By Tracy Duberman, PhD
Insights from Takeda, Jazz, Nestlé Health Sciences, Humana, and other healthcare executives
Milestones such as major acquisitions, FDA approvals for new therapies, or obtaining Series C funding are transformative events for pharmaceutical organizations. These triumphs come with nuanced challenges including how to integrate new teams while retaining core talent and how to sustain morale during rapid scaling.
Pharma leaders managing talent post milestones need to focus on assessing future talent needs, implementing strategic talent acquisition, onboarding new hires to the company’s culture, leveraging internal talent mobility, prioritizing DE&I initiatives, recognizing employee performance, and focusing on employee well-being. Below are talent management strategies to consider for post-milestone growth.
Projecting talent needs for future success: It is important to assess the impact of any large-scale change on both current and future talent and to have a data-informed approach to effectively manage talent during transformative phases. Understanding current talent capabilities versus future requirements is integral to organizational success. Recommendations include engaging in regular talent reviews to evaluate and assess potential gaps in talent, focusing on existing skill sets and matching them with future project pipelines.
Bob Sachs, PhD, former National VP of Learning and Development at Kaiser Permanente, underscores the importance of learning agility when discussing future talent needs. He states, “While specific skills and experience are important for roles, when hiring we also look for individuals who demonstrate characteristics of learning agility, like curiosity or openness to diverse perspectives. We also reinforce these characteristics in ongoing development and coaching while building other job essential skills.”
Crafting a strategic talent acquisition plan: This plan should align with a company’s growth trajectory and goals, covering the specific roles, skills, and competencies needed to drive a company’s objectives in the post-milestone phase. Specific skills and competencies for new roles may be different than those of the past, including skills like influence, strategic agility, team development, financial acumen, and more. For example, if a company recently secured Series C funding, hiring an executive with experience in funds management and growth may be crucial if the current leadership team lacks that skill.
Laurel Catlett-King, VP and Head of HR at Nestlé Health Science U.S., explains, “Talent acquisition remains complex, especially with the rise of hybrid and fully remote work arrangements. It requires us to navigate employee preferences and business expectations. To attract and retain high performers, we must address the wants and needs of today’s workforce. At Nestlé Health Science (NHSc), we must take into consideration our own value proposition for talent. How are we marketing ourselves? How are we differentiating the experience at NHSc? We know that our products are great and unique, but we also need to create a value proposition that distinguishes us as the employer of choice.”
Seamless integration: onboarding for success: New Leader Assimilation accelerates the time it takes for new hires to become productive. Research shows that companies with an effective onboarding process improve their new hire retention rates and help new hires integrate smoothly into the company culture, understand the organization’s objectives, and connect with key stakeholders.
Soujanya (Chinni) Pulluru, MD, Former Chief Clinical Executive/ VP of Clinical Operations, Walmart Health (Current Co-Founder, My Precious Genes), added, “Company culture is huge in how talent management happens. It starts at the top. Not HR but the CEO, and downwards. I’ve often found HR departments are weaker at establishing culture. It’s usually the CEO or leaders in the C-suite that establish culture. Culture should be talked about and prioritized. At Walmart, we assign the new leader an onboarding buddy who is their person to go to in the first six months for formal and informal asks. In the first three weeks we curate one-on-ones as meet and greets with the people they need to know across the organization. We send the person meeting with them the new leader’s CV the day before the meeting, and the role’s job description, so they walk in with the knowledge to build a relationship.”
Leveraging internal talent mobility: Milestone achievements also offer a wonderful opportunity to consider internal talent mobility and succession planning. Internal talent mobility offers numerous benefits, as current employees are already familiar with the organization’s processes, culture, and values, and can transfer their knowledge across functions. Cross-functional transitions also lead to a smoother transition and faster productivity. In times of major change like a merger or acquisition, internal talent mobility can ease the stress of adding an outside hire to a team that is already taking on new responsibilities and tasks.
Erika Marder, Head of Global R&D HR, Takeda, explains, “We have made hiring internally a priority for our organization by setting goals, measuring internal talent movement, and investing in technology that facilitates the matching of our colleagues’ interests to available opportunities. However, measurement and tools only get you so far. We continue to focus on mindset and sharing of successful internal talent mobility stories so our colleagues at all levels can see the positive results of hiring internally.”
Emphasizing DE&I for sustained growth: For pharmaceutical companies, a strong culture of DE&I within organizations can better serve diverse patient populations, as well as enhance creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. An inclusive environment encourages employees to contribute their unique perspectives, which are an essential part of supporting continued growth. And a diverse, inclusive workforce that includes different voices in conversations, understands global markets, and relates to diverse customer bases has the potential to create meaningful impact and remain competitive in an increasingly global world.
Selena Yuan, Global Head of Talent Development at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, explains, “Some of the direct impacts of DE&I initiatives tend to be reflected in employee engagement and sense of belonging. Many companies will make the connection. What I want to focus on, and will continue to advocate for companies to do, is to demonstrate the impact of DE&I on business outcomes, such as speed to market, patient access, and clinical trial inclusion. One important step before even making DE&I initiatives an integrated part of all things we do is to refocus our attention to demonstrate the strategic value that DE&I brings to enable and execute the company’s purpose and business strategy. For instance, our patients and patients’ families are diverse, and we will not be able to meet the patients’ needs if our workforce does not reflect that diversity and if our workforce does not have a deeper understanding of the patients’ needs in all aspects, including medical needs.”
Recognizing and managing team performance: It is important to set clear, measurable objectives that align with the organization’s post-milestone mission and strategy. Performance management systems provide ongoing feedback and encourage employees to stay engaged. By offering continuous feedback employees are encouraged to stay engaged and continue working at their strengths while recognizing their weaknesses. Recognizing and rewarding team members fosters a culture of excellence and helps individuals see that their work is valuable to the organization’s overall success.
Stephanie E. Mercado CAE, CPHQ, Chief Executive Officer National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), addresses the issue of continuously monitoring and recognizing team members’ performance. She said, “NAHQ has a new offering for healthcare organizations that creates sustainable solutions for quality. As we build that program, we’re identifying new skills and hiring them quickly. We are also realizing that giving any one person too much too soon may be a mistake. NAHQ looks at our current and projected talent pool monthly and reassesses what adjustments need to be made to live into our potential, while maximizing opportunities for staff. We also rely on data-driven insights to adjust talent initiatives and trend reports on productivity are important and help guide staffing decisions.”
Prioritizing employee well-being and engagement: As a company grows, the amount and/or type of work that leaders and their teams have to complete will likely change as well. An essential part of building a robust team that will succeed over the long haul is making employee well-being and engagement a priority. There are also strong links between support from senior leaders and a variety of employee and organizational outcomes.
Z. Colette Edwards, National Medical Director for Associate Health and Well-Being, Humana, emphasizes, “We need to have all levels of leadership held accountable for the health and well-being of employees to achieve sustainable business results. We gather and share aggregate data, develop concrete action plans, and weigh the responsibility materially in performance reviews and impact on bonuses, equity allocation, and other benefits. We gauge the pulse of our team’s well-being and engagement by conducting formal and informal engagement surveys, including gauging the willingness of the team to speak up and share ideas and opinions, directing one-on-one sessions on a regular schedule, and monitoring how well the team actually comes together and operates as a team.”
Milestone achievements signal both celebration and introspection. How a company harnesses its talent post-milestone determines whether success is fleeting or foundational for sustained growth. Learning from others on celebrating success, driving engagement, and fostering leadership development is crucial for strategic growth. Learning from one another is essential for the success and engagement of a team.
Tracy Duberman, PhD is President and CEO of The Leadership Development Group