The Talent Race within Life Sciences
A shortage of industry skills & competition from other industries makes hiring difficult.
Vaccine development, gene therapy and DNA assembly… recent Life Science discoveries have been pretty ground-breaking. As one of the most cutting-edge industries in the world, it’s time for talent-attraction methods to take a front seat.
Talent shortages within life sciences have always been an issue, yet the global pandemic did its bit to exacerbate the problem. Enhanced knowledge and a growing number of niche organisations, paired with a lack of talent have made the competition for candidates fiercer than ever.
Bioinformaticians and computational biologists have become the Beatles of the 21st century. Industry-specific expertise are so in demand because they are incredibly difficult to source! Cross-sector competition for generic talent is notable too through the increased demand for technology specialists.
An increasingly significant talent shortage highlights the necessity for organisations to secure the best from the scarce talent available, while also retaining the staff they’ve got!
While start-up Life Science organisations may be unable to match the salary offerings of their global counterparts, there are certain steps your organisation can take to attract talent which won’t break the bank!
Firms will need to look at what can make them stand out from competitors, what they can offer prospective hires and how they can improve recruitment processes.
Making its way into the mainstream in 2020, remote work is here to stay. Embracing flexible work models within the life sciences sector will diminish the restraints attached to geographical talent locations and will allow organisations to access candidates before other firms follow suit. 72% of life science employers believe that flexible work arrangements will enhance talent attraction. Think about how you could introduce enhanced flexibility to your organisation. Perhaps a 4 day work week or shorter workdays are the keys to attracting the talent you need.
Life Science firms also tend to fall behind other industries when it comes to the talent experience focus. Only 71% of life sciences human capital leaders rate their company’s talent experience as excellent or good. Improving this, could be a key differentiator in the race to recruit and retain top talent. Implementing a diversity and inclusion strategy is one way to make new and existing talent feel as though their needs are appreciated while at work, while also becoming an attraction point for potential talent pools.
Organisations should run a cultural audit of their businesses to help identify priority areas for action to improve talent experience. This will include an evaluation of training, review of policies and procedures and focused listening groups.
Reputation, career opportunity and flexibility in the workplace are all attractive elements. A key factor for many firms will be to put the work into building early-stage relationships with prospective candidates. This should help companies identify what it will take to lure them into the life sciences sector.
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