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GSK Global Transition
Interview with Mark Tamburro, GlaxoSmithKline, Senior Vice President Worldwide, Real Estate and Facilities
Mark Tamburro is one of the best-known people in the corporate real estate industry. He became the first non-American chairman of corporate real estate organization CoreNet Global in 2008 and last year joined GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from Nokia. He is responsible for GSK’s real estate portfolio and services, which comprises over 80 million square feet in 750 locations, and supports more than 96,500 GSK employees.
In 2010, GSK signed a five-year contract that built on a long-standing, 18-year relationship with Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions. The roll-out of the global facilities management model initially covered GSK sites in North and South America, Europe and Asia, but has been extended to other parts of the world including Australia.
He found time to talk to WorkPlace Now about the GSK global transition, lessons learned and advice for anyone else thinking about going down the same route.
How is the new contract developing?
We’ve gone through the first phase of transition and are now starting to look at the last few R&D sites and local offices. We’re also working with colleagues in Global Manufacturing and Supply (GMS) and the Biologicals business units to see how and where they can take advantage of this global services platform so that we can deliver even more value for GSK. The future challenge that we have is to support our growth in the numerous emerging markets. We have to make sure that the services we provide to those emerging markets are delivered to the same uniform standard as those in more established markets. We, along with our partners, are well placed to roll-out this model globally right across the business I believe.
What were the main reasons for switching to a global facilities management model?
The decision to move to the global model was taken in support of the overall GSK business strategy – to grow a diversified business, deliver more products of value and simplify the operating model. We are helping the business to diversify by supporting expansion into emerging markets and allowing it to deliver better products to those markets, as well as simplifying with a single services model for facilities management. The real estate and services strategy perfectly underpins the wider business strategy – it ticks all the boxes. We have created a global platform, which is unique. I don’t think that there’s anything else like it in the life sciences sector. It’s certainly the first of its kind for GSK in terms of its global scope. I don’t think that too many companies have established a global platform like this. However, I believe that there’s also the opportunity to add more services in the future that are beyond the typical real estate and facilities services of today.
What did you learn from the global transition?
You have to accept that there are going to be challenges along the way – there are bound to be with a project of this size and scale. It’s going to be complex due to the sheer number of services spread across that many geographies and locations. The first thing is the importance of planning – a lot of work went into the planning phase of this project, which I believe has showed in the final result. I would also say that there’s a lot of truth in the saying “Don’t outsource a problem.” You can’t go down the outsource route unless you’re very clear that it can work and deliver value for the business. A clear picture of the services that you want to outsource is the starting point of any outsourcing invitation. Lastly, you have to be flexible and have the ability to adapt as things arise.
What advice would you give to someone just thinking about going down the outsourcing route?
We looked at the regional model but decided to push the boundaries. We decided that although implementing a global model was likely to give us more short-term pain, on balance, this initial pain for the global solution would be outweighed by the long-term benefits. The best advice I would give would be to take a calculated risk to get the best for your business and make sure that you have the right structure, planning and governance in place from the outset.
How has the relationship with GWS changed or evolved?
When you transfer something as large as we did there’s a lot of change - people transfer and roles change and there are some things you just have to stop doing! Having a good change management process is vital to the success of any outsourcing initiative and people are absolutely key to making this work and work well. We worked closely with Global WorkPlace Solutions on this and I think that’s the part of our relationship that evolved the most during this period. The relationship we have with our respective companies and people has also changed. Whereas previously we would have looked at more site-specific relationships, we now take a far more holistic approach. Obviously, the site relationships are still very important but that is now complemented with the relationships we have built at a global level. If you get the relationship with people right, then it’s far easier to affect change throughout the business.
What’s next for you?
We now have a global platform that will allow us to do far more at a later stage. For example, we may look at how this platform can help our IT and HR functions and I think that over time we will look to develop the platform to see how it can help us to deliver more integrated workplace services in all parts of the world.
He found time to talk to WorkPlace Now about the GSK global transition, lessons learned and advice for anyone else thinking about going down the same route.
How is the new contract developing?
We’ve gone through the first phase of transition and are now starting to look at the last few R&D sites and local offices. We’re also working with colleagues in Global Manufacturing and Supply (GMS) and the Biologicals business units to see how and where they can take advantage of this global services platform so that we can deliver even more value for GSK. The future challenge that we have is to support our growth in the numerous emerging markets. We have to make sure that the services we provide to those emerging markets are delivered to the same uniform standard as those in more established markets. We, along with our partners, are well placed to roll-out this model globally right across the business I believe.
What were the main reasons for switching to a global facilities management model?
The decision to move to the global model was taken in support of the overall GSK business strategy – to grow a diversified business, deliver more products of value and simplify the operating model. We are helping the business to diversify by supporting expansion into emerging markets and allowing it to deliver better products to those markets, as well as simplifying with a single services model for facilities management. The real estate and services strategy perfectly underpins the wider business strategy – it ticks all the boxes. We have created a global platform, which is unique. I don’t think that there’s anything else like it in the life sciences sector. It’s certainly the first of its kind for GSK in terms of its global scope. I don’t think that too many companies have established a global platform like this. However, I believe that there’s also the opportunity to add more services in the future that are beyond the typical real estate and facilities services of today.
What did you learn from the global transition?
You have to accept that there are going to be challenges along the way – there are bound to be with a project of this size and scale. It’s going to be complex due to the sheer number of services spread across that many geographies and locations. The first thing is the importance of planning – a lot of work went into the planning phase of this project, which I believe has showed in the final result. I would also say that there’s a lot of truth in the saying “Don’t outsource a problem.” You can’t go down the outsource route unless you’re very clear that it can work and deliver value for the business. A clear picture of the services that you want to outsource is the starting point of any outsourcing invitation. Lastly, you have to be flexible and have the ability to adapt as things arise.
What advice would you give to someone just thinking about going down the outsourcing route?
We looked at the regional model but decided to push the boundaries. We decided that although implementing a global model was likely to give us more short-term pain, on balance, this initial pain for the global solution would be outweighed by the long-term benefits. The best advice I would give would be to take a calculated risk to get the best for your business and make sure that you have the right structure, planning and governance in place from the outset.
How has the relationship with GWS changed or evolved?
When you transfer something as large as we did there’s a lot of change - people transfer and roles change and there are some things you just have to stop doing! Having a good change management process is vital to the success of any outsourcing initiative and people are absolutely key to making this work and work well. We worked closely with Global WorkPlace Solutions on this and I think that’s the part of our relationship that evolved the most during this period. The relationship we have with our respective companies and people has also changed. Whereas previously we would have looked at more site-specific relationships, we now take a far more holistic approach. Obviously, the site relationships are still very important but that is now complemented with the relationships we have built at a global level. If you get the relationship with people right, then it’s far easier to affect change throughout the business.
What’s next for you?
We now have a global platform that will allow us to do far more at a later stage. For example, we may look at how this platform can help our IT and HR functions and I think that over time we will look to develop the platform to see how it can help us to deliver more integrated workplace services in all parts of the world.
GSK global transition
