4 Reasons Life Science Companies Hire Retained Executive Search Firm In China

The life science and healthcare industry are under pressure as the emphasis is shifting from a manufacturing export model to domestic demand. The medical and health sector is one of our most active sectors. The industry is expected to witness tougher regulations and increased government involvement and so hiring a life science executive search firm in China is very important. 

The advent of bio pharmaceuticals is radically transforming the standard manufacturing process. Failure to attract or retain top talent is becoming a significant concern among life science companies. With such stiff competition for talent search, having a retained executive search firm can help you stay ahead in the industry. In other words, the ability to recruit and engage the top talent can be the difference between success and failure for a company.

Here are 4 reasons why life science organizations choose to retained executive search firms in china:

1. Saving Time Equals Saving Money

The executive search process typically includes planning and internal sign-off; listing of potential candidates; qualifying and shortlisting; interviews and background checks; job offers and salary negotiation. The entire process takes approximately 8 to 12 weeks with 11 weeks being the industry average. Having a firm on your side can help you save precious time by making your search more directive and targeted in nature. With a large database of potential candidates, they can shortlist the most suitable candidates with maximum efficiency in minimum time making the entire process smooth, quick and cost-effective.  

2.           Expertise

The quality of top talent search is dependent upon a deep understanding of the role; it’s objectives and significance. With naturally fewer senior or middle-management roles to fill, the in-house hiring staff usually lacks adequate experience when it comes to filling these crucial positions. Lack of experience may lead to long-list overload with hundreds of potential candidates which can lead to poor-quality shortlist with the wrong candidates called up for interviews. 

Executive search firms have all the expertise in quick shortlisting and identifying the right fit for the company thus saving you from a mistake of hiring a misfit in the company.

3.           No Compromise In Terms Of Resources

Leadership level searches demand exponential effort with more stakeholders involved and an extended sign-off process. This extra due-diligence would require the staff to overstretch their working hours. As a result, the hiring process efficiency can be impacted. With business-critical hires, you need expertise on tap and that’s where specialist executive search firms can help deliver value with their industry expertise, extended networks, and honed processes.

4.           Minimum Risk

The greater the roles’ remit, the higher the stakes involved in case of a bad hire. Recovering from the blunders of poor leadership can cost an organization dearly in terms of resources, capital, and reputation, a risk no discerning life science organization can afford especially in this competitive market. With such high stakes involved, having a search firm reduces the risk and guarantees a smooth and hassle-free recruitment process.  

“Hire right, because the penalties of hiring wrong are huge” and so a board of advisory in China is a must-have for life science industries.

Qualities That You Need To Look For In An Executive Search Firm In China

Filling critical executive positions in the organisation is no walk in the park. It needs a lot of expertise and years of experience to identify & recruit individuals for high-level jobs. In today’s business world, Leading recruitment firms in China commonly knowns as executive headhunters, play a determining role in filling executive positions.

Executive search firms in China work within multiple industries and are responsible for identifying candidates with excellent-caliber and the necessary talent to fill and justify a high ranking job position.

In this article, we are going to list down some effective tips followed by International Executive Search Firms in China to make it big in their field.

Thorough Research

Before starting to look for potential candidates, these firms follow a rigorous research process to make sure they know everything about the company and its requirements. This includes interaction with each and every team member and getting to know their outlook towards growth.

This helps the recruiters understand whether a particular candidate would be able to fit in the cultural set up of the team. Backed by thorough research, the executive search becomes streamlined making sure that only the most fitting candidates come to give interviews. This not only helps in better performance of the new executive hired but also ensures a better retention rate of the team as well as the executive as they say, “People do not leave companies, they leave managers.” Therefore, hiring the right candidate here is not an option but a necessity.

List Down The Specific Expectations

Get the right candidate for the right position and everything else will figure out itself. But this directive approach takes time and effort and also needs a strong power of judgment. Zeroing in on a candidate with both experience in management and a solid track record along with the specific qualifications demanded by the role that needs to be filled bring too many specific parameters into the picture and only years of experience and a well-curated database can help you find a perfect needle in the haystack of candidates.

Well-Curated Database

As discussed earlier, a candidate’s vision, values, qualifications and the ability to fit into a company’s culture plays an important  role in the process of executive search. Owing to the years of work in the market, good search firms have well-curated database of all the potential candidates and thus ensure a much more targeted executive search process.

They keep track of the number of professionals as well as their qualifications, working style, track record and so on. These numbers are regularly updated even when you are not looking for a candidate. This information can help streamline your executive search delivering quicker and effective results. By referring to the data, not only you can understand the in-depth needs of the company but can also identify the areas that are required to be changed.

Lesser-Known Aspects Of Company Culture That Can Help Businesses Become Great

Amongst the countless businesses operating globally, only a small percentage of organizations are considered to be truly great. The more interesting fact is that a majority of top professionals across the globe strive hard to get noticed and employed by these limited number of great companies. The one key aspect that contributes towards making these organizations great is their company culture, which almost always revolves around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility and the sense of always doing right by the clients. This, according to the top executive search firms in China, has firmly established the significance of culture in the workplace within business organizations striving to achieve greatness.

Gaining A Clearer Understanding Of Company Culture

Given the intangible nature of company culture, most organizations find it difficult to define it in a clear and precise manner. This often results in both companies and professionals perceiving culture as the level of comfort and camaraderie that the members of the workforce share with each other. While this is true to some extent, it surely is not the complete definition of company culture. A more comprehensive definition of company culture as provided by experts is that it is a combination of the values, objectives, rituals and common understanding shared by a group of professionals as well as their way of interaction and behavior towards each other.

Lesser-Known Aspects Influencing Company Culture

The above definition helps organizations to understand the term company culture and take the necessary steps to develop the same. In fact, most organizations refer to the humongous details available online about the best ways to develop a growth-oriented company culture and are even successful in achieving this objective. However, despite these best efforts, many organizations are still no closer to becoming a great business. This, according to the consultants from the best executive search firms in China, is due to the tendency of organizations to overlook some lesser-known yet essential aspects influencing company culture. The two most important of these aspects are discussed in brief as follows.

Attentive Listening At All Levels

Organizations need to give up the traditional attitude of “command-and-control” and encourage employees to speak their mind without fear of being judged or punished. For this, organizations need to promote the habit of attentive listening in managers and supervisors across all levels. This helps in building a sense of confidence and trust among the employees and also encourages open and transparent communication between the management and the members of the workforce. The ability to speak freely also minimizes any chances of dissent building up in the minds of employees.

Adopting A Flexible Attitude

Most businesses are aware that change is the only constant thing in their world. However, the rapid pace at which changes are happening has made it necessary for companies to adopt a more flexible approach towards business operation and management. Whether it is in terms of dealing with customers or providing a more flexible work environment to their employees, business organizations need to change their outlook and attitude to keep abreast with the accelerating pace of change or suffer the consequences in the form of reduced employee efficiency and higher turnout.

Three Types Of CEOs Sought By Life Sciences Executive Firms In China

The boom in the life sciences industry in China has created a huge demand for professionals with the appropriate skills and talent to take up leadership roles in this sector. A majority of such companies go through similar processes of transition from their conception to their commercialization. However, despite these similarities, when it comes to hiring top leaders during different phases, the needs and expectations of every single life sciences company are unique. This essentially means that these companies do not believe a single CEO to be capable of running the company from start to end. They believe that a top management professional, such as a CEO needs to evolve at the same rate at which the company is growing, which is almost impossible for a single individual. In this context, the life sciences executive search firms in China have identified the below discussed three most common types of CEO’s that organizations within this sector are constantly seeking.

The Entrepreneur CEO : These types of CEO’s are usually one of the founders or co-founders of the company and are thus been associated with the organization from its conception stage. They are generally professionals with a wide range of skills that are essential for executing the original vision for the company. They are looked upon as the innovators and the motivators who possess strong communication skills and have the capability to convey information about new products to investors, suppliers, distributors, and customers in an interesting and convincing manner. These CEO’s are believed to be most effective in the initial growth stages of a life sciences company.

The Scale-up CEO : The scale-up CEOs are considered to be the best successors of entrepreneur CEOs for taking the company through the next stage of evolution.  According to professional recruitment consultants, these leaders should have a proven track record of an ability to improve business growth through a focused approach towards product development and quality control and enhancement.  Next leader in the evolution of the company should be one with a proven history of taking products to new levels. That is why the retained executive search firm in China seeking such candidates for their clients, give greater priority to professional experience. They believe that only appropriately experienced candidates will be able to envision the manufacturing and marketing needs of the hiring company during the next growth phase. This information can prove extremely critical for careful execution of any growth plans with proper planning and delegation.

The Commercial (or M&A) CEO : The need for this type of CEO depends on the organization’s plan to either continue to operate independently or align itself with potential strategic buyers. It is essential for candidates being considered for this position by a retained executive search firm in China to have some experience in strategic marketing and preferably on a global scale. In order to gain success in this coveted position, these leadership candidates also need to possess exceptional communication and interpersonal skills. They should be capable of smartly analyzing the marketplace and build effective teams that can help fulfill organizational growth objectives established in accordance with market intelligence and changing customer trends.

How To Cope With A Career Transition?

Indeed, career transitions are quite inevitable. These days, millennials surpass at least three to four job changes by the time they reach the age of 32 years. These are not just the change of the job, but also of industry or profession. These career transitions are basically role transitions, job relocations, and industry transformations. They are all about, newness, uncertainty and certain unexplored domains and territories.

So, how should one manage the career transition phase? Indeed, a change in career is a difficult as well as intimidating exercise. Grappling with the desire of career transition is truly overwhelming.

Here are certain worth reading tips to tactfully manage the career transition. Read them further:

Get Yourself A Coach

Don’t fret! We are not sending you to a High school, but the best way to get the positive results of career transition phase is to get enrolled with the best career transition coaching in China. Your coach can be your sounding board; you can talk to him/her whenever you need someone to talk to. They help you sort the rush of emotions as well as thoughts which you have in your head during this phase.

Research

Information gathering is of great importance. You may be interested in a number of new industries; so, it’s high time you educate yourself about the trends prevailing in those industries. Read the various job descriptions and eligibility requirements to get placed in the job position you are eyeing on. Follow the industry magazines and latest developments through social media tools. You can request knowledge from the people who have already handled the portfolio you are planning to switch to. You can indulge in executive coaching in China to get the knowledge about different domains and job profiles.

State Your Reasons For Career Switch

You need to be strong when stating the reasons that made you change your career. If you have a clear understanding of why you made the change and what you will gain out of it, then you increase your chances of success for the new job position in any job interview. The potential employers will stress on this aspect and should not assume that you are running away from something.

Upgrade The Skills

The first thing which is imparted when one undertakes outplacement coaching in China is that is your skills which make or break your career. So, when you are in your current job, look for ways for development of the new skills which can pave the way for a new career. For instance, if your current organization offers certain in-house trainings and you feel that such trainings can help in your next innings, sign up for the same. This way you can get yourself prepared for the career transition without heading back to the school and spending any additional amount of time on it.

Network

You need to start from the scratch when it comes to searching for network connections depending upon the magnitude of career change. You can make new contacts during job shadowing which is following the footsteps of the employee in the target job for a day in order to learn about the desired job position.

A certain level of uncertainty is always associated with a career transition and that is where the career transition coaches actually help in taking the career in the right path and direction.