role at pharmaceutical companies in the near future?
MG: Roche is a company that embraces the HR function. In these times of organizational change, it’s a key part of the business, and one thing we’ve maintained is our focus on talent management. We work very hard at developing employees and giving people an opportunity to broaden their skills. At this time, we have to be even more diligent in helping our current employees to develop and remain productive in a stable environment. We also have to acquire the right type of talent as the initial step in [seeding] the talent pipeline.

That is where HR has served the business well at Roche research. HR is part of every leadership team on the Nutley site and globally. We have a strong presence in how the organization functions and will continue to lead new initiatives to move the business forward.

Guest blog by W Scott Evangelista, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Without committed leadership from the top of an organization, the best answers will not find the light of day, and the “my number is better than yours” issue will persist. The shackles of the past (standard reports with standard data) will inevitably bind companies to increasingly failing strategies. I believe it is time leadership embraces predictive modeling to enable better decision making.

So many companies when faced with gradual market shifts and increasing competition or strengthening barriers keep turning to old solutions and don’t recognize they are in the midst of new problems. Leadership with many companies react so slowly to change that the companies are often in dire straits before the mandate for change comes…usually from the newly appointed CEO.

The one advantage pharmaceutical companies have in leveraging predictive analytics is that most of them are so far behind the state of what is possible that they can learn quickly from other industries and adopt tested technologies to facilitate their rapid adoption.

If pharmaceutical leadership is not investing today in building robust capabilities in predictive analytics, they will soon be looking to leverage their vast experience on the lecture circuit.  Leadership needs to embrace the notion that analytics can help them create and find insights that will yield competitive advantage, and even if they don’t embrace it, they should at least be willing to do robust tests of the concept. In many ways, companies have been outsourcing these capabilities for years to vendors that do very robust statistical modeling and make recommendations on how resources should be allocated. This results in many companies getting the same advice (most use the same few vendors) and having no meaningful advantage.

It’s time for a change, the lecture circuit isn’t that interesting.

To hear other perspectives on how business analytics can be leveraged for a strategic advantage, you might want to check out the recent Pharm Exec Webcast in which I  participated on a panel Daniel Feldman of the Pharmaceutical Management Science Association, and SAS’s Patrick Homer.

As we all know, the industry is facing trends that will continue to erode profitability if the sales and marketing model does not change. The image of a new commercial model is now starting to emerge – and although the details are far from clear, the basic components are there in terms of some of the things that the industry needs to achieve.

One of the trends in the new commercial model is for companies to make smarter sales and marketing decisions based on deeper analytical insights—and to develop these competencies in house to create a clear and distinct competitive advantage. Organizations that use business analytics today drive value and better decisions across the business—and those that make the better decisions now are the ones who will ultimately succeed in the new commercial model. The Webcast will help corporate decision makers like you better understand why transformational business analytics is a game changer for Pharma that will:

* Uncover real intelligence within your organization.
* Solve complex business problems.
* Help you understand who your high-value customers are.
* Create a clear and distinct competitive advantage.
* Drive sustainable growth through innovation.

Register Free at www.pharmexec.com/businessanalytics