Analysis of HR Strategy Implementation in AstraZeneca

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Strategic Human Resource Management

Introduction
The following essay discusses the rationale of embedding Human Resource Strategies into
broader corporate strategies. Along with it is analysed how the HR strategy is embedded in the
broader corporate strategy in Astra Zeneca. The way Astra Zeneca implements their Human
resource strategy at the departmental level is discussed along with the contemporary challenges
faced by the Human Resource department of Astra Zeneca.
Astra Zeneca is a global organisation of science-led biopharmaceutical business and provides
various innovative medicines used all over the world.
HR strategies into broader corporate strategies
The HR section plays a vital role in an organisation. It is the department which performs the
tasks of finding, selecting, recruiting and training employees. HR helps the organisation to deal
with the fast-changing environment in the competitive market. HR is a core element of business
planning (Baum, 2015). The human resources staff are neither consulted nor invited in the
development process of the plans. After the development of the plan, at the time of implementing
it, the management falls short of manpower to complete the task. Thus it is necessary for a
business organisation to align human resource strategies with corporate strategies. HRM has a
strategic part in every company. The major challenges faced by human resource managers are to
convince the management of the organisation that human capital understood to be as an
important resource for the organisation (Paauwe & Boon, 2018).
A successful business owner understands the connection that lies between human strategy and
business strategy. Human capital is one the major factor for an organisation's long run and
success. Human resource strategy involves leadership teams having a conversation with resource
experts and discussing the development of complementary goals for the organisation (Campbell,
et. al., 2012). Majority of the organisations nowadays provides HR to take part in the boardroom
and also provide the opportunity to develop their corporate strategies as HR is having major part
in the corporate strategy development.
The main functions of the human resource department are carrying out the recruitment and
selection process to build a productive workforce. Developing a strategy for the recruitment and
selection of the best employees affects the organisation's bottom line. With HR planning, the
organisation can forecast the number of people and the skills required (Ferraresi, et. al., 2012).
HR also focuses on the current workforce and can take proper decision about who should be

promoted, who should be trained, is there a necessity for new recruitments etc. HR takes the lead
in driving change, which is very necessary for today’s competitive market. Organisation
managing change in the best way is most likely to beat the competition. HR helps in providing
proper training to the workforce in order to make them perfect for any changing situation and
also train the leaders to take advantage of every opportunity. If the employees of an organisation
are connected with the organisational strategy and goals and if they are provided proper
acknowledgement for better performance, the goals will easily be met (Jabbour, et. al., 2013).
Organisation’s performance is improved if the employees are engaged with them. At this point,
HR strategies play a vital role in meeting the goals of the organisation. HR department further
develops compensation strategies which balance the finances of the organisation as per the
expectation for employees. Low compensation will result in employees leaving the organisation
and higher compensation will result in adverse effects on the financial statements of the
organisation. HR ensures that the right staff is present for the particular task to ensure that it gets
completed effectively even if they have to bear extra compensation for that but employees
present with right skills will help in effective completion of the task. HR department tracks the
success of recruitment and training received by the employees. Most important metrics would be
to know how well the organisation is able to retain employees who contribute to the effective
completion of the objectives (Benn et. al., 2018).
The implication of HR strategy in the broader corporate strategy of Astra Zeneca
AstraZeneca has been making huge progress in strategy development. The efforts create
significant value for the customers as well as the stakeholders. As discussed above human
resource strategies and corporate strategies are linked with each other and are dependent on each
other. Astra Zeneca has successfully embedded the HR strategy in its corporate strategy (Keupp,
et. al., 2012). Some of the examples of how the HR strategy is embedded in the broader
corporate strategy are as follows:
Impact assessments
When the leader of the organisation starts developing a corporate plan, the different department
heads are consulted to see what effect the proposed business strategies may have on them. The
human resource planning team figures out the financial impact of the strategy based on the
recruitment, training strategies as per the necessity of the plan. Apart from that the human
resource manager also looks at the numerous options for decreasing the labour supply in case if

the strategy involves downsizing. Labour supply is decreased by retirements, dismissals,
transfers etc.
With the new business strategy, a time cost is also associated. The leaders of the organisation
decide timescale of the proposed business strategy on the basis of the feedback from HR for how
long would it take for hire the permanent staff members or whether contractors should be hired
(Bratton & Gold, 2017).
Executing plan
The human resource team focuses on making the employees of the organisation ready for the
change to be taking place as soon as the corporate strategy is given approval. This includes
changing the job descriptions of the employees, motivation strategies, development of training
programs, recruitment and outsourcing to eliminate the shortage of labour, making policies and
moving people between jobs.
Feedback and monitoring
After the implementation of corporate strategy, the HR department monitors the changes that are
made to the workforce of the organisation to establish whether the policies are sustainable,
affordable and sufficient. The corporate plan is a long term plan and is very crucial for
organisations to keep monitoring and to update the forecasts. It makes sure that the organisation
always has the right people with the right skills to achieve its objectives (Martin et. al., 2016).
Implementation of HR strategy at the departmental level
Human resource policies provide the necessary structure for with the organisation to sustain its
efficiency and productivity. Executing HR approaches helps in improving the workforce the
board of the association. Full execution of HR approaches in Astra Zeneca begins with an
establishment dependent on the associations' size, workplace and culture. Lawful survey and
correspondence with workers are required for settling the execution. The hierarchical culture of
Astra Zeneca is utilized to build up the system of the HR strategies (Minbaeva and Collings,
2013).
After the selection of framework, policies are drafted as per the suitability of the organisation’s
size and the structure level required. Implementing the HR policies according to the laws is very
necessary as the laws help in governing minimum wages, overtime and employee classification
for the purpose of ensuring that the policies are consistent with government laws. Before
publication of the organisation’s rules, policies, guidelines it is necessary to consult them with

the legal counsel. After the approval is received the next step in the process of implementation
are training and publication. All the policies are compiled and the staffs are scheduled for the
launch of new policies (Shirey, 2013).
Contemporary HR challenges faced by Astra Zeneca
There are various issues faced by the Human resource department in Astra Zeneca which majorly
includes issues related to cash flows, competition and revenue growth. The major challenge
faced by the organisation is Human resource management. Human resource management
includes but is not limited to job design and analysis, performance management, compensation
and benefits, training and development, workforce planning and legal issues. The contemporary
human resource challenges faced by Astra Zeneca are as follows:
Compliance with law and regulation
Keeping up with changing laws is the major challenge for owners of Astra Zeneca. Ignoring
business laws may result in lawsuits and other problems leading to the demise of the organisation
(Reilly & Williams, 2016).
Management changes
With the growth in business, growth in the internal processes and structures is also seen. Some
employees face issues to adjust themselves according to the changes which are a challenge for
the HR department to make them ready for every upcoming change in the organisation (Wright
and Ulrich, 2017).
Leadership Development
The leadership development program of the organisation is below average. This creates issues
related to proper leadership in the organisation. Hence the HR department needs to focus on
getting the best out of their leadership development program.
Workforce Training and Development
Another major challenge for the Human Resource department is investing time and resources in
training and development of lower level employees. Some of the hardest workers may not take
any time in learning new things however the ones who are little weak may take a huge period of
time to develop their skills (Akter, 2018).
Conclusion
The following essay provided a study of the process of embedding HR strategies in the broader
corporate strategy of Astro Zeneca along with studying its importance. The methods used by the

organisation in embedding HR strategies at the departmental level provided an overview of the
process of embedding HR strategies and further the challenges are studies faced by the HR
department of the organisation.

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