Employees

Talent management is one of our key priorities to meet the challenging goals of our 2015 business strategy. It guides employee relations at all levels and in all activities.

While the focus is on identifying employees for key positions, talent management also involves developing the potential of all employees to help achieve our goals.

We measure our progress in:

• Attraction
• Retention
• Performance management
• Compensation
• Succession management
• Learning and development

Strengthening our talent pipeline nurtures the competitiveness and innovation that ensure Roche thrives. Our approach to talent management is companywide, and our talent framework focuses on high-potential employees. It highlights talented individuals and provides access to a broad pool of employees that can take over key positions, in the short or long term.

Top talent

We target the top 5% of our employees, and support them with Group-wide development programmes, which amount to approximately 15% of total spending on learning and development.

The international assignments we offer help distinguish Roche as an attractive employer, and we provide support and assistance to employees and their families to ensure these projects run smoothly.

Employee retention rates give us a good indication of employee satisfaction, and ensuring the best employees remain at Roche means our talent management is working successfully. By offering long-term job stability, development opportunities and a good working environment, we aim to keep staff turnover to a minimum.

Retention in a dynamic industry

The pharmaceutical industry is one that regularly faces reorganisation, with acquisitions and mergers a regular feature. In such situations, we focus on retaining our most valued employees. To do so, Roche offers support measures including:

• Relocation
• Retention incentives
• New career orientation support

After 30 years with a company, it’s hard to imagine that your career can still throw up challenges. Tuygan Goeker, Head of the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Indian sub-continent region, thinks otherwise. His latest work involves developing strategies for maximising market potential in seven emerging markets, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Korea, Mexico and his native Turkey.

“Promotions and career opportunities come in all shapes and sizes. It’s up to you to learn how a new role can provide you with skills that could be critical for your future success,” Tuygan notes.

Keeping it interesting

In 30 years at Roche, Tuygan’s career has scarcely stood still, punctuated by a change in responsibilities or a country move every three to four years. He started out at Roche Istanbul as a Junior Product Manager, moved to Basel to take over as Business Director some years later, and had a brief stint as General Manager of Roche Indonesia before returning to Basel to take up his current post.

The constant change has given Tuygan a sense of adaptability. “Along the way I’ve had to expand the way I define success,” he says. “Sometimes the scope or budget of a new role has been tiny in comparison to a previous position. On the other hand, the number of employees and indirect responsibilities turn out to be infinitely greater.”

Either way, Tuygan’s career has always kept him motivated and, more importantly, kept him at Roche.