With more than 60,000 employees, AstraZeneca is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. It recently successfully transformed its worldwide HR function, resulting in a more focused, service-oriented HR service in tune with the needs of an increasingly global organization. Supported by Oliver Wyman Leadership Development, AstraZeneca (AZ) adopted a centralized HR delivery model.
The Challenge: HR services at AZ traditionally had been delivered through a number of site-based and function-based teams, offering a full range of generalist support. A company-wide drive to focus the business on its core activities of researching, developing, making, and selling pharmaceutical products meant the spotlight fell on HR and other business support functions to see how they could realize value—in terms of both real cost savings and improved customer service. AZ required a major step change to create a more focused, service-oriented, and consistent HR platform in tune with the needs of an increasingly global organization.
The Solution: AZ aimed to transform its HR function by taking a "one-team" approach with an HR service center at its core. This was to provide a single point of contact for dealing with HR enquiries and transactional activities, supplemented by teams of HR specialists and strategically based HR business partners. Oliver Wyman began by working closely with the U.K. leadership team to develop a shared vision, goals, and strategy, including team-development workshops and ongoing coaching service throughout the transformation process.
