Virtual Leadership in a Global Environment
January 2007
James Plunkett, global head of management development for Quintiles Transnational, and his team are responsible for the development of the company’s 16,000 staff members in 71 countries.
In order to be an effective leader, you not only must have the appropriate technical expertise, you also must be a good manager. The business case for solid leadership is very real—low levels of employee engagement not only negatively affect retention, but also can damage customer relationships. In order to maintain good customer relations, leaders must develop a consistent practice of motivating and coaching their employees.
Good managers possess a diverse skill set that includes working across cultural boundaries, providing strategic direction and balancing the needs of their people with the priorities of the organization as a whole.
However, in addition to providing general leadership, managers in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries must possess a unique set of skills. For example, the pharmaceutical industry is heavily regulated, and as a result, flexibility is vital for keeping motivation levels high among employees. Regulatory or sponsor audits sometimes are planned on fairly short notice, and as a manager, you must seek to accommodate your team members’ schedules. If you simply demand that an employee cancel a planned vacation, his or her motivation will suffer. You need to be aware of scheduling issues, delegate tasks and reward your team for their effort.
Keep in mind that what constitutes a reward for one individual may not translate to an effective motivation tool for another. Managers should be always attuned to their employees’ motivational needs, and the easiest way to do that is to ask questions. Once each employee’s needs are assessed, consider what compensation tools are available and act accordingly.
Ongoing dialogue with employees will not only help you find an appropriate reward strategy for each individual, it also will establish open communication. Cascading corporate information—such as the company’s strategic objectives—enhances trust and openness, and illustrates the value of each employee’s role in the company’s overall success. You also should find out non–work details about your team. Often, people’s behavior at work is heavily influenced by their personal life. Before you ask someone to work 60 or 70 hours a week, take into account whether they have a family and consider any alternatives that might better accommodate their home life.
Whatever reward or motivation strategy you establish, make it timely and consistent. If your habit is to give a bonus at the beginning of each year, you should recognize that people may spend it and forget about it in a few months. Focus on rewarding good work when it happens. When somebody does a good job, acknowledge it immediately.
Another challenge in this field is globalization and the subsequent use of telecommunication to manage geographically dispersed teams. One problem with that is you never see the person’s face. It is very difficult to motivate someone without face–to–face communication. People want to meet you, want to “press the flesh.” You can’t pat somebody on the back via telecommunications. Regular reviews, in person whenever possible, are a good strategy for managers of global teams.
My staff is global, so one of the things I do to keep them motivated is encourage communication. Whenever someone joins the group, I try to have them get in touch with the rest of the staff almost immediately. I hold regular teleconferences so my group has an opportunity to talk about what they’re achieving, what has gone well and what could have gone better. This helps people feel like they’re part of a team.
Besides the ramifications of telecommunication, globalization presents pharmaceutical industry managers with the issue of motivating across cultures. In a global organization, managers move from project to project, and they often have different teams to manage on a monthly or bi–monthly basis. This means that an awareness of the local culture is crucial, because the guidelines and requirements you give your employees are shaped in part by your understanding of that culture.
People operate differently within different countries, and that affects everything from the speed at which they get tasks done to the hours they are willing to work. As a manager, you must be aware of those cultural differences to keep your expectations realistic. You might need to modify the project’s timetable. People from some cultures are willing to work through weekends to accomplish tasks, but others will not stay later than 5 p.m.
Good leadership doesn’t just benefit the team and the task at hand—it benefits the company’s bottom line. A good leader—someone people look up to and are willing to follow—will retain employees. Retention has a huge impact on a company. No matter how difficult the job is, people usually will stay with it if they feel directed, inspired and supported by their boss. And that reduces the costs of turnover, both in terms of lost productivity and time to train a new hire, and in terms of morale. Watching unhappy coworkers leave tends to demoralize the rest of the team. But employees who are motivated will work harder and better, and stay with their jobs longer.
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