Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is set to reinvent the role of
HR by placing much greater focus on global talent management.
If the board approves the plan this month, HR will be led by
a chief talent officer, who will have equal standing with the heads of finance
and operations, and sit on the board.
The responsibilities of the chief talent officer (CTO) will
include global staffing, talent planning and diversity – which are currently
split into three separate jobs.
John Herbert, vice president of HR of Pfizer, said:
"Talent more than anything else is what helps us make money and serve our
communities. The main challenge for the CTO will be to work out if we are
getting the best talent from around the world."
Key skills will be organisational design, talent allocation,
goal achievement and metrics.
"Pfizer wants someone who can intelligently create
goals and measure whether they are being achieved.
"We want to know if our people are achieving their
goals on a quarterly basis, in the same way that we assess our revenues and
profits," said Herbert.
The plan is supported by the launch this month of an online
education system that will also grade the competencies of staff.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
See next week’s Personnel Today for the full story
By Mike Broad
