By Luis Truchado, Co-written with Alberto Chico
Originally published in PMFarma.
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There is no doubt that the labour market is in full transformation, it is increasingly global, competitive and interconnected. In Life Sciences, when a company considers incorporating a new professional, the search and attraction challenge is still very high, as talent is increasingly demanding and selective when it comes to assessing the next step.
Gone are the days when the candidate pool hinged on economics, hierarchy, size and status. And the Life Sciences sector has enjoyed – and maintains – decades of world-class prestige and reputation for attracting the best management talent of any other sector. A sector based on continuous research and innovation, with resources to train and develop its employees at all levels and offering conditions that were a rarity in many others: stock options or pension plans were already the norm in the early 1990s, before they became widespread. Large Strategic and Organisational Consulting firms have always known that Life Sciences companies were pioneers in adopting new processes and trends, always eager to be at the forefront.
The importance of identifying, training and developing internal talent
The first option for leading companies has been – and must always be – to develop internal talent, once it has been identified. In this development of talent, the lever of Training, whether general, such as that offered by Business Schools (IE, ESADE, ESIC, etc.) or specific, such as that obtained through in-company programmes, seminars, bootcamps, etc., has been crucial and very differential in the most attractive corporations, those that tend to obtain awards such as Best Place to Work and similar. Leadership programmes that accelerate development through rotational programmes, functional mobilities, international assignments, etc. are also increasingly common.
For an HR department, everything starts with defining its catalogue of competencies, talent maps, career plans, succession programmes, leadership diagnosis… From there, middle managers and
From there, middle managers and executives with development and aspirations take advantage of these training opportunities for their development offered by the company, and increase their motivation, their alignment with the objectives and their link to the overall project.
The great challenge for the company that trains and develops: Early retention.
At Executive Search, we know from experience that a candidate who is well treated by his or her company with a development programme at this stage of his or her career will rarely consider a career change. Even so, we follow their professional growth closely, because a change in expectations can occur unexpectedly as a result of a strategic reorientation, the intensity that the executive is giving to their career and even the famous Up or Out, which means that as you move up the organisational pyramid there are fewer positions for real growth.
These are exceptionally attractive candidates for the market. If we add to this a potential appetite for change or an appetite for new opportunities, we move from an employee to an employer. If you add to this a potential appetite for change or an appetite to value new opportunities, you go from a committed employee to an ‘active listener’. committed employee to a candidate who is an ‘active listener’.
Well-trained candidates, who have participated in development programmes and who have high expectations for their professional career, are increasingly demanding and are looking for a project that is aligned with their most intrinsic expectations; they no longer question what I am going to do, but what for, why me, with whom, and how the new company is going to accompany me so that in this joint project we are both winners: the offer has to be a win-win.
Starting a new role: The criticality of integration
Engagement issues come into play from day one. Much has been said about the ‘first 100 days’ of a manager in a new organisation and/or in his or her new role (if we are talking about recently promoted or moved high performing managers), and much should be said about onboarding programmes, which are becoming increasingly important and demonstrating the value they bring to the organisation.
It is becoming increasingly critical to accelerate integration. Companies wrongly assume that a new Companies wrongly assume that a new manager will be integrated quickly and properly, that he or she will perform well and that he or she will that a new manager will be integrated quickly and well, that past performance will guarantee future success. that past performance guarantees future success…, and this is where the great shared challenge of the new leadership begins. the great shared challenge of the new company leadership begins.
When these expectations are not fulfilled and the alliance is lost, the divergence between employer and employee begins. When those expectations are not met and the alliance is lost, the divergence between employer and employee begins. And that is when the adage that ‘you enter a company attracted by a good project and you leave because of a good project and you leave because of a good project’ comes true. companies you enter attracted by a good project and you leave because of the people. people’.
In Life Sciences, there have been such substantial changes in its Value Chain that some corporations that have not been
value chain that some corporations that have not been nimble in diagnosis have paid dearly, either in loss of par
nimble in their diagnosis have paid dearly, either through loss of market par- ticipation, loss of stock market value or even loss of stock market value.
ticipation, loss of stock market value and even their independence, being acquired by others that are not
their independence, being acquired by others that are not necessarily larger, but more efficient.
not necessarily larger, but more efficient. In addition to globality, functional
functional transversality, matrix reporting, multitasking and many other innovations are here to stay…
other innovations are here to stay… and more to come.
For all these reasons, it is important that company and management are on the same page when talking about leadership. This is the Leadership Diagnosis: defining the starting point in terms of leadership type, values and behaviours. The earlier you start working on the alignment of the manager with the new company, the better the chances of managing and anticipating possible derailments.
and anticipate possible derailers, and guarantee the much-dreamed-of Culture Fit.
The integration and consolidation of the manager: the countdown
From this point onwards, when the manager has played to his or her strengths and successfully managed team, organisational, etc. barriers, and has proven his or her worth and commitment, the dialogue of the next step in his or her development must begin: international assignment, functional change, vertical growth?
The talent cycle is continuous.
This is when those companies that have a
Succession Plan and have a global picture of the internal and external talent pool are ahead of their competitors.
internal and external talent pool are ahead of their competitors.
Even in a sector as innovative as Life Sciences and with products that have so much
products that have so much Science in them, very few of them are truly unique for a
are truly unique to a treatment and the other adage that what is unique is
the other adage that what differentiates companies is not their products, but their professionals, their
products, but their professionals, their managers and their organisational talent.
organisational talent.
Retaining managerial talent starts when the company is able to anticipate their needs and is able to anticipate their needs and actively and uniquely manage those successful and manage in an active and unique way those factors of interest that successfully mobilise the manager. One of the biggest risks for a successful One of the biggest risks for a successful manager in a company is the eternal wait for the next step or to start a parallel dialogue with the company. or starting to have a parallel dialogue with the company in terms of career expectations. career expectations.
When the manager feels integrated, valued and recognised, he or she acts as a magnet for both internal and external talent. and recognised, he or she acts as a magnet for talent both internally in his or her own organisation and externally. organisation and externally. The much-desired ‘mirror effect The ‘mirror effect’ that explains why the best people should be put in place to select new recruits The best candidates always prefer to work in organisations where the always prefer to work in organisations where they have had interviews with interviews with managers who have the aura of success about them. success on them.
While always important, conditions become secondary when a candidate has had interviews with managers with whom he/she has ‘connected’ by talking to them about business projects, their vision for the future, and expansion and growth.
What sets companies apart is their organisational talent.
Let’s finish at the beginning
We can only attest to the error of some companies trivialising this stage of the process as if we were talking about a mass recruitment process or low-level positions. To attract exceptional candidates, the candidate’s experience during the process has to be exquisite. Key aspects are confidentiality, constant communication and advice from the Executive Search and Leadership firm that, in addition to representing the company-client to the candidate market, accompanies and advises both during the selection process.
Companies need to be increasingly aware that the talent cycle is continuous, that the real challenge is not to that the talent cycle is continuous, that the real challenge is not to recruit, train, develop, or lead in isolation, but to not to hire, train, develop or lead in an isolated way, but in a structured and consistent way. in a structured and consistent way.
If the company wants to be led by the best executives and surrounded by the best employees and candidates, it must be accompanied by expert executive search, training and leadership firms. This will enable it to select, train, identify and develop leaders while staying ahead of the curve.
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