Thursday, April 10, 2008

J&J China, First Days in the Office


I've had 2 days in the office. So far, I havent been home before 10 PM.

My first day in the office was actually spent at the J&J Consumer Site about an hour outside of Shanghai. This site is the manufacturing plant for J&J BandAids in China and Japan, as well as the commercial, R&D, and other functions for their consumer products. They have an entire area designated for focus group testing ... basically women sitting around putting different creams on their faces to try out the Neutrogenia products, for example. It was very interesting to see...

Also, it was so fascinating to see so many common elements that tie J&J together. Things that exist in our J&J US culture and that also are integrated into the China J&J culture. We are people who live 1/2way around the world from each other, who speak different languages and have a different national culture, yet so many common work/career elements link us together. Things like the Our J&J Credo, our care for the customers and patients, and our belief in and work towards our products. And, while our offices are located in such drastically different cities, the look and feel is very similar. In the office, I felt comfortable. It was familiar. I felt like I belonged (a feeling that has been rare so far in China).

Today, my second day, was at our J&J Medical offices in the center of downtown Shanghai. These offices are where I will go most everyday. They are located just a 10 minute walk from my apartment, which is a nice change from my hour commute back in NJ. Today I was reunited with Matthew and Lena, my fellow HRLDPers (HR Leadership Development Program). All of us have a constant look as a "deer in headlights" as we try to tackle the monster project that lies before us. We each manage a large component of the China Talent Council, and are trying to hit the aggressive goals that have been set.

And, today, I continued my work with my teammates, Riddhi, from Bombay, and Reneeta, from Malaysia. The 3 of us, along with my manager, Roshan (also from Malaysia), make up a team that will execute on several Talent Management initiatives across the Asia region. I manage the China Talent Management Organization, and will also assist the team in their other initiatives. I really enjoyed my time with this team. Riddhi and Reneeta are young women who are also doing rotations in Global Talent Management. It was so cool to meet colleagues who are so similar to me, yet from totally different countries. We had a lot in common in so many ways, yet in other ways, no.

And so now, it is 10:30 PM and I am exhausted from my first 2 long days.

Tomorrow I have to get a health check from the government in order to get my workers Visa.

For now, goodnight...

No comments: