Oscar Alcoberro is the Head of HR at Otsuka Pharmaceutical S.A. in Spain. He discusses his goals of making HR a true business partner and changing perceptions of the HR department. He also talks about the challenges of maintaining the company's culture of happiness and commitment to employees. Alcoberro notes the differences between Otsuka's culture that emphasizes happiness and creativity, and his past experiences. He aims to support the growth of Otsuka's Spanish business and attract new talent through its unique and dynamic work environment and culture.

1. Oscar Alcoberro
Head of HR at Otsuka Pharmaceutical, S.A
Otsuka Pharmaceutical S.A is a leading global pharmaceutical company focused on
creating innovative products and medical devices to address unmet medical needs. This
month we caught up with Oscar Alcoberro, Head of HR at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Spain,
who talks about the company’s plans to grow its Spanish business through a culture
promoting fun and happiness in the workplace...
You only recently joined Otsuka Pharmaceutical. What is
your overall remit as Head of HR? What impact do you
hope to have during your first six months in the role?
If HR wants to be a real business partner, it should demonstrate how
to contribute to the business at its core, and not just be a support
function. My role at Otsuka is to make this happen. I need to identify
how far from this ideal situation we are in HR and start building
bridges, with the view to changing the mindset or the organisation.
This will help me to achieve a new influential position for HR in the
near future.
What would you describe as your biggest challenges in
the role?
When I joined Otsuka Pharmaceutical, the Managing Director Jordi
Plaja asked me to ‘hire the best and make them happy.’ This message
is fully in line with the company’s broader commitment to ensure
all employees recognise Otsuka as being ‘the best professional
experience in their career.’ Everybody who comes into contact
with Otsuka quickly realises that there is ‘a kind of magic’ which
exists here. It’s the sense that the organisation truly has a genuine
commitment to its people. So, the biggest challenge for me is making
sure that we don’t lose ‘the magic’. Happiness is a business construct
at Otsuka and I need to make this happiness sustainable.
How much of a learning process has it been for you?
What gaps (if any) are there in your own learning and
development?
Otsuka is a totally different proposition to anything I have
experienced in the past. The company’s culture really emphasises
the importance of good people as being the key to its success.
This model demonstrates that commitment and engagement are
reflections of your people’s general happiness at work. Therefore,
emotional leadership is a must have skill for an Otsuka manager. I’m
enjoying learning about the effectiveness of employer branding and
working with other employees who share the goals of the company.
I’ve read a lot about this but always thought it was like science fiction;
not actually achievable! I do have some gaps in my own learning
and development, particularly around finance, as I come from a
psychology and legal background.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical is still relatively small in Spain.
Are there plans to grow the Spanish business? How will
HR support this growth?
Otsuka is a countercyclical Pharmaceutical company with an exciting
pipeline ahead and we definitely want to be recognised more as a ‘big
company’, rather than being perhaps negatively associated with ‘big
pharma’. HR is quickly becoming a key player in shaping the future,
right at the heart of the company’s decision making processes.
What is Otsuka Pharmaceutical currently doing to attract
talent?
We want to attract young talented professionals at the beginning
of their careers, as well as young managers coming from big
companies, perhaps seeking greater autonomy and opportunities
for development. We see change in the business environment as
an opportunity, rather than a crisis, and tend to attract people who
are not afraid of change. For young talent starting out at Otsuka, we
offer a unique opportunity to work on very dynamic and challenging
projects and learn from senior members of staff, in a very open and
non-hierarchical environment. For more senior people joining the
business, they can be part of a very happy working environment
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2. and enjoy collaborating with other talented people, sharing ideas in
a professional way. Otsuka is becoming more attractive, day by day,
because it represents something different, but also something we all
would like to be part of.
What impact does the culture have on productivity?
We believe in fostering a culture of creativity, responsibility, flexibility
and happiness to help us reach our goals in a sustainable way. In
addition, powerful Japanese concepts like JISSHO (Execution) and
SOZOSEI (Creativity) also run through our veins. A strong culture is
basically like a centrifuge, those who fit the culture become part of its
dynamic energy and those that don’t are quickly pushed out by the
inertia.
Why should people consider working for Otsuka
Pharmaceutical?
Otsuka is a large, world class, Japanese multinational, introducing
innovative products and new solutions for unmet diseases, to
the market, where the patient is the epicentre. At the core of the
company, is the belief that we can unleash people’s potential and
creativity. Otsuka Spain is an agile, fast and smart company, able
to anticipate the future and also adapt its structure to a changing
environment. Having fun is key a key pillar of our high performance
model. We have a young, talented and engaged team that is
determined to succeed. You should consider Otsuka if you want to
experience working in a different kind of environment.
Oscar Alcoberro
What are the ambitions for Otsuka Pharmaceutical over
the next 12 months?
We are focused on the launch of a new product called Abilify
Maintena later this year. It’s a once-monthly, extended-release
injection, designed to help prevent relapse in patients with
schizophrenia. We’re also getting prepared for several other new
product launches, over the next few years. Our ambition is to keep
bringing innovative products to the market, supporting better
worldwide health.
What HR trends are you most interested in at the
moment?
Gamification, neuromarketing, neurocompensation, happiness as
a business construct and social media in HR linked to collective
intelligence (I+D 2.0) initiatives.
In terms of HR best practise what companies do you look
to for inspiration?
I’m interested in companies that, like Otsuka, are focused on
cultivating happiness and creativity, to generate value for the
business. I don’t actually believe, however, there is a great deal of
innovation taking place in HR today. There is a tendency to simply
replicate successful formulas from other businesses, but that doesn’t
always work. HR practitioners should focus more on creating
something new. To do so, though, they need time to think and be
creative. We cannot afford to let the urgent bury the important.
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3. You’ve worked in HR for almost fifteen years now. How
has the role of the HR professional changed during that
time?
Unfortunately, the HR role has not changed much during that time
because, today, it is still rare to find an HR department directly
influencing and defining business strategy. HR is probably the
department with the worst internal marketing in the world, because it
frequently fails to communicate the real added value of HR. Yes, HR
acts more as a business partner and facilitator today, but there is still a
long way to go.
You’re very visible on social media and also write an HR blog. Does
social media have a role to play in HR? If so, how should it be used?
Social media has dramatically changed the way we interact, and this
has impacted on companies’ internal and external communication. It
has become a powerful platform for HR in terms of recruiting, flexible
learning and development, collective intelligence, branding initiatives
and even for networking and sharing best practices.
What kind of leader are you? How do you get the most
out of your teams?
I am a leader focused on developing sustainable, high performance
of teams. I believe in cultivating responsibility, freedom, flexibility,
involvement, active listening, recognition, sense of humour and
a clear matrix of roles and responsibilities. I really believe that
happiness, in a healthy environment, is the key for having sustainable
results in the long term.
What keeps you interested outside of work?
I like reading about technical issues such as law, psychology, genetics,
business, and high-tech developments and so on, as well as writing
and social media. Being around friends and family is also important;
my two small children help me understand the real sense of Life.
About Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Otsuka Pharmaceutical was established in Tokushima
Prefecture, Japan in 1964. At Otsuka Pharmaceutical, we are
committed to a holistic approach to health and well-being
of people and are striving to create innovative, thoroughly-original:
pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products based
on our corporate philosophy “Otsuka-people creating new
products for better health worldwide”. Analogous to riding on a
bicycle, we drive on two wheels.
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