At Biointegrates in Cambridge this month, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel on “Future Proofing Biotech:  Cultivating Diversity, and Innovation for a Thriving Workforce”.

The context for the discussion was set up by the excellent panels that had preceded this discussion.  They discussed Collaboration, Location, AI and Funding, each of which drives the need for having a workforce that can operate in a rapidly evolving landscape.

A recent report “Life Sciences 2035: Developing the skills for future growth” provides a picture of what 2035 will look like and the necessary strategies to support this growth. (thanks to @Jane W for highlighting this)

In our preparation for the panel there were three themes that emerged: Current funding challenges, a sustainable culture and adapting to a rapidly changing environment. We suggested that these were topics to expand on, but we wanted to hear what was top of mind for the audience, so we opened the floor for questions quickly.  Thanks to @Jo Craig @ Jonathan Betts @Nat Hastings @Stephanie Caird for provoking a great discussion.

Panellists @Priya Mande @James Edgar, @MarkEccleston @Camilla Easterdemonstrated the kind of leadership skills we will need in the future by answering these questions in a responsive and thoughtful way.  Here is a summary of the questions and resulting discussion.

  1. How can we bring in the fresh talent that will be critical for tomorrow’s workforce when budgets are tight? One intern we have is exceptional.
    1. Our small team contains young people who are incredibly talented.They take on multiple tasks and operate outside their comfort zone. We recognize that we are all in this together and support and learn from each other. Important to give people the opportunity.  We also have a senior CFO and his embedded knowledge brings value from the other end of the generational scale.
    2. It is a must have for our organizations that we have multigenerational teams. There is a tendency to look for experience so that time in developing younger talent is not needed, but this will not lead to a thriving company as you miss out on the enthusiasm, skills and different perspectives that younger people bring. Technology is changing so quickly that insights on new technologies are critical.
    3. Our role as leaders in the sector is to bring on next generation STEM leaders.People learn best by doing and as CEOs we need to create a culture that enables this.  As well as science and technology we need to increase skills and knowledge of how scientific organizations work. Strategy, operations, business development, regulatory and GMP are all skills that people in the sector need. One way we are doing this is taking on PhDs from Cambridge as part of their training.
    4. As organizations evolve and grow the way we tap into the deep expertise that our workforce has is evolving.Now we are focusing on a culture that creates a challenging environment where there is some positive tension so that real conversations that drive innovation and learning can happen.  Getting that clarity on what culture you need and driving towards it is a priority.
  1. Can our sector be part of solving the unemployment levels in the UK?We have talent that retired post pandemic, and we may have others who plan to retire and take that experience with them.  Can we access expertise more effectively?
    1. We have advisors on a part time basis who are critical to our business model.If we must cut down on full time employees during this tough time we find expertise.
    2. Using fractional resource is important.It is critical to pull in people who have cross functional expertise (or cross industry).  For example, we can learn from nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals sectors in the same way we are pulling in computer scientists. We need to be aware that other countries are resolving their unemployment issues more effectively and developing talent. Currently we have a preeminent leadership position in Life Sciences and need to continue to pull through our talent so that we don’t fall behind.
    3. We have a key role in developing our therapeutics so that the UK population is fit, healthy and ready for work.If they are then we can get more people into the workforce and keep them there longer as highly functional contributors to the economy.
  1. If you have a culture where it is a great place to work, then people will stay and thrive as they will want to work there. Thoughts from the panel?
    1. In a larger organization you must focus on growing the culture you want rather than one that just evolves.Its currently tough as many people are looking for security.  We are proud of our transparency and so have difficult conversations that upset this sense of stability. It’s a fine balance.  Another balance we look for is our global vs local culture as we operate across the UK and North America where there are different pressures.  In a large organization we need to have a learning culture where we can create space to discuss our mistakes.  Creation of time and space to reflect and learn when we are so busy is a hard thing to do but is critical for long term success.
    2. In a smaller organization it’s easier to create a transparent organization.When people are let go it is clear why they went which can create a better place to work.  If this kind of trust exists, and people know what is expected then this a culture where success is likely.
    3. Different organizations I have worked for have different levels of transparency due to this desire to protect and to have a clear path forward that the CEO / leadership team needs to create.Resilience is a core competency that is needed for successful companies.
  1. What kind of talent do we need for the future?
    1. We need both deep expertise (rockstars) in critical scientific capabilities and people who understand how the whole value chain fits together (superstars) and can articulate that to others.It’s particularly important for CEOs to have this latter skill and love the continuous fundraising that is needed in this current environment.
  1. How can you shape the culture if you are virtual or you are working closely with CROs?
    1. No question that you need a great culture whether its virtual or not.Otherwise, people will walk away.
    2. CRO’s need to embrace the culture of the organization they are working with, and feel part of the bigger team so that they can represent their customers effectively when working with the broader healthcare system
    3. It’s especially hard to have a great culture when you have a hybrid system, some of your team is virtual and others are in house.It’s easy to forget about people who aren’t in the room.  So we are aware of that and have structures in place to ensure we communicate.  We feel like we over communicate, but that’s the secret to success.  Be brilliant at communication.
    4. We asked our office people to dial into a call to level the communication.It seemed bizarre but helpful in getting an equal voice.
    5. Our challenge is integrating six cultures as we have acquired.It’s difficult as it is virtual, so communication is critical
  1. The current US administration has scrapped DEI policies. How will that impact us, as we do a lot of work with US companies and some of us have offices there?
    1. It’s a great question that we are working on.Inclusion has felt incredibly important to us, and I believe we need to operate in an inclusive way.  Fostering the diverse input, we get from people is critical and we need to encourage everyone to be part of the discussion.  It’s important we don’t shift the power from one group to another in an adversarial way but instead encourage collaboration to move the agenda forward.

The key messages from this panel:

  1. Tap into talent with different skills – multigenerational, cross disciplines, cross country
  2. Focus on the culture and create and nurture sustainable ways of working so that we can get a workforce that us resilient and will enable innovation and growth
  3. Survive the challenges of 2025 so we can thrive towards 2035!

Thanks to @LifeSciIntegrates team and @Alto marketing for organizing the event and providing communications support.