Hridkamal Roy, Assistant Managing Editor, India Pharma Outlook
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More than 115 strikes by healthcare workers have been registered in 2023 alone in the sole demand to fill the staffing gaps that have been a major reason of concern all across the industry. Companies have started addressing the talent shortage problems using several creative and technology based solutions. In this regard, the pharmaceutical industry in India has undergone massive diversification over the last few years. There has been an emergence of tailored solutions and services that has increased the demand for specialized skills in the industry. Skill-based hiring is gaining momentum in the pharmaceutical market with advancing technologies, shift in patient demographics and changing medical practices. Skill-based recruitment processes aim at prioritizing the specific skills and requirements suited for a role and then approach candidates on the basis of that analysis. It has brought about innovation in the pharmaceutical recruitment market where recruiters are not completely relying on traditional qualifications and looking for specific skill sets required in candidates so that they are able to provide meaningful contribution to the growth of an organization.
“Starting from 2010 to 2019, the pharmaceutical recruitment industry has undergone drastic changes. These changes have properly come into light post covid when we saw big pharmaceutical companies shifting their focus to specialized talent acquisition, creating new job roles and welcome diversity hiring”, mentioned Santosh Hazra, Founder, Synergy Staffing and Consultancy Services.
Companies are making use of various techniques in order to create a perfect skill-based recruitment system and welcome the massive talent pool of the modern generation. Let us now delve a little deeper and look into these aspects that are slowing changing the point of view towards recruitment in the pharmaceutical industry.
It is the segments of sales, marketing and specialized skills hiring that the recruitment format has changed completely. Sources say that since two years before and three years after covid, big pharmaceutical companies has laid-off may people who lacked specialized skills in their respective domains. Now, recruiters are leaving no stones unturned in defining the specific requirements that are needed to fulfill the job role. Here, practical skills and value adding capacities of candidates are getting priority over their educational qualifications and certificates.
“Tailored approaches pertaining to industry demands encircled with close collaboration with the hiring managers are crucial for successful recruitment outcomes. While hiring the right talent should be the focus, retention of existing talent which is high performing is equally important in the current dynamics”, mentioned Kinjal Choudhary, HR President, Cadila Pharmaceuticals to the media.
AI has emerged as one of the game changing technologies in the pharmaceutical recruitment sector and helped recruiters immensely in creating perfect candidate profiles. By use of AI based recruitment systems, recruiters are able to make of list of the specific attributes required in a candidate to fulfill a job role and then keep adding to that with time. The right candidates can be connected with through this exercise and clarity can be achieved in terms of correct hiring.
In this regard, we have witnessed the emergence of AI based recruitment platforms like InCruiter and others that leverage the power of technology to make the recruitment process seamless where recruiters are also able to interact with candidates by means of video interviews.
A clear understanding is required to drive a successful recruitment process currently in a pharmaceutical company. The demand for skill sets have changed drastically and candidates must be assessed on the basis of the changing skill-set requirements not only because that is required for the position, but also to make candidates understand the changing dynamics in pharmaceutical recruitment.
In this regard, recruiters are making use of AI powered recommendation engines in order to select the right candidate for a job position. They are making the candidates go through skill-based assessments and practical scenario based interviews to make informed hiring decisions and create a standardized approach towards recruitment.
Hiring candidates based on their skills does not always mean ignoring their educational qualifications altogether. To create a balance between the two, pharmaceutical companies are fostering partnerships with educational institutions in order to collaborate regarding the growing needs of the industry. Through meetings and discussions, institutions are bale to understand the specific requirements that are growing in pharmaceutical recruitment and arranged courses accordingly and reduce the gaps between academic qualifications and their real world applications.
In this regard, there are companies like Banner Health that are establishing connection with local high schools, community colleges and trade schools with the aim to create a community that will promote skill-based hiring and inculcate the required education among students.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry is suffering from talent shortages and according to experts, this is one of the biggest challenges that this industry is facing right now. With the advent of skill-based recruitment processes, there have been improvements in this regard and companies are able to hire people exactly according to the specializations required. Hiring on the basis of skills and data analysis is enabling companies it unlock the complete potential of their workforce and deliver high quality performance.
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