INTERGENERATIONAL MANAGEMENT AT GLAXOSMITHKLINE IN ASIA PACIFIC It was September 2013 and Kimberly Wong, an external consultant working with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a large multinational healthcare company, had just boarded a Singapore bound flight from Manila with her colleague

INTERGENERATIONAL MANAGEMENT AT GLAXOSMITHKLINE IN ASIA PACIFIC

It was September 2013 and Kimberly Wong, an external consultant working with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a large multinational healthcare company, had just boarded a Singapore bound flight from Manila with her colleague. After taking their seats they began to discuss the long business trip they were returning from. The two had visited GSK offices throughout the region, conducting interviews and collecting detailed information to examine how well senior management was addressing gaps in GSK’s talent pool while tackling

intergenerational workforce issues. Upon their return to Singapore they would

be meeting with the vice president of human resources, Asia Pacific at GSK, to

share their observations and analysis of the two issues they had investigated.

Wong turned to her colleague:

GSK has three different generations together in the workplace. This is a fairly new phenomenon since people are living longer than ever — it does present some challenges. As a whole, each generation has a different set of characteristics and are at separate stages of their lifecycle. Each has a distinct outlook on life and its own set of

expectations. There are certainly some commonalities but there are also genuine

differences.

From a managerial perspective, Wong wondered how best to motivate those in

each generation while maintaining impartiality. In general, intergenerational

tensions could easily arise through ill- conceived HR policies, inadequate HR

tools or even the wrong leadership style. Diminished performance and higher

attrition rates were very real consequences.

Impressive economic expansion far outstripped stagnant population growth in

key Asia Pacific countries, which had resulted in chronic talent shortages. This shortage was particularly acute for general management and other senior positions. Those with professional talent found themselves in quite a favourable position given the abundance of jobs available to them. Wong

commented:

This situation is compounded by the fact that Baby Boomers — the oldest and largest generation in the workforce — are beginning to retire. It’s a difficult void to fill.

FIVE STEP CASE ANALYSIS METHOD

Problem Statement:

Aproblem statement identifies a problem in the case, it is one

sentence, it is reversible (one can argue the opposite side of the

problem statement), it takes a stance, and it is not a question.

Use of the word “and” may be an indicator of two problems in the

statement. It uses persuasive, confident language. Avoid the use

of “perhaps, maybe, kinda, could” and replace with stronger

words like “must, will, should.”

Analysis, Objective and Long-term Goal:

This section includes evidence from the case and analysis that

supports your argument. In this case, it supports your problem

statement and what you claim. In addition, it does not restate

case language. Explain why you think the problem is occurring,

how it may impact the future effectiveness of the person, team or

company. Included in this section is an objective (what is the

objective on behalf of the decisionmaker?) and a long-term goal

(the goal must be measurable). The objective and longterm goal

are different from the Problem Statement and Proposed

Solutions. A goal is a description of a destination, and an objective

is a measure of the progress that is needed to get to the

destination. In this context, goals are the long-term outcomes you

(or the organization) want/ need to achieve.

Proposed Solutions:

In this area, two or more solutions (review prompt) should be

included. These solutions must address the problem identified in

the Problem Statement and should also satisfy the objective and

long-term goal. Each solution must include the pros/cons of each.

Recommendation: