Building an Organization that Talent will Flock to and Thrive Within
As a business owner or leader, you quickly learn that employees are the backbone of your company. And this has never been more true with the exceptional talent we have and continually acquire at RCH.
But in today’s competitive and challenging job market, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for many businesses to attract and retain top talent —or “A” players, as we often say. Workers across all industries are voluntarily leaving their jobs due to burnout, a desire for a career change, and/or pursuing a more ideal work-life balance by going out on their own.
Call it the “Great Resignation”, a newfound “Gig Economy” or something else, it’s more critical now than ever that your employee acquisition and retention strategy is a key focus, if it’s not already.
And Life Science organizations are not immune to this trend. We are all just experiencing its effects in different ways, given the unique skill sets and demands required to be a competitive leader in this space. I’m thankful to say, however, RCH has fared better than many. Here’s why.
Our culture has been, and always will be, built on a people-first mentality.
While attracting and retaining the right Bio-IT talent can be difficult, the flexible and balanced work structure we’ve followed since our company’s inception, combined with our incredibly high standards for our people and our outcomes have helped us mitigate these typical challenges.
And candidly, they set us apart and make RCH an employer and partner of choice.
In my experience, an organization’s ability to attract—and more importantly retain—the best specialists, goes hand-in-hand with the execution of truly unmatched scientific computing outcomes.
Some of the reasons I think we’ve had success in this area, in no particular order, include:
1. Our EE Training & Development Plan
At RCH, continuous learning and improvement is one of our core values. We invest in the success and expertise of our team and actively encourage and enable them to build their skills in meaningful ways—even if that means carving out work time to do so.
We aim to help improve employees’ existing competencies and cross functional skills while simultaneously developing newer ones to support the individual’s professional goals. We have unique and individualized training programs, relevant mentorship opportunities, and other career development and advancement strategies to support our team members.
2. Our Continuous Recruitment & People-First Approach
Our rolling recruitment strategy continuously accepts and reviews applications for job openings throughout the year, rather than waiting for a specific hiring season, role or deadline. With continuous recruitment, we build a pool of highly qualified, top talent candidates that will complement and/or add to the skills that exist within our deep bench of professionals, and we can effectively and quickly fill any vacancies with the right people—a key focus of ours.
Continuous recruitment also helps us plan for future workforce needs and stay competitive by having target candidates already identified and prequalified for future roles or project needs that may arise.
3. Our Focus on Hiring and Retaining ‘A’ players
In my career, I’ve seen far too many organizations with a Quantity over Quality strategy, simply throwing more people at problems. But a Quality over Quantity approach will win every time. The difference? The former will experience slow adoption which can stall outcomes with major impacts to short- and long-term objectives. The latter propels outcomes out of the gates, circumventing crippling mistakes along the way. For this reason and more, I’m a big believer in attracting and retaining only “A” talent.
The best talent and the top performers (quality) will always outshine and out deliver a bunch of average ones (quantity). Which is why acquiring and retaining only top talent that can effectively address specialized challenges should be your key focus if it isn’t already.
4. Our Access to Cutting-Edge Technology & Encouraging Creativity and Innovation
Bio-IT professionals thrive on innovation and new technology, so we always aim to provide ours with access to the latest tools and software, and encourage them to experiment with new technologies that could improve processes and workflows for our customers. We foster an environment that truly encourages creativity and innovation and provide our team members with the freedom to explore new ideas and take risks, while also setting clear goals and objectives to ensure alignment with organizational priorities.
This approach benefits both our customers and our team members by enabling the possibility for further accelerated breakthroughs, and satisfying their innate desire to leverage innovation to advance science and customer outcomes.
5. Our Core Values & Culture
Employees want to work for a company that values their contributions and creates an empowering and aspirational work environment. This can include things like recognizing employee achievements, providing opportunities for growth and development, and creating a sense of community and belonging within the workplace.
Our core values and culture do that and more, and unwaveringly represent the threads that weave together the fabric of our culture. And hiring the right people who share these core values, and building a culture around a team that embraces the RCH Solutions DNA is paramount. And more critical than ever.
6. Adhering to Our Unique Managed Services Model
Unlike static workforce augmentation services provided by big-box consultants, our dynamic, science-centered Sci-T Managed Services model delivers specialized consulting and execution tailored to meet the unique Bio-IT needs of research and development teams, on-demand. This model gives our team diversity in their work and creates opportunities to take on new challenges and projects that not only excite them, but keep their skills and their day-to-day experiences dynamic.
It’s rewarding for our team, both personally and professionally, and from a learning and development perspective, to have the exposure to a wide range of customers and environments.
An Unwavering Commitment to Our People, Culture & Mission
Acquiring, retaining and empowering Bio-IT teams requires a commitment to creating a supportive and inclusive work environment, providing opportunities for growth and development and recognizing and rewarding accomplishments along the way.
While challenging at times, organizations that unwaveringly commit to their people, culture and mission will be able to attract and retain “A” talent, and foster an empowered work environment that will naturally drive innovation, advance the organization’s mission and propel customer outcomes.
Click below to get in touch with our team and learn more about our industry-leading Bio-IT team, our specialized approach and what sets us apart from other Bio-IT partners.