Doing it Differently: Arrows Experience of HR in Malta

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Doing it Differently Arrows Experience of HR in
Malta

• Adrian Zahra

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The Arrow Group

• Arrow International registered in 1999 in Malta
  with HQs in London and Dublin.
• Privately owned and run by core group of ex-Merck
  Generics (Pharma no. 24) executives.
• Fully-integrated pharma group with activities
  ranging from RD to manufacture and sales.
• 8 manufacturing / development sites and around 40
  companies in 24 countries, with just over 1,000
  staff.
• Easily qualifies amongst the 500 fastest growing
  companies in Europe.

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Arrow Pharm Malta

• 6th pharma company in Malta July 2002
• January 2003 first 3 employees
• First exports in December 2003 with 16 staff
• Produced just 25 million doses in 2004 with a
  market value of just over US 3 million
• Approved by the EU, USA, Brazil, Canada,
  Australia, S.Africa and New Zealand
• By 2007 employed 155 staff, produced 600 million
  doses with a market value estimated at over
  US150 million
• Today employs 180 staff and will reach capacity
  of 1.5 billion doses with 250 staff in 2009
• Considered the leading pharmaceutical company in
  Malta

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Staff Statistics

• 250 of national minimum wage average package
• 100 non-unionised
• 96 Maltese
• 60 male and 40 female
• 50 aged 25-35 (range 18-58yrs)
• 30 University graduates
• 10 continuing their studies
• 9 with pharmaceutical industry experience
• 5 average staff turnover (range 3 7 over the
  last 5 years)
• 0.5 staff losses attributable to competitors

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Staff Growth 2003-8
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Percent Staff Losses at End Probation 2003-8
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Arrows Culture

• Decentralised and informal entrepreneurial
  structure
• Strong leader personalities
• David and Goliath unconventional and aggressive
  approach to competition
• Performance-based reward systems
• Anglo-Saxon work ethic but no national identity
• Individual companies develop their own business
• practices
• Challenge to conventional wisdom
• Strong quality, product/service and client
  orientations

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HRD at Arrow Malta (1)

• No HRD department or manager
• Each manager hires, leads, develops, trains and
  fires his own staff
• Product and service quality is attained through
  people
• Arrows Quality Department is therefore focused
  on people
• Overall HR support is provided jointly by Quality
  Dept. and Administration Dept.

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HRD at Arrow Malta (2)

• 6-monthly performance appraisal discussions
• 3 of budget is allocated annually to training /
  education
• Open-door policies enhance approachability
• Social initiatives employee empowerment
  strategies
• Monthly or weekly staff meetings
• Strong ICT / communication infrastructure
  commitment

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HRD at Arrow Malta (3)

• Commitment to promote internally and develop
  career paths
• Mandatory and universal GMP training empowers
  anyone to challenge management
• Belief in continuing education, equal
  opportunities and rewarding commitment
• Credible and consistent management
• Ethical system based on Person-Centered
  Leadership

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Person-Centred Leadership

• Developed 1992-6 by Dr. Jeanne M. Plas PhD
• Related Individualism vs Teamwork
• Related to Coveys Value-Centered Leadership and
  McGregors Theory Y
• Builds on TQM programmes
• Counters negative effect of individualism on
  organisations by harnessing its power
• Only TQM model to work across entire business
  spectrum

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The Golden Rules (1)

• Treat all employees with sincere respect
• Respect feelings as well as ability
• Encourage individualism
• Share the truth
• Hire independent thinkers and empower them

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The Golden Rules (2)

• Make all individuals equal members of the team
• Keep working towards a creative balance between
  teamwork and individualism
• Exploit team-members differences for the benefit
  of the organisation
• Provide a high-quality working environment
• Reward humility and penalise arrogance, pushiness
  and insecurity

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Creativity Achievement (1)

• Emphasising talent and perseverance
• Valuing experience above qualifications
• Letting people choose where they want to be
• Allowing people to develop their interests and
  talents
• Reducing gap between staff levels

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Creativity Achievement (2)

• Taking decisions at lowest possible level
• Making mistakes is OK provided we learn from
  them!
• Putting time and effort into learning
• Rewarding authentic characters
• Leading by respect rather than authority

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Managing for Excellence (1)

• The ability of managers to create visions is
  priceless
• Managers are selected for their ability to
  communicate
• Managers are self-critical and learn from their
  staff
• Staffs feelings are as important as structured
  thoughts
• A feeling of community, sharing and mental
  challenges is created

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Managing for Excellence (2)

• Encouraging staff dedication to quality and
  detail
• Managers allow for individuals weaknesses
• Principal aim to achieve leaderless teams
• Staff given freedom to discuss and develop core
  values
• Managers listen as well as talk
• Training resources allocated to interests as well
  as skills

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Disadvantages

• Would require exceptional leaders to manage
  organisations above 250 staff in number
• Hence exit strategies and succession plans must
  be developed from the start in order to minimise
  disruption should the leader leave
• Requires basic psychology skills to be used
• Cannot be retried (unlike TQM) but has to succeed
  first time round
• Failure can devastate an organisation because it
  affects feelings

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Users of Person-Centered Leadership Models

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Thank you for your attention