For every biotech company working to bring a drug to market, the road to commercialization is a long and expensive process. Paving the way to success are the scientists working diligently to uncover new therapeutic medicines for the treatment of disease. With such a high stake on intellectual property, many biotechnology companies place a premium on their talent.

Recognizing that hiring and retaining the best people in the industry quickly and cost effectively represents a competitive advantage, Regeneron, a Tarrytown, N.Y.-based biotech firm, improved the company’s recruiting process by partnering with Kenexa, a leading provider of talent acquisition and retention solutions. By outsourcing their recruiting process to the dedicated recruitment specialists at Kenexa, Regeneron has been able to significantly reduce outlays for expensive search firm fees as well as the distraction and cost of finding and implementing recruiting software. Most importantly, importing Kenexa’s proven resources and tested solutions enabled Human Resources at Regeneron to focus its resources on supporting managers and employees in their quest to discover and develop new medicines.

Founded in 1988, Regeneron is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and intends to commercialize therapeutic medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions. The company has therapeutic candidates in clinical trials for the potential treatment of cancer, eye diseases, and inflammatory diseases as well as pre-clinical programs in several diseases and disorders.

At Regeneron’s corporate headquarters north of New York City, scientists continue to be busy in the laboratory, producing exciting discoveries that may lead to additional therapeutic product candidates of the future. Recognizing that success in a pharmaceutical company results largely from having great people: scientific, clinical, manufacturing, and support professionals, a top priority at Regeneron is the well-timed hiring of specialized, talented individuals.

“In a biotech, we don’t just say “People are our greatest asset,” stated Ross Grossman, vice president of Human Resources at Regeneron. “Product candidates come directly from the minds and the efforts of our employees. To discover and develop new drugs you need great people. The ability to recruit the most talented employees in the Industry ties directly to the success of the company. Doing it quickly and efficiently provides a competitive edge.”

Not being able to react quickly enough was one of the challenges facing Regeneron’s HR department. Before contracting with Kenexa, Regeneron relied heavily on contingency recruiting to fill positions. Processes were largely manual and labor intensive. Relying on Excel spreadsheets made it difficult to effectively track open positions, candidate status, cost-per-hire or time to fill for open positions. Costs were high because contingency search firms on average charge 25 percent of a new hire’s salary upon placement.

Sourcing talent was another issue. Because of the specialized nature of the industry, attracting and recruiting scientific and clinical development professionals is crucial for development of new therapeutics. With many scientists preferring to stay in biotech’s “hotbed communities” such as San Diego and Boston, sourcing talent for New York’s Westchester County is challenging.

Having worked in larger organizations that successfully outsourced several HR processes, Grossman believed outsourcing would also work well at Regeneron. Working with Regeneron’s Director of Recruiting, Michael Melore, Regeneron issued a request for proposals seeking the right partner. After reviewing proposals from several vendors, Regeneron selected Kenexa, highlighting their comprehensiveness, process orientation, flexibility and focus on customer service.

“We were looking for several things, the first being a partner who understood our industry and had experience in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals,” said Grossman. “The partner also needed proven technology that we could implement “out of the box” simple, effective processes, and to be able to cast a wide sourcing net. Moreover, my previous experience also taught me that it was essential to have a comfortable relationship and high level of trust with the vendor’s people because a successful relationship requires the vendor to function as an extension of our internal team.”

Currently, the company employs approximately 600 employees in two locations. Like many biotech firms, hiring needs fluctuate at Regeneron. In some years, hiring volume is heavy. At other times, very little hiring may occur. Regeneron and Kenexa have developed a flexible staffing model that provides the recruiting resources required at the time: quickly scaling up or down when hiring volumes change.

Grossman notes that since they’ve partnered with Kenexa, about 150 hires have been added to the company. Now, except for a few specialized positions, all direct recruiting for the company is handled by Kenexa and is overseen by Regeneron’s Director of Recruiting. In addition to having a Kenexa staffing specialist onsite to provide support, Regeneron has the advantage of additional resources such as Kenexa’s back office direct sourcing team housed at Kenexa’s offices in Wayne, PA and Hyderabad, India. More than 50 percent of filled positions were sourced through Kenexa’s India office – illustrating the company’s ability to cast a wide net for sourcing http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_management : talent.

“Nearly every job we fill now is with a candidate sourced by Kenexa rather than an outside agency,” said Grossman. “The model as we envisioned it is working.”

Grossman appreciates that Kenexa has the ability to manage portions of the employment process or the entire staffing operation and that they offer more flexibility than internally managed resources through programs, services and best-in-class software solutions that increase speed of hiring, improve quality and reduce costs.

Other benefits resulting from the partnership include a reduction in costs as well as time to fill. Although some hiring managers initially bridled at a change in process, early successes and Kenexa’s ability to rapidly fill critical positions helped build credibility and positive word of mouth. Through the solution, http://www.kenexa.com/ : Human Resources is now more capable of meeting most managers’ needs. By filling most jobs more quickly, Regeneron’s hiring managers can return to focusing on drug discovery or clinical development, not on interviewing and recruiting candidates.

“As a result of the partnership, we absolutely have experienced overall process improvement,” said Grossman. “We are more effective day-to-day and we now know that we have the capacity to handle growth down the road.”

Having technology in place has also resulted in better data collection and the opportunity for stronger analytics. Grossman is able to have detailed information on time to fill, cost-per-hire and tracking of open requisitions, enabling the company to better manage the recruiting process.

“The Kenexa solution has enabled our people to remain focused on drug discovery and development” said Grossman. “It allows us to have a much more professional face to the hiring managers and we are now more capable of responding quickly and effectively. From customer service to flexibility, Kenexa has met or exceeded every one of our expectations.”

Author Bio: Andrea Watkins writes articles for Kenexa, a leading provider of business solutions for Human Resources. Kenexa has a suite of ready-to-use tools including Employee Retention Assessment as well as Employee Assessment tests for some of the largest companies in the world.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: human resources, employee retention, employee assessment