The puzzle of talent
Talent. It’s a constant need in our industry.
Like any other industry, if we do not have the right people and the best talent, then we cannot discover, deliver, or develop well enough for customers and patients alike.
A topic of such significance means that this ongoing conversation is a complicated assortment of pieces in a puzzle. When assembling a jigsaw puzzle, it will never be complete if a single piece is missing. A reliable and resilient talent pool is one of those corner pieces.
A starting point
There are different styles in every puzzler. Some piece together similar colours or figures, but some start with the edges. This latter technique has its benefits as it helps to pinpoint certain areas of the jigsaw, such as a hint of sky or grass. When it comes to talent, pinpointing a challenge is done by asking a question. A question which was posed in 2021 when Cytiva launched the Global Biopharma Resilience Index based on interviews with 1100 life sciences industry leaders in 20 countries. This report found that access to talent was one area where improving agility. Specifically, the problem is that there is no reliable pipeline of qualified and well-equipped talent. So, we had our challenge statement, and this was only the beginning.
These survey results only confirmed that accessing talent was a pain point across all scientific fields, at all levels, and all countries.
If this factor is as widespread as it seems to be, then a conversation in how to address this must become a widespread focus.
Looking for patterns
You have your edges, so let’s start looking for trends in the picture. For understanding patterns in a puzzle, you may need an extra pair of eyes…
Creating a strong pipeline of talent is a conversation that not only matters, but it is also needed. We gathered experts to share why consolidating a talent pool is both important and what the impact of the pandemic was to this. Should you wish, you can see the full event hosted by the ever-curious podcast hosts, Conor McKechnie — VP of Marketing and Strategy –, and Dodi Axelson — Head of Communications.
We were joined by Darrin Morrisey CEO of NIBRT, Anne-Cecile Potmans Cytiva’s General Manager of Fast Trak™ and CDMO Services, and Nikki Soares Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Cytiva.
It is important to acknowledge that the impact of the fragility of talent pools has been felt globally, the panel was deliberately global, with Darrin in Ireland, Anne-Cecile in Sweden, and Nikki in the US, because this is a global conversation.
An incredibly poignant part of this conversation was highlighted through Darrin’s perspective around what needs to be done to maintain a constant level of quality talent. The prevailing pattern that the pandemic has caused is that a large portion of the talent entering into the biopharma industry are individuals from outside the life sciences.
To understand the importance of what Darrin is describing it is important to highlight that NIBRT is the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research & Training, an organization wholly invested in talent. So, if Darrin has seen a prevailing shift in the growing need to fill roles in this competitive industry — as an individual with his fingers on the pulse of the industry — then it is of clear importance to be addressed. In fact, according to Darrin, “As we are seeing people coming in from the high-tech space, from the automotive, and other heavy manufacturing organizations, we can really go to where that best talent is. Not just within our industry.”
Now, we can see a few areas that we can focus on and start to slot some pieces together.
Connecting the pieces
A puzzle, at its foundation, is solved by connecting complementary pieces together. This is the same for finding ways to match an individual to a role. But it is one thing to attract this talent, it is another to retain it. Anne-Cecile oversees Cytiva’s Fast Trak™ services, which is an educational program for process development and manufacturing scientists. To Anne-Cecile, retention and upskilling are critical to building the resilience of talent pools. Beyond the compensation benefits, which are also an important factor in a very competitive environment, organizations need to ensure that there are clear developmental paths for employees within their own functions, and also cross-functionally and ease of lateral moves within the same company.
This ease is part of investing in personal development. “So, companies’ training is critical, both in terms of technical training for how you train on new modalities, how you’ve trained on digital solutions, but also soft skills training to show that we care about their own development.” Thus, having training schemes in place such as Fast Trak™ provides organizations with the benefit of meeting the needs of customers, and individuals within the biopharma talent pool.
Fill in the blanks
As the puzzle begins to resemble the finished image, pieces placed earlier may suddenly seem incompatible with one another. This may at first seem frustrating, but once that piece has been swapped for the right one, the puzzle looks more inviting. It may have forced the image to adapt, but for the better.
Much like all things during the pandemic, a lot changed in how people choose to work. To understand this change from a talent acquisition point of view, Nikki explained that her day-to-day work changed during the pandemic: “I spent a lot of time talking to our leaders about what are their needs? What kind of people do they need? Where did they need them? How many do they need so that I can get my team mobilized to go out and find those people and get them into the organization at the right time?” To respond to leaders’ needs, Nikki continues to build relationships with universities and diversity-focused organizations so that talent can be brought into the organization using early talent pipelines from bachelor’s on up to postdoc level.
This is a key piece of the talent puzzle. Sometimes it is about slotting in the final pieces of the puzzle that you didn’t see. If you have a puzzle with a missing piece, then the picture is not complete. If you have a work force that is neither diverse nor inclusive, then you are missing a widespread area of the puzzle. Yes, we need greater resilience around access to the best talent, but an inclusive and diverse talent pool is essential. Nikki leverages relationships with diversity-focused partners to help find talent in underrepresented spaces. We have that responsibility.
Part of the key changes within the industry impacting talent is the increase of remote working, and Nikki spoke to us about maintaining a resilient company culture in a remote working environment. At the beginning of the pandemic, the first step was identifying areas of the business where remote working was an option. For the business areas that could be remote and continue to be, this flexibility of work has remained a loud request from associates. Whether its remote, in-office, or hybrid working conditions, it is the flexibility which puts organizations in such an inviting place to attract and deliver to talent. For more in-depth insight on the continuation of company culture in these changing times, Nikki spoke to us on the scope of the future work environment in an earlier article.
Puzzle pieces only fit when matched to the right companion.
The finish line could be in sight
The pieces are coming together, and the picture resembles what you envisioned. Except, in this case, the image is 10 000 pieces and there is still a little way to go, but importantly progress has been made.
Biopharma is a large industry which requires a large talent pool to match it. This conversation is only one of many, but this was not just a conversation that could be had once and then hands wiped clean of. Talent is an ongoing conversation which needs addressing as shown by the fact that these experts — who are close to the issue of talent — have highlighted that they are preoccupied with this problem. These solutions — from seeking talent outside of the biopharma industry, training and creating clear pathways for personal development, creating flexible work structures, and cultivating relationships with universities and diversity partners — are just the first step in the right direction.
This continues to be an important conversation. The perspectives of Darrin, Anne-Cecile, and Nikki are from across talent-related fields — from training, retention, and acquisition — meaning that it is not one remote issue but has been a seismic change due to the pandemic.
So, if you interested in learning more about the resilience of biopharma around access to talent pools, watch the full broadcast to hear so much more from our industry experts. You will also be able to listen to it in another format on our Discovery Matters podcast, so keep an eye out for that.
For more information on the Global Biopharma Resilience Index, and conversations surrounding talent:
· Read: How can government policy and regulation empower biopharma?
· Watch: Biopharma Resilience Testimonial: Bionova Scientific
· Listen: ‘The pulse of the industry — BioPlan and the Biopharma Resilience Index’ on Discovery Matters
