Soni Basi of Allergan on Streamlining Organizational Learning
Soni Basi is VP of Global Talent at Allergan PLC and has over 17 years of experience in consulting and leading global organizations.
In this episode, Soni discusses:
- Streamlining organizational learning processes so they’re tight, meaningful, simple and usable.
- The value of investing in potential instead of incentivizing ratings.
- How coaching falls to the wayside when managers focus only on performance and results.
- Why performance management should evolve from within and drive what’s natural to an organization.
Full Transcript
Michael: I’m Michael Bungay Stanier, and you are listening to Performance Management Stories. This is the podcast where we find out what’s really going on in the performance management revolution, by talking to senior leaders who are doing the hard work of that revolution in their organization. I am super excited today, because I am talking to Soni K. Basi, who is the VP of Global Talent at Allergan PLC.
Soni and her team develop programs that change the organization to think in fresh ways about attracting new talent, leadership, inclusion, and owning one’s career. Soni joined Allergan most recently from the Estée Lauder Corporation but has over 17 years of experience, both working in consulting and in leading global organizations.
She has a PhD in social psychology with a minor in statistics from Bowling Green State University, and a gorgeous eight-year-old son, Armaan, who sparks … and this is her words … “Sparks joy and wonder, every dot single dot day, full stop.”
Soni, it is so nice to have you on the line, here. Thank you.
Soni Basi: Thank you, Michael. Good to be with you again.
Michael: Yeah, and I’m excited to find out … We knew each other a little when you were at Estée Lauder, and I haven’t really spoken to you at Allergan. So I’m just kind of getting nosy now, about what your new life is like, or newish life. But maybe you can tell me and the folks listening in, just a little bit about Allergan. How big is it, what’s its focus, just give us a sense of the organization.
Soni Basi: Yeah, happy to. Allergan is a global organization. We’re a global bio pharmaceutical company, and really focusing on seven different therapeutic areas. Those seven different therapeutic areas go anywhere from eye care, which is one of our largest businesses, to skincare and medical devices, such as CoolSculpting, but also we have women’s health and a number of other therapeutic areas, central nervous system, urology. One of our drugs that we’re probably best known for is actually Botox. The size of the organization is about 18,000 individuals globally, at this point in time.
Michael: Love it. And you’re headquartered in the States?
Soni Basi: Yeah. Actually, our administrative headquarters is based in New Jersey, but we are an Irish company.
Michael: Got it.
Soni Basi: But most of our leadership is in New Jersey, in the United States.
Michael: I know you’re relatively new to Allergan, but from what you can tell, from looking back at the history and your position now, what’s changed or shifted, if anything, at Allergan in its approach to performance management over the last three years or so?
Soni Basi: Yeah. Allergan, as a company, has really come together through a series of acquisitions over the last few years, as well as divestitures. Now we are actually, for the first time ever, a branded bio pharmaceutical company, and we feel that we’re at a pivotal stage of our organization’s growth and trajectory. One of the-
Michael: That’s exciting.
Soni Basi: It is really exciting. So I joined at the right time, about a year ago. There has been an incredible spirit for all things related to talent, including around performance management, and performance management process was just initiated before I came in to the organization. So I speak about it from my experience of rolling it out, or continuing to roll it out and continuing to support it, as well as some of my thoughts about where it can go in the future within our organization. So, in terms of …
Michael: This is great. I’m excited about it. What’s working well? I mean, there’s so much of this stuff that people try, and it doesn’t work so well, but what are you particularly excited about, from what you’ve seen?
Soni Basi: Yeah. We are very much a performance driven organization. At the end of the day, performance is what really matters to us. We’re a lean and mean organization. We don’t have a lot of slack, in terms of our people or resources, so getting things done is a part of our philosophy, and it’s really a part of our … the fabric of our organization.
In some ways, what I would say is, when you have that type of a company culture, or that type of a drive, performance management takes a little bit of a back seat, because everyone already knows what they need to do, and they’re so hyper-focused on delivery that performance management process isn’t really front and center.
I think that’s okay for us, at this company. I think that’s actually a part of what makes performance management here really great. It’s super simple. It’s four or five goals in a year. There’s check-ins when you need them, with your manager, and it’s an evaluation at the end of the year with a rating, calibration sessions, and then final ratings are entered. It’s probably the simplest performance management that I’ve ever done in my career, and it’s working really well.
Michael: Well, that’s fantastic. What do you … ? I mean, part of it is that the culture, which is a get things done, so the simplicity’s needed to fit in with that culture. What’s the thinking about ratings? Because they get a lot of debate in the academic press. Do we have ratings? Do we not have ratings? Ratings are demoralizing and demotivating for people. How did you come down to decide on ratings, and is there a … ? Can you give us any … ? I mean, you may not be able to, but you can give us any details, like just how people are graded like that?
Soni Basi: Yes, absolutely. We do have performance ratings, and one of the reasons is because we are so performance driven, but we also use the ratings as we’re looking at our organization of the future, right. They’re making decisions about talent, performance … and performance ratings are woven in, as well, into, for example, our high potential definition. Ratings have been an important part of who we are at Allergan, and will likely continue to be important. They’re also used in compensation decisions. We use them, the performance ratings, to determine the appropriate merit percentages moving into the following year, because we believe that exceptional performance deserves exceptional rewards.
Michael: It does.
Soni Basi: That is also a big part of our HR philosophy, that we’ve shared with all employees. When you have that type of a philosophy, and as I said, that type of a culture, ratings do become important and … But I will say that, while we use the ratings to help us determine merit, we use the ratings less to help us determine bonus. For bonus, we actually rely on potential. That is, perhaps, the difference.
Michael: Yeah, that’s interesting.
Soni Basi: Actually, I misspoke. I actually misspoke. We use it for bonus, but we don’t use it for long term incentives. We use potential for long term incentives.
Michael: Got it.
Soni Basi: Saying that, we really want to invest in the best and the brightest in our organization. Our long term incentive plan is not based on the ratings, it is based on potential, which is different from how some organizations use their equity awards.
Michael: Yeah. How are people tapped on the shoulder to say, “Hey, you’ve got potential. We want you to be here in three years, or five years, or seven years”? Are they identified in a kind of informal process, kind of word of mouth through managers, or is there something more formal about identifying those high potential people?
Soni Basi: Yeah. We do actually have a very rigorous talent planning process at the organization, which we have refined since I’ve joined in. We are … I wouldn’t say that we’re necessarily extremely transparent as it relates to telling individuals what their potential status is, but I do feel that because people know that we are equating their potential to their long term incentive, that they have a good sense of where they stand within our organization, as it relates to their potential. It’s a little bit of a fine line. It’s not really managers going up to their team members and saying, “You’ve got potential.”
Michael: “You’ve been blessed.” Right.
Soni Basi: “You’ve been blessed.” Right. But we’ve also simplified our nine box grid into four boxes which are related to how we think about our talent. We think about those individuals we want to accelerate, those we want to grow, those we want to retain, and those that need to be evaluated or perhaps re-engaged. Based on that, there’s a different level of investment, developmental investment, that we make in individuals. So you have a good understanding of where you fall, related to your rating, your potential as it relates to your long term incentives, as well as the development that we put behind you, as an employee.
Michael: I’m loving the commitment to kind of elegant simplicity, because performance management is just one of those places where complexity can reign, as we try and crack it. Where else have you and Allergan applied that simplicity as the driving force for a solution?
Soni Basi: Yeah. It’s definitely the way that we operate, because we are so lean and performance driven, but it really is what works well for us. I would say in just about every one of our processes, especially coming from HR, we try to be as streamlined as possible.
Michael: Beautiful.
Soni Basi: I’ll give you another example. I’m responsible for inclusion and diversity at our organization. As we started thinking about inclusion and diversity within Allergan, and what that’s going to mean, I canvassed a number of organizations’ inclusion and diversity philosophy statements, that are usually publicly available on their career websites, or on their LinkedIn pages. We looked through them as a team, and they were really complex. I, as an employee, didn’t think I would be able to articulate that philosophy statement, you know, just from the tip of my tongue. We said, at Allergan, we want something that’s so simple that any employee could say at least one to two sentences of our philosophy statement. We got it down to about 30 words, and that’s it.
Michael: Wow. That’s impressive.
Soni Basi: Yeah. We’re very happy with it. It’s tight, it’s meaningful, it’s simple, it’s usable, it’s something that we can really advertise. That is how I think we build in simplicity. It’s performance, it’s in talent discussions, it’s in our learning processes. We don’t over-engineer learning in the organization, as an example. It’s very few courses that are available, but we want everyone to really understand those courses, and to be behind those courses.
Michael: Beautiful. How about technology, and the role of technology in your performance management approach? You know, there’s the rise of different platforms that are showing up. I’m wondering if that’s a big part of what you do, or whether it’s just a kind of background enabler?
Soni Basi: Our performance management is technology enabled, and it is because we have a, you know, HRIS of choice that we use, and we were able to incorporate the performance management module. That is definitely a part of how we operate. I believe it’s … right now, it’s mostly accessed through the computer, but I know that they’re … The ability to access it through your iPad or your iPhone, I think it’s a matter of us just really making that available, and telling people that it’s available. We do use technology. There’s very little paper at our organization.
Michael: Wow. When you said, lean and mean, I’m totally getting the sense that this is lean and mean and simple and action-focused company, which is great.
Soni Basi: Exactly, yes.
Michael: Were there things that you tried or experiments you rolled out for the performance management that didn’t quite work as well as you’d hoped? I mean, I know you came a little after the thing had been decided, but were central in the implementation. I’m just curious to know, you know, so often, where we stumble is a great learning place for us to go. Is there any place where it was kind of tricky or stumbly a bit?
Soni Basi: Yeah. I’ll share with you a couple of areas that I would like to enhance for the future. One of those areas is really around coaching. You know, when you …
Michael: Right.
Soni Basi: Yeah. If you are so focused on performance and results and delivery, you have your one-on-ones with your manager on a regular basis, but they’re often about, you know, what do you need to get done, what’s on the schedule for this week versus next week? Coaching can often fall to the wayside. That’s one area that I feel like we have an opportunity to really help our managers understand how to do coaching very simply and in the moment, as opposed to having complex models around coaching that nobody can really remember what the acronym stands for. Really, what is it…?
Michael: You know I’m violently agreeing you with all of this, because this is our standard Box of Crayons. I’m, like, nodding my head furiously on the other side of the microphone, here.
Soni Basi: Yes. That’s why we like your approach, as well.
Michael: Yeah.
Soni Basi: We will be introducing it at our organization as we’re moving forward. That was one area of opportunity that I saw, as I was coming in. We tried to address it earlier, but the ways in which we’ve been addressing it is really through how you write strong performance reviews, as opposed to, really, what I feel is more critical, and that’s having the conversation behind what you’ve written. Or even if you didn’t write very much, being able to articulate it in your own words.
Michael: Beautiful.
Soni Basi: So that’s one.
Michael: Yeah.
Soni Basi: The second area that I think that, and it is … it’s funny to me, and I don’t know how much I should care about it … and that is that sometimes people don’t write in any goals until the end of the year. I laugh about that because it’s not for a lack of wanting to write goals, or being aligned to strategy. We are so aligned to strategy that it’s really remarkable, here. But it’s, you know, I don’t know if I should be upset that people don’t write in their goals when they’re supposed to. That’s something that I’m still trying to get my hands around, whether we should just let that go.
Michael: Yeah, interesting. That’s a great … I love how you’re positioning that, which is not, “Now, how do I crack a whip and make people write their goals?” But you’re stepping back to ask yourself, “What does people not writing their goals tell me about the culture, or the process, or the need, and where’s the wisdom in that, in terms of how we act upon this?” Because … What I love is you going, “So, do I make them do this, or do we let this go? Because it’s telling me that maybe goals are not a useful part of the process.”
Soni Basi: Right, exactly. I think when we talk about performance management revolution, right, we’re talking about our evolution. We often talk about ratings, or we talk about the link to compensation, but I think, fundamentally, what is performance management supposed to be driving? Is it something that we’re forcing with a stick, or is it something that’s natural within an organization?
I’m trying to figure out that balance within Allergan. I think that is … That’s the next part of the evolution, is to say, “Why do we even write goals?” Right. If people know what they’re supposed to do, why do we have to write a goal? Because at the end of the day, then, it is about the evaluation, at the end of the day. You’ve got your goal, now I’m going to tell you, as the manager, whether you did what you were supposed to do. But as a manger, I should be telling you that all throughout the year. So what is really the … you know? I think I’m struggling with, what is really the purpose of goal setting?
Michael: Beautiful.
Soni Basi: Not to say that we’ll do away with it, but that’s the second piece.
Michael: You’ve got to ask the question first, to make the smarter decision.
Soni Basi: Yes.
Michael: Soni, it’s really clear, that a sense of the culture that Allergan’s having, it’s strategic, it’s focused, it’s lean, it’s fast. Often, when you’re with a culture like that, it can be actually quite difficult to introduce HR or OD type processes, because people are like, “I’m too busy doing stuff to worry about whatever that is.” What have you learned, or what wisdom would you share, around the rolling out, the change management process, that might be useful for people to hear? What’s the secret sauce that made you get people pay attention?
Soni Basi: Yeah. I think there’s really two things that I would share from my point of view. One is, and I learned this lesson really early on in my career, is that you need a communications partner at your side in any single project you do in HR. If you don’t have a communications partner, you’re at a loss from the beginning. I really find that anything we roll out lives or dies by communications.
Michael: I love that.
Soni Basi: And it’s the right level of communicating, and-
Michael: Do you know the … ? One of my favorite quotes is, “The problem with the communication is the illusion it’s taken place,” and, you know, that whole thing around, “No, no. We’ve communicated this a lot,” and everybody’s going, “I’ve never heard of this once in my life, before.” I love that you’re putting the spotlight on the importance of really clear, strategic communication, follow up, and focus.
Soni Basi: Yeah. You know, I do stakeholder mapping from the very beginning, and determine, who do I need to touch five times, and in what modalities? So we need to touch them five times, right? Thinking about communications from that point of view, not over-communicating, as I said, but doing it in the right ways, is really critical for any HR project.
The second piece I would add, and that’s aligned to the communications, is how you market your products or services, because you have to think about your employees as your customers. Within our organizations we have huge marketing teams that service our customers, but within HR we rarely think about marketing strategies for our own customers, right. Where is the greatest need? Who’s really dispersed? How would they want to hear about it? How many young colleagues do you have? How many more senior colleagues do you have? What other types of marketing messages that you need to get out to them?
Being able to market in a way that resonates with your people is really important. Don’t make HR boring. I always say, if I’m not having fun, nobody else is going to have fun using my products. If I’m bored by it, they’re going to be exceptionally bored by it, right.
Michael: Brilliant.
Soni Basi: You have to really gauge your audience, and gauge the level of excitement that you have building something, because that’s going to come across on the other side.
Michael: Soni, this has been a fantastic conversation. Before we wrap up, is there any final comments or reflections on performance management and Allergan that you’d share with us?
Soni Basi: I think more generally, Michael, as opposed to within Allergan, I think a lot about these various apps that we have now, whether it’s an Uber, or whether you’re on Airbnb, or you’re on another app, and everyone has a rating, right. We’re so used to this culture of stars, and any time you leave a room, or leave a meeting, you’re constantly doing some level of evaluation. And I think that performance management, we can evolve to that level of thinking, so that you’re constantly getting the feedback that you need. I know more and more organizations are going in that direction. I think that’s a really positive direction, and one that I’d like to get to, as well, at some point. But it is … I think it’s the way of the future. It can also help remove calibration sessions if you do it right, which would be a huge time saving for any organization.
Michael: Soni, you’ve done such a brilliant job at bringing the culture of Allergan to life for us. You know, there’s a real sense of what you’re doing, a real sense of pride in the organization and how you’ve made performance management part of the way you work. Thank you so much for sharing the story with us today.
Soni Basi: Thanks, Michael, happy to be a part of your series.
