With the stakes for successful launches high, and demand for commercial roles increasing, biopharmas must thoughtfully approach not only hiring but also retention. During a BioSpace webinar, experienced commercial leaders and a recruiter discussed the challenges employers face and how to tackle them.
As more companies prepare to launch drug candidates, roles that support those launches are in greater demand, based on BioSpace job posting data. Last month, there was a 38% year-over-year increase in sales, marketing and medical affairs jobs live on the website. However, it’s not always easy to find the right commercial talent, as discussed during a BioSpace webinar Wednesday.
One reason it can be challenging to find the right talent is that given high demand, candidates can be selective, said Margaret Blackwell, global head of talent acquisition and recruiting services at Amplity. Amplity partnered with BioSpace on the “From Clinical to Commercial: Talent Strategies for Biopharma Growth” webinar.
“Candidates are evaluating employers as much as employers are evaluating the candidates,” Blackwell said. “The employers we see that really win are considerate of the candidate’s time.” She added that these companies don’t delay the hiring process, which is important because that could drive job seekers to decline offers.
Kerry Need, a seasoned commercial and clinical development leader formerly of Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Seagen, said another reason commercial roles can be tough to fill is the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people, especially earlier-career professionals, work. That talent has matured, come into leadership roles and isn’t as willing to move to larger cities, he explained.
As to when companies should start thinking about building a commercial team, Need said that can depend on multiple factors such as organization size, whether the business is scaling globally or doing a U.S. launch and if it needs to work with payers early on.
Michael Campbell, chief commercial officer at Eyepoint, agreed that company dynamics influence when—and how—to build out a team. He noted that for a small to medium-sized biopharma like his that hasn’t commercialized in several years and is working toward a launch, it’s important to get hiring right early in the process.
“I don’t have the luxury to not have everything in place at launch to be successful,” Campbell said. “It’s less about what can I wait to hire and more about what can I flex to address the marketplace?”
For example, he said, for another launch he thought he had enough field reimbursement managers. However, three to four months into that launch, Campbell needed to reallocate headcount to put more managers in the market.
Once companies decide they’re ready to build out their commercial teams, they’re looking for hard and soft skills in their candidates, according to the panelists. For example, Campbell noted the importance of prospective employees being able to work in complex environments from a marketplace standpoint and being collaborative, while Need highlighted wanting people who demonstrate initiative.
“I want fire in the belly, that intrinsic motivation,” Need said. “I don’t want somebody to say, ‘Tell me how to do this’ and ‘What do I need to do?’”
In oncology, Blackwell noted a need for candidates who not only demonstrate clinical acumen and understand the science but who also have integrity. In addition, she considers how people might perform if they move to an organization that’s larger or smaller than their most recent employer. People who need a lot of handholding, for example, might not do well going to a small company, while those who aren’t used to a lot of structure might not comfortably make the jump to a large pharma.
When it comes to selecting the right candidate for a company’s specific culture, Campbell had a simple suggestion for employers: Slow down.
“The only way to reduce your risk around this area is to slow down and spend more time with your candidates,” he said.
Making the right hire isn’t always the end of the story for those building commercial teams. Blackwell noted that retention can be an issue, with competitors poaching each other’s employees. She said she’s seen an uptick in that activity in the oncology and rare disease spaces.
Campbell, who agreed that poaching is a reality, offered advice for offsetting it.
“The best you can do, I think, is create an environment where people feel developed, where they feel trusted, where they feel empowered, where they feel wanted,” he said. “It’s not that you’re not going to have turnover, but you do reduce your retention risk for sure.”
Need echoed that sentiment.
“People are our most valuable asset, and they’re going to determine if a launch is going to be successful or not,” he said. “Invest in your people like you do in the rest of your business.”
