Pharma companies open doors to diverse talent

Looking to bring fresh perspectives and ease manpower shortage

MUMBAI: Marketing executive Mayur Bhagwat had never expected that one day he would be working for a pharmaceutical company.
 
The 33-year-old Mumbai-based commerce graduate and an MBA in marketing from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research had always sold soaps, shampoos and detergents in his successful marketing career. But the 10-year veteran in the FMCG sector now has medicines such as ciprofloxacin, amlodipine and losartan on his sales list.

In June this year, Bhagwat shifted from Hindustan Unilever Ltd, where he spent seven years, to Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratory (DRL).

A challenging job profile and a better pay packet lured Bhagwat to seek prospects outside the area of his domain knowledge.

Faced with acute talent crunch and to attract fresh perspectives, pharma firms are scouting for individuals like Bhagwat with backgrounds that are as different from pharmacy as chalk is from cheese.

“Pharma industry is opening up slowly. Earlier, we were very inward looking and would take in people only from other pharmaceutical companies or keep promoting from within. But now, we are taking suitable individuals from other backgrounds as well,” says Alind Sharma, the senior vice-president of human resource at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

Till late 1990s, a degree or diploma in chemistry or pharmacy was a must to gain an entry into a pharma company.  So there was only intra-industry poaching.
 
But now, attitudes are changing. While an educational background in science is always welcome; people from non-science fields are also hunted down with offers of plum postings and salaries ranging from Rs 15-20 lakh per annum.

Although to a great level, attrition (which is around 15% in the pharma sector) and poaching from rival companies are key reasons why talent from different sectors is being sought out; there are a few other reasons also which explain the phenomenon.

Medicines too are sold as brands similar to any shampoo or soap. Therefore, it is felt that a person from any FMCG company with a marketing background can do great justice in positioning and selling the drug via its brand name, says Pravir Jha, global head-HR, at DRL.

That’s also one of the reasons why the company hired a brand manager from Nestle as the president of its branded formulation division.

DRL has recruited more than 35 people with no educational or professional background in pharma from various companies in the last 13 months. Glenmark’s Sharma says that beyond a certain level, the work is almost the same. “How does it matter whether you sell hair oil or drugs? Your sole aim is to reach more and more of your target consumers.”

Glenmark has recruited more than 25 people in the last 15 months, mostly at the mid- to senior-level from different companies.

It is also increasingly felt that a non-pharma person is able to bring outside industry perspective to the table.

“People from other sectors are able to benchmark not only against pharma companies, but also against those from other industries,” claims Sanjay Muthal, president-HR, at Nicholas Piramal India Ltd (NPIL).

 Muthal says that the trend of hiring people from distinct backgrounds is presently seen more at the senior level, as at the higher level, the business acumen and interpersonal skills count more than domain knowledge. NPIL is planning to encourage this at the middle-level also.

According to Rajan Dutta, president-HR at Lupin Ltd, a person with a traditional degree in pharmacy may not think beyond the existing framework, which a person from a different background might be able to.

g_priyanka@dnaindia.net
b_tinesh@dnaindia.net