Luis: The Life Sciences sector is driven by R&D and innovation. This means there are always segments where new drugs, devices or systems to fight disease or improve health are being developed. Those segments then require management talent, generally with previous experience in the field, because Healthcare is a heavily regulated market
Stacey: At the very senior level, we saw only a modest
decrease in hiring in Life Sciences in 2010. Our clients have
communicated that in spite of the economy, these are such
critical senior-level roles that they cannot delay moving
forward on these types of hires. Private equity and venture
capital clients have also expressed similar sentiments as good
technologies continue to get funding. Some have admitted to
being more conservative than they typically are due to the
economy and competition for capital in their portfolio, but
their Limited Partners want their money put to work. Both January and February 2011 have been extremely busy for new search launches in Life Sciences for our firm.
Wayne: The Healthcare setting, as an essential industry, tends to be less volatile in demand than other industry sectors such as banking and technology. In Australia and New Zealand, demand is across
general management, clinical leadership, healthcare academia and life sciences, in the public, not-forprofit
and private health sectors. In South-East Asia, demand varies a little by geography and sector.
For example, Thailand typically imports people into hospital management positions rather than clinical
leadership. Private healthcare in Singapore looks for general management and clinical leaders, whereas
the public sector in Singapore is more interested in clinical and academic leaders.
“Our clients have communicated that in
spite of the economy, these are such
critical senior-level roles that they
cannot delay moving forward on these
types of hires”
Stacey Davenport
BlueSteps: What do you think is on the horizon for the rest of 2011?
Luis: All over Europe, pressure from the Governments to curb
down Healthcare costs will make it difficult for large
corporations to grow or hire external talent in 2011. Some of
the so-called “Big Pharma” in these crisis times find themselves
still oversized, considering the not so appealing pipelines of
future product launches. Executive search growth is coming
from mid-size and small groups on the rise.
Stacey: I expect to see continued optimism and hiring at the senior level for strong companies.
Wayne: Barring any major external shocks such as war or recession, we see a positive outlook for 2011.
Most economies in the region are expecting average or above-average growth rates, demographic
trends dictate increasing demand for quality healthcare with ageing populations, and people’s
expectations of the quality of both care and service continues to rise.
BlueSteps: How can a candidate best present him/herself to get noticed in today's marketplace?
Luis: Life Sciences is a very broad sector full of segments and niches: for one time it was
Gastrointestinal and Cardiovascular, then anti-infectives and anti-HIV, now Biotechnology products in
Transplantation, Onco-Haematology or orphan drugs. In many cases, the board executives need to
know one of those niches and their international opinion leaders very well to get credibility and funding. Candidates must be well-known and recognized in that particular market.
Stacey: A-player candidates are always in great demand
by clients. Keeping a successful track record, polished
resume, and polished presence for interviews is essential.
Maintaining a critical balance of self-confidence, humility
and self-awareness of your leadership style is key as
clients focus more and more on interpersonal fit over just
pedigrees.
Wayne: People can, of course, maintain contact with potential employers and search groups in the
belief that it will help them remain ‘on the radar screen’ when a suitable opportunity arises. However,
a decent search firm will have a knowledge base and robust candidate tracking systems so they can
readily identify and contact suitable people as the need arises.
“Keeping a successful track record, polished
resume, and polished presence for interviews
is essential”
Stacey Davenport
“Executive search growth is coming from
mid-size and small groups on the rise”
Luis Truchado
Certainly, candidates with a stellar track record, integrity and
relationship/leadership skills will always be relatively rare, and in
high demand. Attending networking events can be worthwhile
and social media will probably increase in its relevance as well,
however the efficacy of social media at the executive level is still
a ‘work in progress’ to be tracked and trialed.
The best way to get noticed for senior level positions is to be a proven performer, have decent IQ and
EQ, and be an ethical person who can relate well with people, be that as a leader, a fellow team
member, or with other stakeholders.
BlueSteps: How do you grow your own network of candidates within this sector?
Luis: Specialist firms are focused every day in several
segments, but within the Healthcare field “cross
pollination” of successful candidates is often evident. Our
pool of candidates expands from Pharma to Biotech, from
Diagnostics to Devices, from Specialized Consultancies or
Academia into HIS or Business Intelligence, etc.
Stacey: We get over 100 resumes a day which we screen carefully, but even more important is
proactively reaching out to establish a relationship with as many executives with strong track records
that we can for future recruitment or networking.
Wayne: Firstly we employ the tried and true methods of executive
search, namely research and then proactively approaching potential
candidates. Secondly, we place a huge emphasis on communication and
maintaining relationships with candidates, so they tend to be both
receptive to our contact, as well as regularly referring other people to
us for assistance. Thirdly, we are experimenting with the best ways to
use social media to augment the traditional search process..
BlueSteps: What is your career background? How did you get into search?
Luis: I got a high degree in Pharmacy with specialization in Biochemistry. I did an MBA at the IE
Business School and a CESP at the Columbia Business School. I worked for Ciba-Geigy, now Novartis;
SK&F now GSK and Cesquisa/Cepsa. I was headhunted into search by two outstanding specialists:
EUROMEDICA partners John Fulford and Francis Rolland…19 years ago!
“The best way to get noticed for senior
level positions is to be a proven
performer”
Wayne Bruce
“Within the Healthcare field ‘cross
pollination’ of successful candidates is often
evident”
Luis Truchado
Interviews with Executive 3 Search Consultants
"We are experimenting with
the best ways to use social
media to augment the
traditional search process”
Wayne Bruce
Stacey: I spent many years as a clinician and CEO in medicine and was recruited by Jack Groban to one
of the largest search firms (AT Kearney) to lead the Life Sciences Practice back in 2000. I have loved
every moment in this business and look forward to many more great years.
Wayne My undergraduate degree was in the human/social science area. This led me into the public
healthcare sector, where I worked in research, counseling, human resources and then general
management positions. I also spent time in the corporate health sector in management roles. After 10
years of this, and also partway through study for an MBA, I joined the executive search and selection
business with a nationwide executive recruitment firm. I spent 10 years with the firm, became a
Director and equity partner, and ultimately ran the business nationally.
During this time, I strongly believed the future of search would either be with global or niche players
and that, those stuck in the middle (in classic Porter theory) would be squeezed out. With this in mind,
and a family to support, I took the risk to start Ccentric, a niche search firm, specializing in the
healthcare, life science and academic sectors. Career paths in all these sectors are increasing transcontinent
and trans-national, so we have evolved with this and now have staff in South-East Asia and
Europe to service our clients and candidates in these regions in addition to our head office location in
Australia.
********
BlueSteps.com is an online career management service for global senior executives. As an exclusive
service of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), BlueSteps enables senior executives
to be visible to over 6,000 AESC member retained executive search professionals. For more
information, please visit www.BlueSteps.com.
The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) is the worldwide professional association for
the retained executive search industry and promotes the highest level of ethics and professional
practice in the industry. Learn more at www.aesc.org
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