Life sciences industry failing to adequately manage talent, RSA research finds

While 90% of life sciences executives identify talent management as a key priority, over three quarters (77%) of their organizations are not delivering this in practice, operating without an active strategy in place. This is the headline finding of a global survey of over 550 life sciences senior managers carried out for executive search organization RSA.

Overall how companies manage talent is becoming less planned and more ad-hoc since RSA carried its previous research in 2010. Much of this is due to the continuing impact of market change and sluggish economic conditions. Two thirds of organizations (66%) have undergone a review or restructure in the last 18 months, with 78% reviewing headcount.

Not only do fewer organizations have a formal talent management strategy (up from 67% to 77%), they are also not using recognized processes when cutting jobs. Nearly eight in 10 (79%) admitted that they use no formal talent assessment exercises to identify which employees will face redundancy (up from 62% in 2010), while 38% don’t consider future demand for skills when making staff cuts.