The experienced Karen Browne has been appointed Business Unit Director for Haematology in the UK and Ireland at Celgene.

She has gained promotion from her role as director of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia marketing across Europe after successfully building the company’s franchise.

Samantha Pearce, Celgene UK and Ireland General Manager, said Ms Brown’s expertise in her former role will help the company improve the support it provides to patients with the rare disease.

Karen Browne has held a number of sales management and marketing roles over the past decade. In her new role, she will be responsible for managing and motivating Celgene’s sales and marketing teams.

The appointment comes after Celgene recently appointed Sarah Bater at is new Human Resources Director for the UK and Ireland.

Franz Humer has told Roche he will not stand for re-election as Chairman of the company’s board of directors next year.

The 67-year-old announced his decision at Roche’s annual general meeting that he intends to end his 28-year association with the Swiss-based company when his term ends in 2014.

He said that Roche is in “excellent shape and well positioned to meet future challenges” and now is a “good time to hand over to a successor”.

Roche will now nominate Humer’s replacement this autumn. The Board has said the new chair will also serve as Non-Executive Chairman, continuing the separation of the offices of chair and CEO.

Humer joined the company in 1995 as Head of the Pharmaceuticals Division and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to that, he worked as the UK general manager for Schering Plough Corporation and in similar high ranking positions for Glaxo. He became Roche Chairman in 2001, after being appointed CEO two years earlier.

“I am looking forward to the next 12 months, and I intend to perform my duties as Chairman with enthusiasm and drive,” he added.

Humer is the third high-profile chair to confirm his departure this year. Dr Daniel Vasella called time on his association with Novartis back in January, followed by Mats Pettersson’s announcement last month that he was departing Lundbeck.

The NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) has appointed Neil Churchill as its first Director of Patient Experience.

Mr Churchill joins from Asthma UK, where he has served as Chief Executive since 2007. He is also currently a Non-Executive Director in NHS South of England.

Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer, NHS CB, said the new recruit has a “fantastic amount of experience” and he will be a “great addition to the skilled and experienced staff we currently have.”

In his new role, Mr Churchill will be responsible for ensuring patient experience is at the heart of the system, to provide leadership for patient experience across the NHS and to take leadership responsibility for improvement of domain four of the NHS outcomes framework (patient experience).

“I am delighted to be joining the NHS Commissioning Board at this time of change, when there is real commitment and drive to put the patient at the centre of decision-making,” commented Mr Churchill. “We need to make sure that every patient receives safe, compassionate care but we also have the opportunity to forge a new partnership with patients which can improve productivity as well as health outcomes.”

Prior to joining Asthma UK, Churchill worked for a number of organisations in the voluntary sector, including Barnardo’s, Age Concern and Crisis.

It’s never easy to stand out from the crowd. But that’s exactly what employers search for when hundreds of CVs land on their desk. Megan Driscoll explains the importance of appearance, attitude and preparedness for candidates trying to impress a potential new employer.

The turbulent job market in the UK has resulted in a scenario where often hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants apply for a single position. It’s little wonder that employers no longer reply to each and every application. But, if you’re lucky enough to be selected from the lottery of applications, what do you need to say, do and look like to persuade your future boss that you’re the special one which should be selected for that prized role? Use a three-stage approach: appearance, preparedness and attitude. It’s as easy as one, two, three.

Appearance
A professional appearance will allow you to act more confident. We often take this for granted, but wear a suit and dress as conservative as possible. ­The outfit doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy, just clean and well fitted. ­ This rule applies even if the business environment is casual. It’s better to be over dressed then under dressed.

Also, make sure not to bathe yourself in cologne or perfume. Some people can be put off by the smell or even allergic. If you smoke, avoid smoking before the interview. Don’t start off the interview at a disadvantage.

Attitude
More than 50% of interview questions and focus is directed at evaluating a candidate’s personality and cultural fit. To increase your chances of fitting in you must match the style of the interviewer and exhibit enthusiasm for the position and the company.

Your attitude throughout the interview process is incredibly important. ­ Think of an interview like a six hour play where you have landed the lead role. ­ This is the opening night, so although you have rehearsed for the show, you haven’t had any live practice and, like all opening nights, the critics are in the front row waiting to write about how you performed. You are on display all day, so you are going to need to keep your energy high.

First impressions are lasting impressions, so match a bright smile with a firm handshake. At the end of each of your meetings, tell the interviewer how excited you are about the company and the position. After an interview has taken place, I often ask interviewees if they have done this and many admit they forgot.
This is unfortunate. I have worked with hiring managers who have passed on candidates simply because they didn’t think the candidate was interested, so if you always tell them that you are, they cannot be mistaken.

Remember to exude humility. Arrogance at any stage in your career is ignorance. Some of the most successful scientists I know are humble and gracious. Let your accomplishments speak for themselves.
Conversely, don’t be a shrinking violet. No matter what the position, either a management role or not, interviewers are looking for candidates who can lead. Throughout the day try and work in examples where you have led others. Also, never speak negatively about your current or former colleagues or companies. If you did have negative experiences that come up in conversation, try to repackage them by describing what you learned and how you grew because of that experience.

Preparedness
The final key to face-to-face interviewing is being well prepared. Be familiar with the company website and any recent news or press releases about them. Companies expect that you will do your homework.

Read through your CV and be sure you can give examples of all the work you have listed. Different people gravitate towards different skills, so be prepared to speak about all of it. To that end, don’t put experience on your CV unless you can back it up in person.

You should also be prepared to answer behavioral interviewing questions. This technique has become extremely popular as it focuses on getting candidates to describe how they have handled a particular situation in the past. Past behavior being the predictor for the future behavior. This line of questioning shows the employer not what you think you would do in a perfect world, but what you have actually done in real life. An example of a behavioral interviewing question would be, ‘describe a time when you were involved in a conflict with another employee?’ There are many websites that offer examples of behavioral
interviewing questions, visit them for more question examples.

In today’s digital age, it is incredibly easy to find background information on virtually anyone. Research the names of the employees on the agenda on Google and look for presentations or publications that
they have given. Visit their LinkedIn page to find their previous employment and
the schools they have attended. Familiarise yourself with at least one fact about each person you will be meeting and be sure to mention that conversationally in your interview. Most candidates don’t even
think to look into the backgrounds of the interviewers on the agenda, but if you want
to stand out, you will.

Your goal is to impress everyone you meet, regardless of who they are or at what level they are within the organisation. Being a success during an interview is simple; dress well, show enthusiasm and be prepared at each step of the process and you will stand out amongst your peers.

Megan Driscoll is the President and Founder of PharmaLogics Recruiting, a global search firm exclusively
focused in the life science – also known as The Anti-Fee Agency. More information is found here: www.pharmalogicsrecruiting.com.

AstraZeneca is to shed around 400 jobs in its German division as part of a corporate restructuring programme.

The company will integrate its Commercial Excellence and Strategic Planning divisions into other departments and reduce its workforce to around 625 personnel.

Gabriel Baertschi, Managing Director of AstraZeneca Germany, said the structural changes are “painful but necessary” to protect the future of the company and maintain a “competitive positioning in the market.”

AZ said the decision to cut jobs was made to adapt to a changing European economy and market pressures. It also points towards a changing product portfolio and delays in research and development of new drugs, as well as “massive state intervention” in the pricing of innovative medicines in Germany.

Staff were notified of the decision in a meeting with senior management yesterday. They were offered voluntary redundancy or early retirement. AZ said it would assist former employees to find a new job.

“With our settlement offer and the support in the search for a new job, AstraZeneca make the points reduction socially acceptable,” said Gabriel Baertschi.

Hundreds of NHS clinical experts look set to lose their jobs under plans by the NHS Commissioning Board.

The Board plans to reduce the number of cancer and heart and stroke networks around the country from 54 down to 12 – reducing staff levels from around 700 to less than 100.

Concerns have been raised that a host of dedicated teams of clinical experts around the country will lose their jobs and progress made within the last decade lost.

The plans have been met with criticism by healthcare professionals and health charities. Professor Tony Rudd, NHS Stroke Director for London, said it would be a “tragedy” if progress was halted under the proposals.

The 12 new networks will have fewer staff and smaller budgets. But the Commissioning Board claim that more patients will benefit due to experts focusing on a broader number of conditions.

However, directors of the existing networks insist the streamlined counterparts will not be able to promote new types of surgery or help patients through treatment and recovery programmes.

Professor Rudd said his network was now in discussions with the Department of Health and Strategic Health Authority for London to ensure the “expertise” of clinicians is retained in the NHS.

The Commissioning Board estimates it will spend around £42m creating the “network support areas”. Each will cover four types of major types of healthcare: cancer; cardiovascular disease; maternity and children; and mental health, dementia and neurological conditions. At least one network will cover each of the four areas of care.

“These arrangements represent an increase in the range of conditions/patient groups that will benefit from nationally supported clinical networks which have the potential to make huge improvements in the way care is managed in the NHS,” the Board said.

Nearly three-quarters of NHS staff who have been made redundant as part of the health reforms are female, research has found.

Figures show that of 74% of staff who have lost their jobs as part of the health shake-up are women.

Jamie Reed, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, said the “Government is letting women bear the brunt” of its controversial reforms.

Data from the report prepared for the NHS Commissioning Board on the DH’s ‘people tracker’ revealed that employees over the age of 40 also were more likely to be made redundant than younger colleagues. Research found that 77% of staff who were received redundancy packages were over the age of 40.

Between 1 April and June 30 this year, figures show that 105 staff were axed from primary care trusts and strategic health authorities. Fifty of these were compulsory redundancies, 77% were women and 78% were aged over 40 years old.

“As the Government's reorganisation inflicts chaos on the NHS, its women employees who are being hit hardest,” said Jamie Reed.

Hiring the right people is key to business success. How can companies identify and attract top talent?

“The endurance training part of the selection process lasts for five weeks and is held twice yearly in the Brecon Beacons. Normally starting with 200 candidates, the assessment is focused on the following:

• Personal and combat fitness 
• A cross country run against the clock, increasing the distances covered each day, culminating in what is known as the Fan Dance: a 64km march with full equipment scaling and descending Pen y Fan in 20 hours
• By the end of the hill phase, candidates must be able to run four miles in 30 minutes and swim two miles in 90 minutes

This is followed by a jungle phase, taking place in Belize, Brunei, or Malaysia.  Here candidates are taught navigation, patrol formation and movement, and are tested for their jungle survival, escape and evasion skills.

Candidates returning to the UK finish training in battle plans and foreign weapons and take part in combat survival exercises. The final selection test is arguably the most gruelling: resistance to interrogation, lasting for 36 hours. From the initial 200 candidates, most will drop out within the first few days, and by the end about 30 will remain. Those who complete all phases of selection are rewarded with a transfer to an operational squadron.

However, the small number who make it through selection are not out of the woods. There is still a post-selection review, and they will now effectively be on probation. As brand new members of the regiment, they will be watched closely as they enter continuation training, and even this far down the line, many soldiers are returned to their original units during this phase.”

This is a brief overview of the selection process for acceptance into the Special Air Services. My colleague Tony Swift, in his book Achieving High Performance in Teams within Pharma and Healthcare, identifies how Harvard College also goes to extraordinary lengths to identify the best students (although clearly assessing for different strengths). Indeed, a common factor amongst all great organisations is the effort, skill and focus that they put into their recruitment processes. They all know that attracting the right people is a defining process in the journey to success.

The assessment process
The assessment element is an important part of any recruitment process. Unfortunately, many organisations attempt to take shortcuts and rely purely on a CV review and a short interview. These companies often pay dearly for this in the longer term. Bad hiring decisions have a material effect on performance and can be extremely costly. Indeed, an American consultant, Bradford Smith, noted that from a study of 54 US companies the average managerial ‘mis-hire’ actually costs a company 24 times the individual’s base salary.

As a result, we at Apodi recently studied the success or otherwise of recruitment activity within Apodi and our client organisations to try to understand what the key drivers of success are. The aim was to develop an assessment process that is comprehensive enough to ensure a significant improvement in the success rate of recruitment activity.

The research
First of all, we systematically reviewed the success or failure of all our recruitment activity within the last 36 months and identified the reasons for it. At the same time we undertook detailed desk research to benchmark our experiences against the recruitment activity of a number of both UK and overseas based organisations.

The research made it clear to us that there appeared to be four main reasons for success or failure. For consistent high performance to follow, we identified that each successful candidate must:

• Have the innate talents suited to the role in question
• Have the skills and knowledge (competencies) to meet the demands of the role
• Fit culturally into the organisation
• Have the mental toughness to succeed, particularly when the pressure is on

The research also showed that even if candidates had three out of the four qualities above, the absence of just one could lead to underperformance and, ultimately, to failure. Furthermore, our research found that the ability of organisations to change individuals through training and development interventions is limited. Innate talents are just that and cultural attitudes and levels of mental toughness can take significant time to change. It is only in the area of skills and knowledge that training and development can make a more immediate impact.

The guiding principles
This research, together with our own experiences, provided the focus for us to develop some guiding principles. These can be summarised as follows:
A person CANNOT be anything they want to be – even if they try hard.
As was noted in the previous article in this series, recruiting for strengths/talents to select individuals whose innate qualities most closely fit the role requirements is key. Effort alone without the appropriate talents for a role is not enough to drive high performance.

Most people think they know what they are good at. However, they are usually wrong.
Asking people what they are good at is simply not enough. It is imperative therefore that systematic testing for talent is vigorously and rigorously undertaken in the assessment process.

Whilst some people are impressive on paper and during the one-on-one interviewing stage, their style, approach and behaviour may simply be inconsistent with the values and expectations of the organisation.
Even those individuals who may reasonably be expected to perform may not do so in their new environment. Therefore, systematically testing for cultural fit is important in the assessment process.

Whilst talent can be a good indicator of future performance, the world is awash with talented people who never achieve their full potential. This is normally due to a lack of ‘mental toughness’.
Without the drive and ability to overcome obstacles, many individuals fail to reach the levels of success that their talent might otherwise indicate. Therefore, the assessment process should include a significant element of testing for mental toughness.

Much can be done to improve the effectiveness of pre-employment assessment. However, the best recruitment processes also include early post-selection review to assess each candidate again, but this time in action in the field.
The practical application of competencies and mental toughness must be investigated and reviewed to ensure that ongoing success is to be achieved.

The methodology
The Apodi methodology is a multi-stage approach which encompasses our experience and findings. This integrated model is detailed below.

Step 1 – Integrated Pre-Employment Assessment

• A candidate search and engagement programme
• A comprehensive pre-screening and filter process
• Interviewing and diagnostic processes focused on:
  –  Talent
  –  Competencies (skills and knowledge)
  –  Cultural fit
  –  Mental toughness
• Candidate alignment profiling and prediction of future high performance

Step 2 – Post-Employment Assessment
A systematic process is implemented immediately on employment where management reassesses successful candidates in the four key areas of talent, competencies, cultural fit and mental toughness. This is mainly undertaken in the field and can involve specialist coaches where necessary. The role of management is to ensure that the conclusions reached in the pre-employment assessment were correct, that the candidate should be successful in the future and, if so, what training and development can be put in place to accelerate the journey to high performance.

Step 3 – Measurement of the Assessment Process
To help ensure its ongoing success, key measures need to be in place to review the effectiveness of the assessment process. This step in the model will be discussed at greater length in later articles.

Conclusion
A comprehensive and effective assessment process drives just about everything that is good in an organisation – including high performance, employee engagement and quality of life for each and every one involved. Selecting people for the wrong job can lead to untold misery for them, their families and work colleagues. It is for this, and other reasons, that a quality assessment process should be at the top of every management’s agenda.

Jan Cox is the Resourcing Director at Apodi and can be reached on jan.cox@apodi.co.uk.

With jobs at a premium and the cost of living continuing to rise, job security has suddenly become a main priority for employees.

The global recession has affected each and every one of us in one way or another. Sweeping job losses throughout the medical sales sector – and in the pharmaceutical industry in particular – have seen even the most experienced personnel joining the queue at the job centre. For those lucky enough to have avoided the dreaded axe, it seems to have made us appreciate our job a whole lot more.

Last year was somewhat of a breakthrough year for as far as job security is concerned. Results from last year’s Pf Company Perception, Motivation and Satisfaction Survey highlighted how job security had gone from a passing thought to one of the main motivating factors for respondents. Ranked behind salary, relationship with manager and work-life balance in the 2009 survey, job security was suddenly thrust into the top-two motivating factors last year.

It has maintained its position this year behind salary as the second highest motivating factor after pharmaceutical companies continue to introduce ‘efficiency’ plans in an attempt to sustain profits and counter bleak pipelines. During an uncertain last twelve months it would seem that satisfaction levels in job security have also improved. Job security moved from 14th position last year to 11th in the latest set of results. Are companies doing more to reassure staff their jobs are safe, or are employees learning to live with the fact that their week at work may be their last?

Moving on
Attitudes towards job security have also affected respondents’ outlook on where they’d like to be within 12 months’ time – see Figure 1. In last year’s survey, 15% of respondents indicated they were searching for a move away from their current employers with 56% content to stay where they were. However, this year’s results show a slight increase in those figures with 13% of people within the medical sales sector looking for a new job and 59% happy where they are. 

Its men that indicated a stronger desire to change companies with 17% wishing to move organisations and a further 24% saying it was a possibility. However, female respondents were less sure about joining a new organisation with only a tenth wishing to move away from their current employers.

The importance now placed upon job security may also arise from the fact that employees are still very mindful of a turbulent few years – despite a glimpse of light at the end of a very, very dark tunnel. Dr John Philpott, Chief Economic Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) recently told a panel of directors from Yorkshire that modest economic growth in the UK would see unemployment levels stabilise this year. He also discussed the potential of a stronger recovery resulting in a sudden, sharp fall in unemployment levels and employers again going on the hunt for talented staff to meet increasing demand.

Job security works both ways. It shouldn’t be something that only staff on the ground worry about. Stability and medium to long-term assurance ensures employees are engaged and motivated enough to be committed to company goals and objectives.

Although job security may be a state of mind, there are ways of improving one’s mindset. If a company can ensure or encourage career development and progression, an employee will feel a greater sense of loyalty and commitment. With this in place a sense of dedication allows employees to focus on their individual skills and capabilities and become a consistent performer. In turn, an employer gets a happy and productive employee in the work place.

Trust levels
However, it’s not always that easy it? Memories of colleagues and friends being made redundant can last for a very long time. Geoffrey James, argues on the website inc.com, that job security is defined by who you are, what you do and who you trust. If you’re an individual who is happy going along with your job, undertaking everyday tasks and playing second-fiddle to other staff then you’re more than likely to receive your marching orders, James says. Individuals should strive to stand out from colleagues and be different to the majority of the workforce. “If you really want job security, there must be something about you that’s different, that makes you more relevant than anybody else who does what you do. More importantly, other people must perceive that difference and see it as valuable,” he says.

Then, of course, there’s the trust issue. Do you think you can rely on your boss not to put a red cross next to your name if there are further redundancies? James – who pens one of the world’s most-visited sales-oriented blogs – suggests a novel approach to assessing trust whilst at work or in the field. People that you speak with on a daily basis – be they family, friends, colleagues or business associates – should be placed into three categories: those who trust you completely, those who moderately trust you, and those who vaguely trust you. When these have been grouped together, remove the people in the final two categories – these are the people unlikely to return sales calls, James adds – and then calculate the number of people who you believe completely trust you. If, he says, you have more than 20 people on that list, then you have a greater sense of job security. If you haven’t, it might be time to start building some bridges.

So there you have it. Job security ultimately comes down to who you can trust and who trusts you. Can you hold on to trusted colleagues at work whilst the UK tries to climb out of a double-dip recession. Or, are the people who you believe you rely on merely providing a crocodile smile during work hours? It’s probably wise to start drawing up that list...

NHS job cuts have resulted in health care professionals (HCPs) working harder than they were a year ago, being more stressed and less productive, new research has found.

After questioning more than 2,000 doctors, nurses and other HCPs the survey found that more than 50% feel they are now performing the job of 1.5 people after streamlining measures reduced staff levels.

The survey by Randstad discovered that a third of HCPs feel their workload requires the assistance of a part-time colleague to adequately complete tasks.

Vicky Short, Operations Director of Randstad Care, said that healthcare workers are “facing greater workloads” leading to “burnout, mistakes and lower productivity in the long-run”.

Nearly one in three respondents said their current workload would need two full-time employees to manage tasks effectively.

The increase in responsibilities has also led to a rise in stress levels. Nearly a quarter of HCPs said they feel more stressed than they did just six months ago, 49% indicated issues in unwinding away from work and 11% said they had trouble sleeping due to worrying about work.

“It’s clear that public austerity measures are exerting more and more pressure on local authorities and the NHS to keep their workforces as lean as possible,” said Vicky Short.

“It’s vital that heavier work burdens for health care professionals do not lead to the erosion of the quality of service provision.”