case analysis

CASE 2: GSK EXAM

Problem Statement

The main problem that lies for GSK is the talent shortage in the Asia Pacific which has led to skilled labor in the GSK’s workforce.

Analysis of the problem

Several countries in the Asia Pacific were going through a fall in birth rates and various places, the stats had fallen even lower than the replacement levels. The net migration in several countries had come to a constant point as well. This problem of lack of efficient labor had led to a marked fall in wage inflation. In the worst-case scenario, it could worsen further. In the pharmaceutical sector, there is a major need for skilled labor who possess the ability to contribute positively to GSK. Attaining talent from the competitors was a difficult task and a dire cause of concern as well. Furthermore, with the expected rise in the population, meeting their needs was vital and it couldn’t have done efficiently without a skilled workforce at the backend. Consequentially, this shortage resulted in increased pressure from the competitors as well with GSK’s market share and profits being at stake.

Alternatives

1. The first alternative available to GSK is training the existing workforce. GSK focuses on hard skills and encourages innovating thinking, leadership ability, and a trust-building approach. The talent management strategy of GSK emphasizes distributing the talent pool into three pools and training them according to their level in the hierarchy. The training method used by GSK was the 70-20-10 model. This model involves 70% of the development coming from providing lessons on the harder subjects. 20% comes from conducting feedback from colleagues, and the rest of the 10% comes from formal training.

· Pros: This is a comprehensive method of ensuring productivity in the workforce. It provides thorough training to the employees while collecting their feedback as well. This allows for constant monitoring of their skills and checking whether or not the training sessions are effective. Moreover, this alternative promotes employee retention as it makes them feel valued in the organization. This factor encourages skilled labor to be more productive and contributing more efficiently to GSK’s growth.

· Cons: It is a time-consuming process that involves several training-related tasks being involved in it. Training the employees and conducting their feedback will take a lot of time. In the case of negative feedback, the training method or content will have to be revised. This will account for even more time. Secondly, training will cost a great amount for GSK. Arranging professional trainers, booking a training location, managing resources, and more will add to the costs of GSK.

2. The second alternative for GSK will be exploring new talent pools. Difficult times call for more considering tougher options. In GSK’s case when it is not able to find promising talent in the Asia Pacific, it will have to explore more markets by targeting the retired employees, encouraging referrals, using social media to hire employees, and skipping the conventional methods of hiring.

· Pros: This alternative will open gates for more talent to come in through different sources. These are the untapped sources that increase the variety of applicants being introduced to GSK. Using these methods does not need conducting extensive procedures and so it will save time for GSK. Moreover, this method saves a great amount of time as well.

· Cons: This is an informal method of hiring employees. It could waste GSK’s time if the employees considered through these ways are unskilled or inefficient as well. Additionally, even when these methods are considered, the market remains the same. And so, it is highly like that the employees coming from this market are unskilled as well.

Recommendation

It has been suggestible to use the first alternative of training the employees. This would ensure maintaining a strong relationship with a skilled workforce that will benefit GSK for a long time. Furthermore, when the resources available in the Asia Pacific are not offering the right kind of talent and the times are extreme, GSK will have to work with what is available. In this case, training the existing employees will be the better option.