Case Study: Multi-national Medical Communications Company
Objective:
Supporting a Company’s growth trajectory in a technically narrow vertical.
Industry overview:
Medical Communications firms work with Pharmaceutical and Biotech clients both Pre-FDA and post-FDA approval, getting the message out about their therapies.
Their core audiences are scientific industry health care professionals, and the industry is informed through the generation and publication of technical reports, manuscripts, medical journals, and engaging its audiences via presentations at Advisory Boards, Conferences and Symposia, websites and other digital avenues.
This business process lets the key decision audiences know about the therapy improvements, cost or reduced complication advantages offered by the clients product therapies, to offer relief and benefit to patient groups inflicted with life altering conditions.
Background:
The client company has been growing rapidly for several years at a solid 20%+ p.a. and needs a constant supply of talented personnel to maintain that growth and serve its customers.
The key skillset is scientific, individuals at various levels of seniority in the Medical Writing vertical, from Medical Writer, Medical Director up to Senior Vice President.
The core challenge is that the supply of this talent pool is both a) limited and b) inelastic, with an entry level requirement of a PhD or PharmD qualification.
The company runs its own Graduate intake program to train educationally qualified individuals for the industry but for outside hires, the company needs talented writers with a minimum of 2 years experience, preferably with some client facing experience.
The firm was looking to hire new talent in the United Kingdom as well as West Coast and East Coast US locations in a very competitve marketplace – all of its major competitors are also looking to hire this talent pool.
Internal recruitment and external recruitment firms have not been delivering the volume of candidates required nor the quality, and the company was looking to try something new to augment their efforts.
Path Search Partners: Embed and Map
Path Search Partners joined and embedded within the team, receiving client corporate email address and phone numbers which reinforced that Path were part of the team.
We then spoke to executive management, the human resources team, as well as scientific leadership within the company about the industry to define the requirements in more detail, gather competitive remuneration and package information and begin analysis of the the company’s competitors.
Next we quickly started to gathering marketplace intelligence and in concert began identifying potential candidates and began active recruitment of targeted individuals whilst mapping out the competitive space.
Search & Selection
Using our processes in talent pool building we began candidate outreach via an active consultative two-way recruitment consulting approach with the candidate base, providing value to the market whilst telling our clients compelling story and we were able to start generating results.
In the first 90 days, employment offers had been make to talented individuals across all levels of the scientific services at Medical Writer, Senior Medical Writer, Medical Director, Portfolio Lead and Vice President level.
In fact, the first candidate submitted for consideration resulted in a hire in the company’s New York Office.
Competitive Compensation & Package Analysis
Path generate real marketplace intelligence of compensation and remuneration strategies employed by the company’s competitors, market sector, vertical industry as well as demand driven features.
We provided reports on the changing dynamics in the employment marketplace, which resulted in the company embracing candidates in a remote capacity with greater acceptance and putting in place stronger internal mechanisms to support remote talent going forward.
We were also able to stress changes to their recruitment processes to better ensure success in the hiring processes.
Brand Messaging & Brand Building
As an embedded part of the client, we were telling the clients compelling story to a largely uninformed candidate base, differentiating the firm from both their current employers as well as competitors.
From the data gathered on the talent pools Path Recruitment Partners built and executed a consistent outreach program tailored to the needs of the company (skill type and locations) with a mix of both on-line promotion with content value to the audience and off-line events to maintain a visibility of the company in a fractured marketplace.
Those programs are generating a flow of qualified candidates and their continued deployment will provide a platform for Path Recruitment Partners to assist in the recruitment for the company into 2020 and beyond.
Simply put, we got results.
Market Intelligence & Reporting
For this client, Path Search Partners gathered key data and generated analysis, including talent base location information, which has been able to inform the clients decision-making on expansion plans, matching talent geographies with client locations.
Example report graphic: Talent base by location
What our Clients Say
We’ve been generally disappointed with recruitment firms, not taking the time to understand our requirement, submitting poorly qualified candidates and demanding out-sized placement fees.
We engaged Path Search Partners half expecting the same results, but willing to try something new.
Bottom line, the team has delivered.
Not only has Path sourced quality candidates which we have subsequently hired but provided us compensation intelligence and value added consulting services based on market data which we have incorporated into our growth and expansion strategies. And this delivered at a lower cost than normal recruiters.
We expect to continue to work with Path Recruitment Partners well into the future.
HR DIRECTOR, MEDICAL COMMUNICATIONS FIRM