The pharma business is a knowledge and experience business and people have always been one of the most important resources for any pharma or life science company. We can talk about brand but the people in a company, in particular in their behaviour, represent a living brand. We can focus on intellectual property but that is the creation of the people, and people joining or leaving a company will add to or reduce the sustainable intellectual property. We can talk about markets, but to access any market you need people with a good understanding of that market and the culture and values of customers and suppliers.
Increasingly we talk about regulation and compliance as thought they are some abstract function of a company. In practice we are describing the collective values and integrity of the individual members of staff, and the way they are motivated to behave in particular situations. So people are key but how any organisation ensure that it can attract, recruit, develop, and motivate those individuals with the competencies that will set that business apart from those of competitors.
The first challenge is that there are increasing signs that the labour market is moving in favour of the employee rather than the employer. There is growing demand for skilled people but traditional labour markets are providing fewer new people with the right qualifications and experience; and companies are still trying to recruit people with ever-more-specialised knowledge. It is possible to recruit from new markets, but this is a new competence for many companies.
People know that they have a choice and could lead them to elect to favour organisations with stronger ethical standing. They could be attracted by the possibility of working with individuals who are recognised as industry leaders, or they may simply aspire to serious financial wealth. Then again they may look for the excitement and agility of a biotech or smaller pharma company over the traditional big players. Organisations need to plan carefully to ensure that they can attract and retain the people who will add value to their business without falling into the trap of overpaying or rewarding poor or non-performance.
How PricewaterhouseCoopers can help you
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Human Resource Services practice was developed to provide organisations with access to a full range of services, from HR planning and strategy through to the details of tax efficient reward or advice on employment law. We can advise on structured rewards and incentive plans for senior executives and how the principles of equity and performance-related earnings can cascade through the organisation, including for example the design and implementation of flexible benefits plans.
The key here is how we make the offerings work together. For example, an effective talent management strategy can involve work on organisational culture and values, personal assessment and development, recognition and reward, and structured career planning (possibly with international assignments). We can offer services and solutions covering all of those areas from the same team. Finally we can offer advice on the optimum delivery model for the HR function, balancing the needs for value, service, and cost efficiency.
