Talent Management a Top Priority for Biomedical Sciences in 2010

RSA Singapore, a recruitment consultancy for the life sciences, has revealed results from two surveys (one international and the other regional) that were conducted amongst the biomedical sciences industry. These findings show that the biomedical sciences industry sees talent management as a top priority for the coming year.

In addition, amongst the region, Singapore is viewed as the top destination for providing the best biomedical science career opportunities. Over 420 professionals within the biomedical sciences industry replied to these two surveys.

“The findings of our two surveys support what RSA has noticed over the past several years, which is that Asia’s biomedical sciences industry continues to grow, despite the fact that biomedical organizations in Europe and the US have experienced consolidation or downsizing. And within Asia, Singapore is the top destination of choice, due to the opportunities here,” said Ms Laura Thomas, MD.

The regional survey revealed that Singapore was the number one destination of choice for biomedical sciences professionals in the region. This was largely due to its strong biomedical sciences industry, good standards of living, associated safety/security and favorable tax regime.

The second destination of choice was China, with many biomedical sciences executives indicating interest in pursuing a career at this location. The third top destination was Australia.

Other highlights of the regional survey include:

· Respondents were positive about the outlook for the biomedical sciences industry for 2010, with all expecting salary increments. Half of those surveyed expected significant salary increments of 30-50 percent. This compares well to 2008-2009, where biomedical companies in Asia saw salary and headcount freezes.

· The most important factors for determining whether an employee would join another company were 1) Career Opportunities, 2) Salary, and 3) work-life balance.

· If required to relocate for a job, the most important factors that make the new host country attractive were: 1) A growing biomedical sciences industry, 2) Good standards of living and environment, 3) Security and safety.

The respondents of the international survey were mainly from the UK, with some having offices across Europe and the US. Given the significant levels of organizational restructuring that has occurred over the past 18 months, over 90 percent of respondents indicated that talent management is a top strategic priority for the organization.

During this period, 60 percent of organizations experienced restructuring or a review, in order to improve efficiencies and in many cases downsizing was part of the review. Those employees negatively affected by the review were selected based on: 1) Feedback from managers and performance reviews; 2) Lack of fit within the organisations; and 3) Formal talent assessment exercise.

However, despite realizing that talent management is critical, only 26 percent had an active strategy in place for retaining talent. Another trend revealed by the survey showed that while 60 percent of the organizations stated that the time taken to recruit middle to senior management required up to six months and incurred significant costs to the company, 68 percent stated their organization had no clear leadership succession plans. This is a potential risk for organizations, which could be negatively affected, should senior management leave the company.