Strategic HRM Plan - Essay Example

Cultural HR issues that could affect Roche Pharmaceuticals and how to deal with it as part of the larger strategic plan Theadvent of globalization has made business and economies to integrate and expand that compelled businesses to adopt with the accompanying competition that globalization brings. The necessity of innovativeness is not only limited to developing new method of treatment and medicines but also on how to best approach markets whose characteristic differs from one region to another.

It now follows that Roche has also to hire and promote people from varying background and ensure that the roster of its workforce is diversified to best adapt to an equally diversified and changing market. While it is a part of Roche Pharmaceutical’s strategic plan to recruit talent from within, the market imperative of getting the best diversified talent available to make itself innovative and competitive will compel the company to get talent from outside the company. In today’s globalized market, the criteria for getting the best talent is not only limited to competencies such as education background, skills and experiences of its human resource but also includes its diversity.

Diversity is desired in a globalized market of which Roche Pharmaceutical operates because it provides the necessary perspective for the company to survive and thrive in market conditions whose cultural orientation differ from region to another. While diversity is a desirable quality in its workforce, it is not however devoid of issues. The heterogeneity of the background and orientation of a diversified workforce could not also bring conflict and could be disruptive when it is not managed carefully.

Among the common cultural issues that diversity could bring in an organization are;a) Prejudice – the unreasonable bias often formed without sufficient information. Prejudice translates to a negative and even hostile treatment towards differences. b) Ethnocentrism – the feeling of superiority of one’s race has always been an issue towards inclusiveness. It is also an issue in an organizational setting. Ethnocentrism is the root of racism.c) Stereotypes – lumping together or generalizing judgment against people or group of people especially when its assumption is wrong.

This is a hindrance against inclusiveness for it communicates subtle hostility against the people or group of people being stereotyped.These cultural issues however can be overcome by a deliberate intent of reducing prejudices and use of stereotype in the organisation. This can be further removed by constantly developing and improving the human resource that would eventually removed myopic perspectives that typecast people which are the root of prejudice. Cultural orientation as part of training and job rotation that would allow employees to widen their exposure about their job and their co-workers will also help to eventually remove the issues that are associated with a diversified workforce.

A concrete diversity program that is clearly communicated to the entire organization coupled with corporate policies that promote diversity would also help remove cultural issues in Roche Pharmaceuticals.The necessity of managing diversity in the workplace is not only to avert the disruptive outcome of the failure of managing cultural differences among the organization’s employees. It is also to harness the potency of varying perspectives that a diversified workforce brings to the organization.

Because when this potency is harness to its full potential, it could be the company’s best asset in adapting in the diversified market of a globalized economy.