Life Sciences
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From niche players to superpharmas, organisations in this sector are changing beyond recognition. And talent managers are running to keep up.
Necessity is the mother of invention
The high levels of skill, expertise and experience which characterise the sector’s professional talent pool are becoming a scarcity. The downward trend in the number of science graduates looks set to continue, whilst the sector experiences attrition through retirement at the other end of the spectrum. Similarly, scientists now have a wider choice of career opportunities through other industries. Consequently, a gulf is opening up in the 25-40 age bracket of knowledge workers.
So recruiters must devise innovative ways of meeting the deficit. Some are buying the loyalty of the shrinking population of graduates early by implementing student support programmes. Others are casting the net wider to growing populations in new markets such as India and Singapore. Some brave organisations are attracting talent using an revenue sharing model for big risk/big reward projects to give talented scientists the same opportunities as biotech entrepreneurs.
Getfeedback predicts future people needs and accurately measures potential recruits against a predefined framework to ensure that money invested in winning these scarce resources is well spent.
New generation of organisation struggles to find its talent legs
The growth of ‘superpharmas’ is creating a new generation of organisations designed take advantage of economies of scale and increased scientific clout. But this rapid growth and M&A activity can create a mismatch of organisational culture and a disengaged workforce.
Getfeedback helps large organisations identify and define their new culture using sophisticated employee research methodology. We structure this by vertical sector head to create a culture of personal responsibility and action. Then we drive the data and insight back into the business using multi access reporting technology so that the feedback programme becomes a cycle.
Job satisfaction hinges on an unusual discovery
Sciencists want more direction and development and less judgement and ambiguity, says recent industry research conducted by Evotec OAI (view their research summary). The shrinking talent pool is voting for job satisfaction with its feet, moving to competitors who offer a greater work/life balance, a clear career and development path and strong leadership.
Getfeedback helps develop leaders and managers who can make sound people and business decisions in a high-stake environment. This benefits the business directly and also increased employee satisfaction and retention. We typically use 360 degree feedback, reporting at both individual and group level to identify the bench strength of the population and make behavioural change that will have a real impact. Then we create top talent and core skills development to raise the bar across the organisation.