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How The Best Lab Manage Talent

How to handle innovative and creative researchers. <br>Open for guest presentation.

mazlanabbas
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How The Best Lab Manage Talent

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  1. How  the  Best  Lab  Manage  Talent*   Dr.  Mazlan  Abbas   [*Source:  McKinsey  Quarterly  Report]  

  2. IntroducFon   •  Of  the  $1.2  trillion  spent  globally  each  year  on   R&D  across  corporaFons  and  academia,  40   percent—much  the  largest  share—pays  for   people.     •  Six  key  pracFces:  talent,  strategies  and  roles,   collaboraFon,  problem  solving,  porUolio  and   project  management,  and  alignment  with  the   needs  of  the  business  and  the  market   •  Our  conclusion  was  that  talent  management,   more  than  anything  else,  is  what  the  best  R&D   operaFons  consistently  get  right.    

  3. Among  pracFces  that  influence  a  lab’s  producFvity,  talent  is  the   one  most  correlated  with  high  performance.  

  4. Talent  is  the  pracFce  most  correlated  with  success—and  where   labs  have  the  greatest  room  to  improve.  

  5. What  top  labs  get  right     •  Talent  management  isn’t  simply  about  hiring   the  best;  not  everyone  can.     •  It’s  about  managing  talent  appropriately   through:   – selecFon,     – recruitment   – development   –   rewards   •  Just  about  any  lab  can  do  so,  yet  many  don’t.    

  6. Some  behaviors  are  more  important   to  high  performance  than  others  are.    

  7. RecruiFng  for  potenFal     •  The  head  of  a  top-­‐ranking  academic  lab  told  us  that  “the  most   important  intrinsic  we  look  for  is  scienFfic  curiosity.”     •  Great  labs  such  as  this  one  evaluate  the  potenFal  of  researchers  by   appraising  their  basic  intellectual  ability,  general  problem-­‐solving   skills,  and  enthusiasm.  They  also  test  a  candidate’s  cultural  fit   important  to  support  the  teamwork  and  collaboraFon,  which  in   turn  drive  producFvity.     •  Candidates  may,  for  example,  spend  an  abernoon  devising  answers   to  a  specific  quesFon  or  working  in  the  lab  with  the  team.  This   approach  helps  the  labs  assess  a  candidate’s  social  compaFbility  as   well.     •  Before  making  a  decision  on  recruitment,  the  best  labs  also  solicit   the  views  of  team  members  about  each  candidate.    

  8. RecruiFng  for  potenFal     •  Average  lab  typically  look  mostly  for  specific   technical  proficiencies  –  say  the  ability  to  use  a   piece  of  equipment  or  to  run  certain  tests.     •  Specific  technical  capabiliFes  are  required,  but   even  when  hiring  for  them,  top  labs  want  people   who  can  adapt  to  new  roles  as  the  research   evolves.     •  Those  new  roles,  especially  in  industrial  seengs,   should  include  project  management  and  business   experience—something  many  labs  overlook.    

  9. Nurturing  People   •  Talent  management  doesn’t  stop  once  researchers  are  hired.   •  “Many  of  our  research  leaders  don’t  have  the  capabiliFes  they   need  to  succeed  in  senior  posiFons  in  the  organizaFon.  We  are   trying  to  give  people  more  experiences  across  the  business  to   round  out  their  future  leadership  potenFal”.   •  A  top  lab,  unlike  a  weaker  one,  acFvely  supports  its  researchers’   development  throughout  their  careers.   •  Senior  team  members,  for  example,  spend  significant  Fme  in  solo   sessions  with  new  researchers  and  mentor  them  conFnually.  Year-­‐ end  reviews  appraise  these  acFviFes.   •  The  most  producFve  labs  also  require  all  researchers  to  develop   annual  personal-­‐development  plans.  

  10. Recognizing  Success   •  Many  researchers  crave  recogniFon,  and  labs  have  a   number  of  ways  to  provide  it;  public  acknowledgement   in  meeFngs,  awards,  opportuniFes  to  present  at   conferences  or  to  aiend  symposiums.   •  Even  more  recogniFon  comes  from  giving  high   performers  acFve  opportuniFes,  such  as  larger   research  budgets,  leadership  of  bigger  efforts,  and   part-­‐Fme  professorships.   •  These  incenFves,  oben  inspire  researchers  more   effecFvely  than  money  does.   •  They  cut  turnover  significantly  and  almost  always  cost   far  less  than  financial  compensaFon.  

  11. Recognizing  Success   •  Although  public  recogniFon  is  important,  it  isn’t  everything:   we  found  that  researchers  also  want  financial  rewards  for   performance.   •  In  the  best  labs,  such  incenFves  are  linked  transparently  to   achievements  or  outcomes  –  great  research,  publicaFon  in   a  leading  journal,  the  aiainment  of  a  milestone,  or   successful  patent  applicaFons.   •  One  lab  gives  small  cash  bonuses  to  researchers  chosen  by   peers  for  excepFonal  helpfulness.   •  Another  offers  stock  opFons  for  killing  projects  early,  to   avoid  wasFng  money  on  fuFle  or  low-­‐value  efforts.  Many   academic  labs,  however,  must  rely  on  nonfinancial   moFvators.  

  12. Recognizing  Success   •  Not  everyone  succeeds  in  the  laboratory.   •  Obviously,  failure  should  have  consequences,  but   oben  it  doesn’t:  in  one  research  unit,  the   weakest  performers  were  moved  to  another  lab   rather  counseled  to  leave.   •  The  best  labs  don’t  tolerate  poor  performance   for  long.  If  foundering  researchers  don’t  improve,   they  are  asked  to  depart,  which  carries  the  added   advantage  of  imporFng  fresh  talent  and  ideas.  

  13. Building  Diversity   •  Another  driver  of  high  performance  is  a  diverse  team  of   people  from  different  backgrounds,  specialFes,  and  forms   of  experFse  to  help  solve  problems.   •  The  most  important  aspect  of  building  such  a  team  is   encouraging  turnover,  not  only  by  weeding  out   underperformers,  but  also  by  encouraging  rotaFon  to   adjacent  research  areas,  other  geographies,  different  roles,   or,  for  an  industry  lab,  to  the  business  side  of  the  company.   •  To  help  researchers  beier  understand  the  needs  of   business  and  to  create  a  greater  appeFte  for  career   opportuniFes  outside  R&D,  one  commercial  lab  organizes   regular  presentaFons  by  former  group  members  who  have   rotated  into  business  posiFons.  

  14. Thank  You  

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