LEADERSHIP & EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT

Circumstances:

The R&D division of a global pharmaceutical company needed to address unusually high turnover of Ph.D.-level laboratory scientist supervisors.

Action:

We identified root causes for attrition and recommended key improvements to the hiring process. Our thorough review of exit interview data to identify common themes, combined with the use of critical incidents technique to align 60 senior leaders on the key selection criteria most important to position success, led to an increased focus on the importance of people skills and less emphasis on academic achievement during the selection process.

Results:

We successfully defended findings and recommendations to top 100+ Ph.D. managers in the division, which resulted in division leadership embracing and implementing a more coordinated, targeted selection process closely linked to success in the position. Improved talent acquisition techniques were widely shared to other parts of the company.