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RSA launches "escalator management"©

New approach helps companies keep in step with changing talent needs.

Global life sciences recruitment specialist, RSA, has launched a radical new approach to finding key talent.

The initiative provides an innovative and effective alternative to talent management throughout the lifespan of a company - from university spin-out to final, licensed product or IPO.

Success of the new approach hinges on RSA's ability to access the most experienced, international interim managers; its extensive global reach, and over 25 years operating at the centre of life sciences executive search.

Nick Stephens, chief executive of RSA, launched escalator management© in Singapore (September 10) when he also formally announced the new RSA Singapore interim management division. Keynote speaker at the event was Lim Chuan Poh, chairman of A*STAR, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore, who highlighted the importance of talent and knowledge transfer.

The model relies on experts and specialist teams being marshalled into a company as and when needed to deliver the next stage of development. For example, a typical new biotech enterprise would start with a chief scientific officer heading up the drug discovery phase, followed by a clinical development officer, a chief medical officer, and then a business development director working on the licensed product.

Escalator management will:

  • secure top talent for new companies
  • enhance intellectual property by providing rapid, early expertise
  • deliver flexibility with low risk
  • build investors' confidence
  • protect equity and downside risk.

Nick Stephens said: "Companies need access to the right expertise and experience at the right time. But often these heavyweight roles are only needed for a defined period to take the company up to the next level."

"One of the fundamental problems a new company faces is that taking on staff permanently is costly and time-consuming, and in a changing environment, a permanent person with a fixed set of skills may not be what is needed. As the company enters a new phase, it needs access to different skills."

"With escalator management, we can place individuals or specialist teams at short notice for brief, concentrated bursts of activity or for longer more sustained periods of effort, depending on the business demands. By phasing expertise in and out when it's needed, it frees up companies from the long timescales and expensive costs of permanent hires and exits. As the business evolves the team revolves."

Brenda Reynolds, a founding member of PowderMed said: "RSA supported PowderMed from inception to exit by providing 'escalator managers' to fill the key skills gaps that evolved through the rapid development of the company."

 

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