Winning Through People: Exploring HR Challenges in the Pharmaceutical sector

Success Through People - the factors

More than one year into the pandemic, the pharmaceutical industry continues to play an essential role in the response against the virus. Alongside developing tests and vaccines against the coronavirus, the industry has also had to consider and respond to other areas affected by the pandemic. For instance, ensuring medical supplies and treatments unrelated to Coronavirus continue to reach patients has been of the upmost importance.

But pharmacists, as extraordinary as they are, are not super-human and for many, the pandemic has taken its toll. A study by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and the charity, Pharmacist Support, found that the pandemic has had a significant and detrimental impact on the wellbeing of the pharmaceutical workforce.

Burnout and mental health concerns are becoming significantly more prevalent with 72% of people admitting that their work is having a negative impact on their mental wellbeing. Additionally, more than one-third (34%) said they had considered leaving the pharmacy profession because of the stress caused by the pandemic, with 89% stating they were close to burnout.

Furthermore, for organisations in the Pharmaceutical sector, the war for talent isn’t just with other similar employers, it is a global battle against organisations across a range of sectors, tech companies and startups. Faced with a scarcity of key skills, companies that fail to focus on the latest people management practices will fall behind. The traditional transactional HR needs to be replaced by a more strategic function. Focus must be on reskilling in response to technological disruption while maximising the quality of employee experience, involvement and engagement.

In the following industry overview, we discuss these challenges and each of the 9 factors that science has shown to determine success through people. Join us as we explore these in the context of the unique challenges currently being faced by employers in the pharmaceutical sector.

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