The vision of Life Science Leader is to help facilitate connections and foster collaborations in pharma and med device development to get more life-saving and life-improving therapies to market in an efficient manner. Connect, Collaborate, Contribute
Issue link: https://lifescienceleadermag.epubxp.com/i/140470
Pharma Management says Bennett-Coles. "This is not really sustainable; people need to know the length of the process early on and have quick feedback after each meeting." SHIFTING POWER With the increasing number of layoffs, as pharma companies merge and downsize, it would appear that the power is entirely in the hands of the employers. However, it's not quite that simple. For a start, it depends on the size and status of the company and its reputation within the industry. "One of the manifestations of the downturn is the level of due diligence that candidates put clients through, such as career opportunities and pipelines," says Kleinman. "In these times of economic uncertainty, people want certainty." What happens within companies on a day-to-day basis also has an impact. Breaking news can lead to issues between the client and the candidate. "The market is now so well-connected that, if anything happens, the news gets out almost instantly. We spend a lot of time managing the candidates and looking after them in the process, which can be highly taxing, to make sure they feel good about the process and company," says Bennett-Coles. It also depends on the individuals and how previous companies have treated them, particularly if they have been through redundancy. As Bennett-Coles explains, a lot of these people are not keen on going back into Big Pharma; instead, they are setting up as consultants, or are finding other jobs within smaller organizations. While executive search is largely global, the balance of power is different in some countries, according to Kleinman. "There are similarities between India and California in the dotcom boom, where the candidates are looking for raises and career advancement at every step. If the employers can't match the conditions that the potential employees want, they will go elsewhere." PEERING THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING One of the ongoing issues in pharma recruitment is that of the lack of women in senior-level posts. Despite efforts, this doesn't seem to have changed much in the past few years. "There are a lot of women in the lower rungs of the pharmaceutical industry, but there are fewer at the higher levels," says Kay Wardle, U.K. managing director at RSA, which focuses on global executive search and interim management for the life sciences industries. This may be because women tend to be more involved with childcare or are more likely to be caring for elderly relatives, and so find it hard to combine these responsibilities with an increasingly demanding job. It is aggravated by the lack of women at higher levels to act as role models. Men and women bring different skills to workplaces and boards, and improving gender diversity can bring some very positive outcomes. Because of this, companies are trying to remedy the situation, increasing the number of women joining at higher levels by revising recruitment practices. However, this practice could backfire by reinforcing the perception that women can only get senior roles based on their gender, not their skills. "Some companies have a quota system, a mandate for recruitment organizations to have at least one female candidate on the shortlist. However, women want to know that they have the job on merit, rather than being the token female," says Wardle. "There is no quick fix. It needs commitment from the industry and mentors in the business. These would not need to be women, but just people who have seniority, influence, and experience." There are differences in different parts of the industry; for example, clinical research and regulatory affairs have more women in senior roles, but areas such as manufacturing and engineering are worse, as Wardle explains. However, she cites biotech as a shining example of how things could work, "There are more senior women in biotech, probably because women are involved from the beginning, and this changes the culture of the company, with more open and more flexible business models." RECRUITMENT IN THE INTERNET AGE The Internet is becoming a powerful tool in pharma recruitment. While candidates can use the Web to research their chosen company, recruiters and HR departments can also find out a lot about their potential employees through networking sites and online CVs. "LinkedIn is very useful. You can tell a lot about people through their connections, and you can use these connections to get information about them," says Bennett-Coles. This is not always as straightforward as it seems. Different sources of information need to be verified and matched up to make sure that people aren't hiding gaps, and there are pitfalls as well as advantages, as Bennett-Coles explains. "Young entrepreneurs use Facebook as a key means of communication, but they need to remember that HR professionals will check their profiles. So think … would you put that picture on your CV now or even in five years?" IN THE FUTURE There are changes ahead in the pharma industry, and this will change the kinds of people that companies need to recruit, both in the R&D; and commercialization areas. Companies are investing in areas such as translational medicine, with an aim to cut drug development costs and get drugs from the bench to the bedside more efficiently, and in personalized medicine, which will target individual patients with drugs tailored to their disease or genetic makeup, potentially speeding up the drug development process. "There will be a continued willingness to invest in R&D;," says Kleinman. "There will still be a demand for people in regulatory affairs and quality assurance, and companies will need the right kind of professionals in reimbursement and market access to deal with personalized medicine." July 2013 LifeScienceLeader.com 41