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fuel future growth through innovative talent strategies.

randstad life sciences

Global economic uncertainty continues to haunt the halls and boardrooms of companies across the country. For life sciences companies, operating in a world of uncertainty is simply the status quo. Issues around cost and pricing pressures, demand for clinical and operational innovation and an always-changing regulatory environment have plagued the industry for decades. While uncertainty has remained a staple, new and promising opportunities to fuel tremendous growth have emerged.

On the heels of a slow recovery, global prescription drug sales are forecast to grow at an impressive annual compound rate of 6.5 percent in the next five years. Also fueling the growth is an increasing demand from an aging population and the prevalence of chronic and communicable diseases. In fact, in the next two years, 50 percent of global health care expenditures — about $4 trillion — will be spent on three leading causes of death: cardiovascular diseases, cancer and respiratory diseases.

Life in the life sciences sector is good, right? Not so fast. While tomorrow’s opportunity is to develop new medicines that can prevent or cure currently incurable diseases, the challenge for many companies is to simply get to tomorrow. There are a number of macro trends that threaten the ability of companies to capitalize on the growing market. For one, the pressure to reduce costs and prove value is intense and, perhaps, the greatest challenge facing life sciences companies today. Adding to the pressure is the increasing cost of bringing a new medicine from idea to commercialization.

Comprising the lion’s share of that cost? Labor.

talent strategies to reduce costs, increase qualityLife sciences companies are seeking ways to transform their current business and operating models to combat rising cost pressures and achieve excellence across their organizations — not only in research and development (R&D) and global operations, but also in areas such as IT, finance, sales and distribution. In fact, building an organization of the future is the most important challenge for life sciences and healthcare human resource (HR) leaders.

“In today’s skill-based economy, talent is the differentiator,” says John Ebeid, senior vice president of Randstad Life Sciences. A 20-year veteran of the life sciences industry, Ebeid believes attaining operational excellence, measurable cost savings and sustained innovation require life sciences companies to leverage advancements in talent management. “As R&D portfolios have expanded and transformed with more specialized drug compounds, targeted therapies and personalized medicine, the life sciences industry’s short- and long-term strategies to hire quality talent have had to evolve as well.”

As such, life sciences is aggressively embracing new workforce models as a way to fill in-house capability gaps and overcome R&D and marketplace challenges by externally sourcing innovative ideas, knowledge, skills and technologies. The bottom line is that any company with plans to protect and grow its share of the market must have essential talent in place at critical turning points.

choosing a best-fit staffing solutionDetermining which staffing model and strategies are best suited to drive speed-to-market, innovation and rapid decision making can be confusing. There are advantages to every workforce management model, whether that means contingent or contract workers to augment your in-house capabilities, securing full-time employees (FTEs) to fill voids or engaging a functional service provider (FSP) to outsource services within the scope of a clinical trial project or program.

According to Ebeid, “There are key differences between each of these offerings, and for sponsors that want to conduct better, faster clinical trials, it is critical to understand these differences so they can align with the partner that best serves their needs.”

contract staffingThe use of contractors has become an ideal option for many companies seeking to ensure resource availability without the commitment and overhead of an FTE. While hourly costs are often higher than an FTE within a company, they are typically lower than a contract research organization (CRO).

Contract services reduce costs by providing companies only the staff needed, when you need them. And many scientific professionals are attracted to working as contractors due to independence and higher hourly rates, which make up for the insecurity of having contracts 100 percent of the time.

when to use• need immediate access to life sciences

talent

• require variable costs, low overhead

• resources needed for non-core drug or compound acquisition

• a single outsourced project, willing to let knowledge walk out the door

• reduced employment risks

• high scalability to staff up and down as needed

direct hire/executive search staffingIf measuring the cost of staff at a salary level only, there would be a good case for maintaining a large in-house capability across functions with minimal outsourcing. FTE salary costs are lower than the rates provided by both contractors and CROs. However, with the volatility of the drug development process, maintaining a full headcount of FTEs can be a costly and overly rigid approach.

It’s also difficult. Persistent talent shortages have plagued the life sciences industry, with many companies struggling to secure the highly skilled professionals they need. Companies are engaging staffing partners to provide hard-to-find and highly skilled life sciences talent for permanent or senior-level roles. These positions are generally more strategic in nature, and therefore require keeping knowledge in-house and maintaining control of who is doing what and where.

when to use• for high-demand and hard-to-find positions

• a need to retain knowledge and skills on a long-term basis

• when hiring needs are more sporadic based on vacancies or the creation of new roles

• have the capabilities to train talent to fit current and future needs

• for strategic positions requiring industry expertise to drive innovation

functional service provider solutionGiven the complexity and risks associated with clinical trials, functional outsourcing has grown in popularity as both an option within strategic partnership arrangements and as a viable alternative to full-service strategic models. By working with an FSP, life sciences companies can dramatically reduce the dangers associated with fluctuating demand while gaining efficiency and expertise. Well-defined services within the scope of a clinical trial project or program (e.g., data management, biostatistics or medical writing) are good candidates for FSP outsourcing.

According to Ebeid, “Functional models are best suited to sponsors who seek control and oversight, a high level of resourcing flexibility and efficiency and a lower-cost solution. As an extension of the sponsor organization, FSPs act as the arms and legs, while the heart and mind reside within the sponsor organization.”

The scale of a portfolio of work is also an important factor in determining whether to pursue an FSP partnership. Typically, an FSP model isn’t ideal for a single outsourced project because cost and efficiency gains are greater with scale. That’s one of the reasons many life sciences companies utilize FSPs in order to leverage specific expertise in a therapeutic area, indication or functional specialty, such as clinical trial management or medical writing.

when to use• gain access to expertise in functional areas

• reduce fixed operational costs

• scale up quickly by accessing FSP talent and resources

• reduce employment- and cost-related risks

• save time and resources related to clinical trial management

• retain control over your study

how to identify the best partnerThere are risks inherent in each of these staffing models, so identifying a provider you trust to consistently deliver quality output and thoughtful, strategic guidance is critical. Yet how do you select the right partner? What should you be looking for?

According to Ebeid, there are four fundamental factors to consider when seeking a talent partner.

breadth of capabilities Many life sciences companies find they have a need for all three talent solutions across their organization. For those looking to leverage the best of all three staffing models, seek out a partner that can deliver these broad capabilities. Often, companies will need to begin with contract and direct-hire staffing as they grow their businesses, eventually evolving the partnership to include an FSP solution. You want to look for a staffing provider that can deliver the talent you need in the capacity you require.

experience Obviously, when you are pursuing a staffing partnership, you want a partner with extensive experience spanning multiple staffing models — particularly an FSP. With experience comes wisdom, performance excellence and the ability to hit the ground running right away. Look for staffing companies that have built long-term, collaborative partnerships within the biopharma and life sciences industries.

flexibility and scalability You’ll want to ask potential partners how they plan for and handle the need to scale up quickly, as well as how they avoid underutilizing resources. Program governance meetings are an excellent way to manage the resourcing demands of a successful staffing partnership. These help ensure constant communication between you and your staffing partner.

robust talent resources Identifying, recruiting and hiring top life sciences talent has never been more challenging. You want a partner with an extensive network of talent, as well as innovative and proven sourcing strategies to locate qualified and experienced talent to fit your needs.

embrace talent strategies to fuel future growthWithout a doubt, finding the right talent can be a challenge for any business — but doing so is critical for life sciences companies if they want to remain competitive. Strategic talent sourcing enables life sciences companies to limit the risks and costs of fluctuating demands related to the volatility of the drug development process. And the reality is that pharma companies that handle much of their clinical operations in-house may be wasting money on the fixed costs of idle talent. Innovative life sciences companies are turning to staffing providers and forming robust partnerships in order to better mitigate risks and drive superior outcomes.

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