Johnson & Johnson uses innovation to power talent strategy

Global healthcare giant Johnson &Johnson said it will stick to its talent strategy in China and introduce more innovative digital tools for future development, in spite of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The pandemic didn't stop our efforts to attract and develop talent," said Alex Kopitsas, head of human resources at Johnson& Johnson China."We will continue to add jobs and seek outstanding people to join our team."

According to the company, the number of candidates applying for a job at Johnson & Johnson this year has grown by 50 percent. Internal promotions and transfers have also increased by 20 percent from last year.

A company survey of its employees across the globe also showed the engagement and confidence of employees in China have risen since the pandemic. Johnson & Johnson employees in China perform the best by far for confidence, compared to its other employees across the world.

Johnson & Johnson entered the Chinese market in 1985 when it founded its first joint venture, Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. It now employs more than 11,000 people in China.

Taking care of its employees and upping its corporate responsibility have been challenging with the outbreak of the pandemic, Kopitsas said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic was totally unprecedented and there was no template to follow," Kopitsas said.

The company responded quickly to ensure the health and safety of all its employees across China. It sourced and delivered personal protective equipment for employees, canceled or postponed business trips and offline meetings, and released notices on self-protection protocols.

Its cross-sector task force members helped develop a user-friendly health track system in a timely manner to cover all its employees in China.

The company also mobilized its resources and leveraged multiple platforms to support its continuous training, engagement and development efforts.

Johnson & Johnson also launched a number of new courses and online workshops, allowing employees to take advantage of the extended holiday to hone their skills and prepare for another year.

Uninterrupted plan

Kopitsas said the company's talent strategy was not interrupted by the pandemic and that he is still encouraging more talented people to work with Johnson& Johnson.

"Over the long years' development in China, Johnson & Johnson has greatly valued talent development," he said. "We continue to offer our people opportunities to build strong leadership skills and grow their career."

Last year, the company launched the new Employer Brand, which highlights innovation, talents and impact.

"This is a move to ensure that we are doing all that we can to be the preferred choice among top talent," he explained. "We put people first and are committed to supporting our employees both professionally and personally."

Johnson& Johnson offers a variety of resources and opportunities, including customized training and leadership development workshops to build highly capable leaders and help employees craft their careers.

In addition to keeping employee access to on-site gym facilities, the company also implemented a training program that teaches people how to be more spiritually nourished.

One of its latest employee care measures is an enhanced flexible benefit program called the Golden Pig Plan. It was launched last year and provides employees with more choices to meet their personal and family needs.

The program offers enhanced medical coverage, a long-term retirement plan and a new savings plan for more immediate needs such as housing, education and healthcare expenses.

The company's efforts to attract and develop talents have been recognized by many professional human resources organizations over the years.

This year, Johnson& Johnson China was granted the Top Graduate Employer Award by 51job.com; the Top 3 Most Attractive Employer Award in Healthcare by Universum; the Best HR Solutions for Anti-COVID-19 by FESCO; and the Best Social Enterprise in Greater China by HRoots.

Embedding digitalization

Johnson & Johnson expects the company's new development in digitalization to continue its momentum going forward and play a significant role during the COVID-19 outbreak, Kopitsas said.

For example, employees in China were kept informed and engaged with innovative digital tools and online communication platforms spanning from daily health tracking, online courses, skills development, a back-to-work guide, an executive message and employee stories.

"The digital transformation is changing the way people communicate with each other and interact with the world," Kopitsas said."When leveraged properly, this trend can bring enormous opportunities for companies who respond fast and act smart."

Johnson & Johnson China has been exploring digital approaches to empower talent acquisition and development.

Candidates can access the postings of all open positions, submit applications and track their real-time status in the recruitment process on the company's WeChat account for recruitment.

The company also launched Textio, an augmented writing platform for job postings, which uses an artificial intelligence engine to provide real-time guidance on how to efficiently attract diverse and qualified applicants.

Johnson& Johnson also upgraded its talent database with AI technology to screen all available talent information and open posts to high-potential candidates. Kopitsas said the new technology significantly boosts the company's efficiency in recruitment.

Last year, the company began accepting video resume applications in a campus recruitment campaign. It was received positively by its users.

The new approach gives applicants more opportunities to express themselves and allows recruiters to have a more comprehensive evaluation, he said.

The company also launched the Johnson & Johnson China page on LinkedIn to engage with local talent and share the latest trends in China.

"Leveraging the platform's digital tools and analytics systems, we are able to gain insights into what talents are looking for," Kopitsas said."We can also better design and communicate our content with our audiences, which significantly improves the efficiency of our ability to recruit."