How Roche Diagnostics Develops Global Managers The health care company Roche has two operating divisions:

How Roche Diagnostics Develops Global Managers

The health care company Roche has two operating divisions: a pharmaceuticals division and Roche Diagnostics, which applies research and development to identify ways that diagnostic tests can help patients manage their health with individualized care. At its main sites in Switzerland, Germany, and the United States, Roche Diagnostics conducts research by microbiologists, biochemists, geneticists, oncologists, and specialists in infectious diseases. Finding enough people with these skills is difficult, and managing them requires a special set of scientific and business expertise, as well as the ability to navigate the cultural differences of a diverse workforce.
In contrast to most of its competitors, Roche isn’t focused on the most efficient way to conduct research in one or two centralized location. Rather, the strategy is to have many different groups pursuing a variety of ideas, sharing what they learn so they create the most ideas. Thus, leadership requires a combination of technical strength and communication skill.
Roche develops the necessity management talent through a program of global rotation called the Perspective Program. Employees who have completed their PhD or MBA and want to pursue an international career are eligible to participate. Participants are selected on the basis of geographic and functional needs. They are sent on four international assignments lasting six months each. Each assignment takes place in a different country – perhaps one of the main facilities or another Roche laboratory in, say, China or New Zealand. Typically, employees who complete the program (95 percent finish it successfully) are assigned to positions as senior managers or directors. Many find that the experience has led their career in a new direction.
Before managers are sent on these assignments, the company briefs them on what to expect. The briefing includes benefits to seek, reasons why the company selected them and what it is investing, goals for the rotation, and success stories of prior participants.
Roche has run into some challenges in implementing the program. One is that some expats start to enjoy their assignments so much that they don’t want to move on when the six-month period ends. Bringing the candidates into the program is occasionally difficult because talented employees’ managers don’t want them to leave for a foreign assignment. The company also found that preparation was sometimes inadequate – either the participant or the manager of the international assignment wasn’t fully prepared.
To address some of these problems, Roche is now more careful to lay out the plan for the rotation while preparing candidates, so they understand that the rotations will have limited duration. Rather than simply saying their careers could take them to various places, the discussion now pinpoints locations where there is a need that matches the candidate’s talents. The program also has more alternatives so some employees can take assignments for just a year. For candidates who are deciding whether to participate, Roche lets them take their spouse or domestic partner with them on some trips to investigate the program. Although this adds to the program’s expense, it helps to ensure that the participant will successfully complete the rotation. Candidates who are unsure can also shadow a current participant to see what the experience is like. One way Roche has lowered manager’s resistance to losing top employees is to arrange swaps where a manager who lets a key employee participate in the rotation can be on the receiving end and get a top employee from another part of the world.
Recently, when a participant returned from a rotation in Japan, he could readily identify what aspect of the experience had made him a better businessperson. He said he learned to understand the typical decision-making process in Japan which involves careful discussion in the office, followed by a late evening out for dinner and further discussion, with key decisions occurring as late as midnight. Knowing the “after-hours” part of the workday is crucial for a company that has many interactions between colleagues in the United States and Japan.