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Careers & workplace advice from Hays

There are certain colleagues I lean on for support more than others, and who, at times, I can’t imagine doing my job without. But, as a leader, it’s important to understand that change is an inevitable part of business, and that a seemingly irreplaceable employee could one day decide to take their talents elsewhere.

Here’s how to ensure your business and team continue to thrive in such a situation:

Expect change and be ready for it

Good leaders don’t simply wait for new talent to emerge – they nurture it

To use a sporting analogy, how often does it happen that the star player is injured and instead of the team being knocked by their absence – as many fear will happen – a new talent emerges, and the team continues to thrive?

We know that good leaders don’t simply wait for new talent to emerge – they nurture it. They know that staff sometimes do leave and that change is the one constant you can be sure of in any enterprise, and so they plan for it accordingly. Good leaders must encourage a culture whereby no team is bigger than the business itself. Your business’ core messages should be ubiquitous and understood by all, so when an integral member does depart then no huge change of philosophy or direction is required.

Always look to promote from within

If you make sure to provide your staff with up to date training, the tools they need to perform, set clear goals and objectives, and encourage people in a positive way, you’ll create an environment in which talent can really flourish. In doing so, you’re creating a pool of readymade talent that will be able to make the step up and replace departing top performers.

What matters most is that you ensure everyone feels involved, supported and motivated

Thorough succession planning, by which I mean identifying and nourishing the best young talents, is a key part of being able to overcome the loss of a big hitter quickly. By training and providing the adequate work experience to potential future leaders early on you’re guaranteeing that there will always be someone there who’s ready to pick up the mantle.

What matters most is that as a leader, you ensure everyone feels involved, supported and motivated.You must create a system that constantly nurtures and promotes talent – whatever it takes – so instead of a team with one top performer, you’ll have one that’s full of high achievers.

Don’t fear staff turnover

Some degree of staff turnover is actually healthy for your business. A team who has been together for many years may work very efficiently as they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, however they may also be reluctant to change and oblivious to more effective means of operating. View the loss of a top performer as an opportunity; an opportunity to either promote younger talent and let them shine, or bring in a new recruit with a fresh approach and perspective.

New team members are an opportunity to instil within your team a new set of ideas and ambitions

New team members are an opportunity to instil within your team a new set of ideas and ambitions. Refreshing the team with new recruits either promoted from other teams within the business or sourced externally helps to ensure that your team does not stagnate. The most successful businesses and teams are those that are constantly evolving.

A final thought

No business or enterprise can thrive without the skills and talent of its people, so losing a top performing team member is always going to have an effect. Life has to go on, however, and with a universal philosophy and a good system of promoting talent within the existing team, you’ll be better equipped to deal with staff leaving in the future.

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As a leader, delivering constructive feedback effectively during performance appraisals is key to team success. However, this doesn’t come naturally to all of us. Here’s a few tips you can try to help you deliver constructive feedback well and get the most of out your team.

1. Preparation is key

Preparation, as always, is key

Preparation, as always, is key. Prior to your meeting, refresh yourself on the employee’s original objectives and evaluate their performance from there. During this preparation time, be sure to note down specific examples of good or bad performance to be discussed in the meeting.

2. Be transparent

Make the process totally transparent. Prior to the meeting, tell the employee what you hope to discuss in the review and what you aim to achieve from it. If using a form during the review, share this with the employee before meeting them. This will alleviate any tension they may be feeling, whilst also allowing them to prepare thoroughly.

It’s all about establishing an atmosphere of trust. If you are an effective leader then this should already be a key component of your relationship with your team. This trust will serve to reassure the employee that you’re giving them this feedback because you believe in their abilities and want them to improve, rather than just criticising them for any other personal reasons.

3. Let them do the talking

Encourage the employee to do most of the talking. This meeting shouldn’t feel like a one-sided interrogation, instead aspiring towards more of a collaborative, open review.

What’s gone well and what’s not gone so well? Start by asking the employee to talk through their objectives and any successes or challenges they have experienced.  Encourage them to talk about what they have learnt or will do differently in the future; self-reflection is key.

4. Start with the positives

Encourage them to talk about what they have learnt or will do differently in the future

Start by providing examples of when you have been particularly impressed by the employees performance, including concrete examples. This will help to motivate the employee and put them at ease before you go on to discuss the negatives.

5. Be factual, not judgemental

Be both factual and honest, and not judgemental or overly critical. However, if there is a performance related issue, now is your time to air your concerns so don’t skirt around the issue.

When giving negative feedback, it’s important to provide specific examples and constructive pointers to help the employee understand the impact of their actions and ultimately improve e.g. “I thought that your content during the presentation last week was great, but I noticed your body language was slouched and the audience found it difficult to hear you. Why not try this next time/are you interested in a training course on developing your presentation skills?” When giving the example, give as much information as possible and avoid being vague, that way your feedback will be more credible and valuable. Always accompany some good feedback with the bad; the aim of the review is to inspire and motivate.

Think carefully about how you frame sentences when giving feedback, try phrases such as ‘I think that’, ‘I noticed that’. Focus on one issue at a time, focusing on too many will confuse things. Doing so allows the employee some time to digest the information and respond to what you’ve said. Always permit time for question in between your points of feedback.

6. You are there to support them

When giving negative feedback, it’s important to provide specific examples

Throughout the performance review, make them understand that you believe in their abilities, you want them to get better and you are committed to helping them do so.

Reassure and support the employee further by asking whether they think they would benefit from more frequent one to one meetings or more training.

7. End on a high

It’s important that the employee walks away from the review feeling reinvigorated and inspired. You can achieve this by ending on a high. Reiterate the positives and ask the employee to share their ambitions and objectives with you for the coming months.

Make it clear that achievement of their goals is only the minimum expectation and that the employee should always be aiming higher. This helps to instil and retain an ambitious environment. Now is the time to set goals and look ahead to the future.

8. Performance reviews help to motivate your staff

Following the meeting, write the employee a simple, bullet-point email detailing their five most salient goals. Encourage them to routinely refer back to these goals, helping to retain team focus and motivation.  Finally, set a date to review their progress.

Regular informal feedback on individual tasks and projects, supplemented by a formal review two or three times a year is a great way to guarantee team success and foster an environment of ambition and productivity.

Want to get better at giving feedback? Our tips and advice on effective performance reviews will help

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The life sciences industry is one of the most dynamic in the world, with growth and change occurring in every sector of the industry. The pressure of an ageing population combined with advances in technology and evolving business and medical models makes it fertile territory for new business startups.

There has been a recent increase in high profile companies not previously associated with the life sciences sector turning their attention towards investment in the industry, the most notable of which is Google. As a result, life sciences candidates may find their next career move coming from an unexpected source.

‘Big money’ is finding its way into the life sciences sector

Bill Maris from Google Ventures, the venture capital arm of Google, talking to Bloomberg in an interview earlier this year said:

“We’re interested in investing in companies that are helping people to live longer and healthier lives… We’ve put 36% of our capital into life science companies and the goal is to help people not die from diseases – not die from congestive heart failure or cancer or the sorts of things that affect life span.”

This move is part of a much broader trend. In the last three years, Atlas Ventures have been a source of biotech startup capital, launching 20 new companies covering a range of different indications and therapies. In April this year it announced a $280 million fund focused on seeding and nurturing biotech startups.

While venture capital is a well-established principle in America and Asia – an estimated 10% of Singapore’s venture capital funds support the life sciences industry – this is less the case in Europe, where many academic startups rely on government grants for initial funding. Other investment models include private capital and equity crowdfunding.

Life sciences don’t just need money

If finding the money is half the battle, then finding the talent makes up the other half. But no matter where the money comes from, without the necessary human capital, startup success will be limited.

In a recent Viewpoint interview , Riley Doyle, CEO and Technical Lead at Desktop Genetics, a rapidly growing biotech software company based in London, spoke to us about the challenge faced by many new life science startups:

“Finding the right candidate is definitely a challenge. In fact it has become so much of a challenge that we’re considering creating our own formal learning and development programmes.”

He went on to say that Desktop Genetics is already implementing learning and development programmes on an informal basis, in an effort to bridge the gap between job descriptions and presenting candidate skills.

Should candidates sit tight or consider working for a startup?

Startup entrepreneurs are typically set the task of finding highly qualified STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) candidates, who are also proficient in the management of large data sets and possess excellent business and interpersonal skills.

Such broad requirements, along with the fast pace and many client-facing activities which constitute startup culture, may make working for traditional pharmaceutical companies seem like a better fit for some.

This is not necessarily so. While it may be true that pharmaceutical companies can offer a more generalised experience and opportunities for internal movement, as the startup sector continues to expand, expect to see an increase in convergence of workplace experience between the two.

Hays Life Sciences has a proven track record of working with innovative startup companies and the candidates who are interested in working for them. We are leaders at partnering companies in the necessary workforce planning to ensure the success of startup ventures.

To view our current vacancies for life scientists, please visit our life sciences jobs index. Stay up to date with latest news from across the globe by joining our LinkedIn group, Life Sciences Industry Insights with Hays and follow us on Twitter @HaysLifeScience.

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How are financial employers collaborating with and, most importantly, attracting and retaining their Millennial candidates?

1. Millennials need more than (good) money

This generation needs to feel their work is worthwhile

A distinctive feature of Millennials candidates is their need to be fulfilled at work, much more so than previous generations. According to research by the iOpener Institute, being involved in work that is challenging and interesting is a top priority. This generation needs to feel their work is worthwhile and makes a valuable contribution to society or the economy.

So, for financial services employers, whose reputation may have been damaged by the 2008 financial crisis and a string of subsequent corporate scandals, fulfilling the Millennials’ need to feel worthwhile is a challenge. The way the world’s largest banks have tackled this issue is by having done considerable work to restore their image and show they care – Barclay’s Transform programme is a typical example.

2. Image is everything

Successful business leaders understand that a powerful and positive corporate image is as important to the inside as it is on the outside. As Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon said: “Ultimately, a brand is the things people say about you when you’re not there.” That includes employees.

Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, the world’s largest advertising and marketing agency, once noted that ‘internal communications’ is one of the most important developments in the workplace. “Every CEO is now focused on internal communications, which is seen as a key challenge and opportunity to make sure that people understand and live ‘the brand’, as well as the vision and strategy of the company,” he said.

A brand is the things people say about you when you’re not there

Financial firms’ leaders have indeed gone to great length to ensure they reach out to employees and share their vision for the business. Through blogs, videos, town halls and other channels, CEOs – backed by their internal communication teams – try to create an inspiring leadership that will drive their companies forward and contributes to the creation of a collaborative and inclusive environment. Peter Aceto, CEO of online bank Tangerine (ex-ING Direct Canada), excels at it. With his ‘Direct Talk’ blog and 17,000 Twitter followers, he is one of the most dedicated social posters in the industry.

3. Diversity – it’s not just a buzzword

A winning human resources policy to recruit and retain Millennials candidates will emphasise diversity, transparency and fairness. “Building workplace trust is the best investment your company can make, leading to better recruitment, lower turnover, greater innovation, higher productivity, more loyal customers and higher profits,” says the Great Place to Work Institute. The world’s largest banks are now involved in a race to offer the most comprehensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. This year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was deemed to be the best at it. It won Euromoney’s Award for Excellence 2015 for corporate social responsibility due to its work to back female entrepreneurs and to mentor young people.

4. A particular focus on personal development

Millenials thrive on mentoring and feedback

Millennials thrive on mentoring and feedback, which means they sometimes suffer from an undeserved reputation of being ‘pampered’ or ‘needy’. This is because they treat their career like a professional and personal journey. “The message is clear: When looking at their career goals, today’s Millennials are just as interested in how a business develops its people and how it contributes to society as they are in its products and profits,” said Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte Global, in the company’s Fourth Annual study on Millennials.

Banks have various talent management programmes to mentor, train and empower Millennials alongside other employees. Career paths are defined and refined through regular meetings with managers, HR personnel or work coaches so employees feel they are supported and guided in the right direction. JP Morgan’s comprehensive continual training programme is renowned within the industry. Their employees can expect many learning opportunities and training programmes.

This is particularly important for Millennials, who demand greater recognition and need to know that what they are doing is meaningful. If those needs are not met, the danger is that they will soon leave. There is a high level of fluidity in Digital Natives’ personal and professional lives. Compared to previous generations who seek more stability, Millennials more readily jump from one job to another.

I hope you found the above information interesting and useful – please see below for links to other financial markets blogs which may be of interest to you and your teams:

To share your thoughts on this article and to stay up to date with the latest business, employment and recruitment news in the financial markets sector, please join our LinkedIn group, Financial Markets Industry Insights with Hays.
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The demand for interims is up across the board, with the Interim Management Associations (IMA) predicting that the interim management sector will become worth £2 billion this year. Interims are a useful solution for employers looking to successfully navigate periods of transition or steer their business in a new direction, so these figures are unsurprising.

Continue reading How to prepare for life as an interim →