Optimising to Win Top Life Sciences Talent.

Recruitment of impressive talent in the life sciences space has become a consistent issue, particularly in areas of specialist talent as the candidate market remains sparse amongst an increased demand for post-pandemic public safety. Research shows that 68% of organisations in the life sciences space find attracting and securing quality hires as one of their top challenges. Talent scarcity cannot be solved quickly in the current climate, but developing a secure strategy of substance for attracting top-tier candidates can greatly increase the chances of recruitment success.

Curious to learn more, I ran a series of LinkedIn polls (feel free to go back and check out some key results, here) to gather feedback from passive and active top-talent candidates on their key factors for having confidence in a position before the interview. Enthusiasm for the company in question was one of the highest contributing factors to respondents feeling inclined to the opportunity. A company that offers an attractive environment in all aspects is most likely to attract desirable candidates. From my extensive recruitment experience in the life sciences space, I’ve pinpointed the main elements that candidates look for in a workplace, and how to attract both active and passive candidates to fill your next opportunity successfully.

How to Curate An Attractive Offer for Top Talent.

Analyse Your Data.

A full and honest understanding of your workforce is crucial to understanding what talent you need, and what the correct recruitment strategy looks like for your company. Analyse your recruitment, employee, and staff retention data to validate any assumptions about your talent challenges, and review resources expenditure for efficiency. Exploration of the internal to external candidate ratio when roles have been filled can help establish the emphasis given to different hiring processes, alongside training efficiencies and the projected cost of onboarding new hires.

It’s also vital to analyse external data to ensure you are developing recruitment opportunities in line with broader compensation expectations across the market – gaining knowledge from pharma industry metrics, for example. By generating a salary benchmarking report, market mapping and investing in tools to support this research, you can see what your ultimate candidate is truly looking for from you or your competitors.

Outsource For Expertise.

Whilst reviewing efficiency in hiring processes, it’s also important to take a clear view of where teams may need additional support to ensure optimum expertise is influencing your recruitment journey.

Effective sourcing from experienced talent pools, direct routes to specialised candidates, and more efficient use of time are just some of the benefits gained from outsourcing to external recruitment expertise. Working alongside a team of specialist external recruiters with a considerable amount of lived experience working with niche candidates across all industries, can be particularly helpful within the current challenges faced in life sciences recruitment.

Establish A Positive Company Culture.

Positive company culture is often the greatest element to consider in attracting and, crucially, retaining top talent. A healthy work-life balance embedded at all levels of your organisation - from entry-level to CEO - alongside flexible working or remote working options are becoming expected as standard best practice across all industries, including the life sciences space.

Developing a comprehensive compensation package for staff including a rewards scheme, competitive pension and bonus scheme, and healthcare support are amongst the insights gathered ahead of the process to help attract the people your business wants. Many companies, especially in the start-up phase, worry introducing and maintaining extensive benefits won’t be an easily attainable goal, that’s why working with partners who specialise in areas such as employee wellbeing, learning and development, DEI, engagement surveys and other key factors can be a hugely beneficial approach.

Create Smart Life Sciences Solutions.

Whilst recruitment struggles in the life sciences space will undoubtedly continue, candidates in high demand have more opportunities to attract what works for them than ever before. A sophisticated and individually nuanced talent solutions process is what can make your company truly stand out to those top talent prospects.

Make the most of data analysis and specialist expertise from those invested in the talent trends in your market, use these insights to strategise a staff benefits package for long-term employee retention and then create advocates from these perfectly placed employees to create a continuous cycle for talent attraction. Top talent is eager to commit to a company with integrity; make your name top of their list this year. You can also check out our recent webinar below on ‘Building an Impactful Talent Strategy for Your Life Science Start-Up’, to kickstart your next steps.

Want to find out more about our team of specialist life science recruiters, our talent strategy, attraction, and retention offering or how your business can best use the tools discussed here to adapt and thrive in the current market? Get in touch below, I’d love to chat.

Drop me a message at sophie.waite@charltonmorris.com or connect with me on LinkedIn to chat.