How Biotechs Are Focusing On Employee Retention
September 22, 2014
By Angela Rose for BioSpace.com
During the economic downturn, most biotech and pharma companies had bigger issues to worry about than potential employee turnover. Solving problems such as how to reduce costs without decreasing production took precedence over workforce motivation concerns. While understandable, this prioritization has subsequently placed biopharma employers in an equally difficult position: they are now in danger of losing valuable professionals. In fact, according to the Randstad Pharma Engagement Study released in July, 51 percent of biotech and pharma employees are likely to seek work with another company before the end of the year.
Fortunately, it’s not too late for any life science employer to prevent a mass exodus. Consider these tips to help you focus on employee retention and reduce the likelihood of devastating turnover at your organization.
1. Learn to recognize disengagement.
Dissatisfied employees—the type most likely to seek greener pastures at competitor biotech and pharma companies—are also disengaged. Sometimes defined as a lack of emotional commitment to an employer or absence of desire to contribute to a company’s success, employee disengagement is quite rampant in most industries. One national study, conducted by Dale Carnegie Training, suggested 26 percent of employees are disengaged. Forty-five percent are partially disengaged. Signs that indicate you may have an employee engagement problem on your team include research scientists with “I don’t care” attitudes, regulatory affairs associates who frequently miss work, and formerly adept SAS programmers submitting sub-par code.
2. Listen to your employees.
If you want to improve employee engagement—and reduce turnover—at your biopharma company, you must first determine what is causing the issue. Do all of your workers—from administrative assistants to manufacturing directors—feel as though their work is valued? Do salary and benefit packages compare favorably with those found at similar businesses in your geographic area? How does your staff feel about the workload and organizational culture? You may find periodic internal surveys and focus groups help you to keep in touch with employee concerns.
3. Make sure managers have “soft” skills.
In the Dale Carnegie study, the primary factor identified as an influence on employee engagement—and disengagement—was “relationship with immediate supervisor.” While it’s important that you hire market planning managers, senior QA managers, and senior scientists who are authoritative, decisive, and experts in their field, supervisor-employee relationships will suffer if they are not also calm, perceptive, good listeners, open communicators, and generally concerned about the well-being of their direct reports. If your focus groups and internal surveys indicate an issue in this area, you may want to offer your senior staff leadership training with a focus on soft skills.
4. Recruit new employees carefully.
Whether you’re hiring an administrative associate, chemistry technician, or automation engineer, look for a professional who is a good fit with department and company cultures while possessing the skills and experience necessary for the job. Include managers, direct supervisors, and coworkers in the interview process can be helpful, as are behavioral interview questions and frank discussions about job seeker expectations.
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