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Employee Retention Trends

Ana Lucia Jardim Evans shares some timely articles about employee retention trends:

FastCompany: Will they stay or will they go duex?
Great tips on what to do to keep key talent now that the economy is recovering

Interesting CLO article (July 6, 2010), describing some findings by Mercer on what companies are doing now to ensure retention:

Harvard Business Review Blog- Retaining a Workforce that Wants to Quit (July 7, 2010)

Help Me Lead- Web Show for Managers
How to get ready for the "biggest turnover ever"

HR Online: Avoiding the Turnover Tsunami

Intrinsic Motivation: "Personalized Medicine" for High Performance

by Ana Lucia Jardim Evans

"At the start of another transformational period in American business, Andy Grove of Intel said that there are 2 kinds of businesses: those that use email and those that will. Today, flexibility is the new email. There are employers that have it, and there are those that will".

With these words, the head of the United States Office of Personnel Management underpinned the spirit of the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility hosted by President Obama and the First Lady on March 31. Going farther, he announced the US government hired the founders of ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) to implement work flexibility programs.

Speaking at the Forum, President Obama - introduced as the "Teleworker in Chief" - further acknowledged the results of a White House study estimating that flexibility arrangements could save the US economy a combined $15 billion a year.

But workplace flexibility is just one practice that organizations can adopt to tap into employees' intrinsic motivation- our true Drive according to Daniel Pink's latest book, which inspired the BOLD workshop of June 23rd on Beyond Pay-For-Performance: Leveraging Intrinsic Motivation for Exceptional Performance.

BOLD Workshop: June 23, 2010

Beyond Pay-For-Performance: Leveraging Intrinsic Motivation for Exceptional Performance

Keynote Speaker:   Kenneth W. Thomas, PhD, author of "Intrinsic Motivation at Work, What Really Drives Employee Engagement"

• What does current research suggest when it comes to motivating employees from within?
• How can life science companies cultivate an environment that fosters creativity and innovation?
• What role can HR/OD play when it comes to inspiring, engaging and motivating employees?

Rewards and recognition have traditionally been based on what would extrinsically motivate employees to do their job, primarily in the form of bonuses, incentive plans and other external rewards.    For positions that require creativity and innovative ideas, particularly in an industry like the life sciences, this approach may actually diminish performance and foster short-term thinking.  

BOLD Webinar: May 25, 2010

Creating Webinar Programs: Converting Classroom Training to a Virtual Classroom for HR/L&D Professionals

• Are you thinking of converting your classroom courses into webinar courses?
• Are you exploring how to provide training in a live, online environment?
• How do you train instructors to facilitate in a webinar environment?
• How do you design a webinar to ensure learning as well as participant engagement?

When rolling out training and programs, how can you adapt delivery to a virtual platform? This session, presented by Kathleen Sexton from Kairos Learning, will give you an overview on how to start providing webinar training courses including: 1) considerations for designing webinars, 2) suggestions on how to convert a classroom course to a webinar environment, and 3) skills needed to train in a virtual classroom. 

Making Strategy an Integral Part of the DNA of HR

by Ana Lucia Jardim Evans and Stacey Porter

In 2006, Lombardo and Eichinger found that the role that executives most asked from HR (Strategic Partner) was also the role that HR was least skilled at. The introduction of the HR Business Partner and other progressive models has significantly improved HR efficiency and stakeholder access to services. But some still argue that HR is too focused on the administrative processes, while missing key skills in solid business and operating fundamentals. In order to have a “seat at the table”, HR needs to “bring value to the table”. The top HR jobs should therefore be taken by leaders who are very competent both in their specialty as well as in the business.

To accomplish that, Allan McCarthy of HumanResourcesIQ suggests a 4-step revolution for HR:
• Gather HR experts and create an action plan (this is what BOLD is looking to accomplish with the March 31st workshop “HR- from Transaction to Transformation in 2010”).
• Get key stakeholders (opinion leaders, executives and consultants) to endorse the plan
• Define and harmonize key features of the HR profession, such as standard credentials and performance metrics
• Create a solid brand and communicate it to stakeholders, including business leaders and current and future HR talent

Get involved with BOLD in 2010! (BOLD Open House 2/17/10)

Be BOLD:  grow yourself, grow your people, grow your organization 

This year we are designing programs that focus on HR strategy and member development.  We are addressing questions like:

• How can we help HR professionals articulate and demonstrate how they contribute and enhance business results?
• And what does it take to be successful in HR in the Life Sciences?

And we want YOU to join us in these conversations. 

We are offering a free Open House for anyone interested in learning about our organization on February 17th in Mountain View.

We also invite you to get LinkedIn to BOLD

Our LinkedIn group includes all in-house HR/OD professionals - not just BOLD members - and we welcome those in the group to share relevant HR/OD news, discuss best practices, and network.  

Your BOLD participation allows us to strengthen our voice in the industry, cultivate the “best of” among members, and offer a variety of options to network, learn and grow.

Join us and growBOLD!

BOLD Mentorship Open Enrollment Now through February 15th

• Are you currently overwhelmed at work and wish you could have an expert to provide some guidance?
• Do you have 2-4 hours a month to share your expertise or to develop your skills in HR/OD?
• Are you in career transition and looking to grow your network?

Enroll in the BOLD Mentorship Program Today! (open to BOLD members only)

Changes and Challenges for HR as the Life Science Industry Recovers

By Stacey Porter and Ana Lucia Jardim-Evans, BOLD Research Committee

The life science industry “has weathered the worst financial crisis of modern memory” in 2009, according to BioPharm Executive - and as one life science industry executive reported "We have hit bottom; it can only get better from here".  

The good news is that as we start 2010, there are signs of a gradual economic recovery forecast through at least the third quarter of 2010 and hopes of the IPO window opening wider. 

With this as a backdrop, we have identified three main areas of change where Human Resource professionals can make a greater an impact on business results this year.

Highlights of Positive Life Science Industry News

By Audrey Erbes, PhD, Life Science Marketing and Business Development consultant

The market moved up on the opening trading day of the year with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 155.91 points, or 1.50%, to close at 10,583.96.  The large-cap S&P 500 Index gained 17.89 points, or 1.60%, to end at 1,132.99.

We learned the U.S. FDA approved 26 new molecular entities (NMEs) in 2009 compared with 25 in 2008 and only 17 in 2007 which is a nice change after years of decline.

“The U.S. National Institutes of Health plans to create or save 50,000 jobs with its $10 billion in federal stimulus funds, boosting medical research and returning $2.25 on the dollar in goods and services, the agency’s director Francis Collins said.” See the full article in Bloomberg news titled NIH Stimulus Money Adds Jobs and Research After Lag. 

“Bankers and buysiders are adamant that despite a difficult fourth quarter —and in part because of it — they have positive expectations for 2010. Their views are based on factors including the wrapping up of healthcare reform, a full calendar of milestones, beaten down P/Es for big cap biotechs, and the potential ascendance of a new class of bellwethers.” See BioCentury, Jan. 4, 2010, p. 1

New and Improved growBOLD Website

We recently completed a major upgrade to the growBOLD website. Here's a summary of what's new:

• Navigate with ease - improved layout and cleaner design
• View all site updates and new articles on the home page and members-only section
• Check on upcoming events at a glance on the home page
• Search the entire site by keyword
• Check on the event archives with links to members-only resources
• Easily bookmark an article on Facebook, Twitter, or your favorite social networking site
• Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or RSS feed to hear about the latest site updates