San Diego is home to a strong biotech industry creating new and exciting products to help improve people’s lives. It’s also facing a shortage of qualified employees because the industry has grown faster than the population can supply qualified candidates. Leland Sandler has been advising executives in the San Diego biotech industry and has experienced firsthand the industry’s staffing challenges. Here’s a look at how executives can overcome the challenges and position their companies to become leaders in biotech.
You Can’t Wait for Talent to Find You
The current pool of potential employees in the biotech industry is a small one. That means you have to go out and find qualified individuals to come to work for you more often than not. Various efforts can be made company-wide to attract new talent, including sending out a hiring incentive to current employees and asking human resources to broaden their recruitment guidelines. Headhunters can help you find people looking for a better job opportunity, but you have to make that opportunity worthwhile.
Employees are often friends or acquaintances with other people trained in biotech but don’t necessarily work for your company. You can incentivize your employees in the form of a bonus if someone they recommend for hiring works out and stays with the company for a period of time. It also provides a benefit in that the person you’re interested in hiring is a known quantity and likely to fit your company’s culture well.
Make an Attractive Offer of Employment
It’s a given that the talent you’re seeking will come at a price that goes beyond a justified salary. You may need to offer relocation costs for employees who live in different areas of the country and are willing to move. The candidate may need temporary housing until they can find a place to move into, potentially requiring an offer of short-term housing paid for by the company.
Feel free to tailor a package to meet the needs of a potential candidate. It shows the candidate that you’re interested in their knowledge and skills and makes them much more likely to sign on.
Ultimately, you have to make it worth the talent’s time to work for you, as hard as that may be to accept. It takes time for the talent pool to deepen, and the biotech industry relies on steady progress to innovate. Finding talent can also require being innovative in terms of hiring packages.
Be Decisive During the Hiring Process
Biotech companies tend to be slow to hire, an issue that qualified employees are all too aware of. This frequently leads to a reluctance to respond to offers or otherwise attempt to change jobs. Ask yourself if putting a candidate through multiple interviews and placing obstacles in the way is necessary for your hiring process. Make sure to leave a candidate hanging for an answer for a short time, as they may decide to reject an offer when it does come.
Getting Help With Attracting New Talent to Your Biotech Company
Finding a way to recruit new biotech employees to work in San Diego may signal a problem with your hiring process. Leland Sandler can help you uncover processes that cause a hiring bottleneck and reduce interest in working for your company. Contact him today to learn more about what he can do for your biotech company.