We’ve all seen them—digital badges declaring “best workplace” displayed proudly on websites and social media. The awards come from big names like Fortune and Glassdoor, as well as from industry-specific organizations like Fierce Biotech. Some awards, such as Fortune’s Best Workplaces in BioPharma, provide some detail on their evaluation standards, while other awards can simply be “earned” via payment or by filling out a form and checking all the necessary boxes.
But the big question is whether the awards matter to job seekers. Is it even worth pursuing these awards to attract talent in the biopharma industry?
While it’s possible these awards and rankings could make your company more attractive to job seekers, they aren’t the be-all, end-all of recruitment strategy. And some things matter to job candidates more than seeing awards. Before you go all-in on earning a best workplace award, take a deeper dive into what that might mean for your company.
Do job candidates really prefer companies with best workplace awards?
Nikita McClain, founder and principal of Hayes Street Consulting says, “Best workplace awards are a signal to potential hires that a company is committed enough to culture to have it assessed and validated by a third party.”
She continues, “Best workplace awards seem to impact initial perceptions about work culture among candidates, particularly those seeking entry-level positions.” Essentially, you can think of the awards as a way to make enough of a first impression that candidates give your company a closer look.
Brian McGowan, managing partner and practice leader in healthcare life sciences at ZRG, provides some insight into these types of awards and the biopharma world specifically. Regarding the general industry sentiment about workplace awards, McGowan feels there could be some cynicism. “If you put in the effort or you put in the money behind getting an award, you’ll get the award,” he says.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. McGowan explains, “Even if you’re pushing your way in from a marketing effort or a sponsor or spend effort, you’re doing it because it’s something that you see as important to your organization.”
Organizational culture and the world of two biopharmas
McGowan notes the biopharma industry has experienced significant change over the last decade and especially in recent years. Today, he sees the industry as having two main areas: “the land of the giants” and the startup companies. Both types of companies are “fighting for share of mind and share of investor wallet because they have a big idea.”
And both are competing to attract talent. Because of the major differences between these two types, potential employees may look at workplace awards differently for each company type .
Let’s say a candidate is considering two job offers: one at a smaller biopharma startup known for innovation, and one at a huge corporation. Both companies have similar “best workplace” awards. But candidates could view those awards quite differently based on the company itself.
Candidates may feel a smaller startup lives out their company values in day-to-day operations. In some cases, the startup may not have the name recognition of a large pharma, but they’re known as a great place to work because, as a purpose-driven startup, they value their employees and innovation.
A large corporation tends to be viewed with a little more skepticism. Some corporations can get so large that they might operate more like a machine, McGowan says. That might translate to a focus on profits over innovation, for instance. This shift can ultimately lead to the company losing talented employees to other companies that have kept an eye on innovation.
With workplace awards, a candidate considering similar job offers from each organization type might believe the smaller company’s award was a result of its focus on values and purpose. The candidate’s perception of the large corporation may be that the award was “pay to play” versus an accurate window into the company’s work environment. Accurate or not, that can be a common scenario in the world of biopharma recruiting.
How should awards fit in your recruitment strategy?
According to McClain, “The inherent value of best workplace awards lies in the submission process.”. She adds, “Best workplace awards can provide an attention-grabbing visual to support talent recruitment strategy.” However, she advises that companies also need to consider whether the award aligns with their culture, whether the award process brings “actionable insights” if it’s a multi-year process, and whether the award raises brand awareness among your ideal candidates.
McClain maintains that a company should actually do something with the insights gained from the awards process: “The opportunity to openly review elements of the employee experience and receive employee feedback in a benchmark format can help highlight where a company is on track or needs to redirect efforts in connecting with workforce needs and goals.” However, she also adds that “ongoing commitment to sustaining positive, engaging culture far outweighs best workplace recognition.”
While winning best workplace awards probably won’t harm your company, McGowan explains they may invite a deeper dive into your organization. And that’s a good thing—as long as your culture and values actually align with the award you receive.
McGowan says “awards invite inspection” from multiple parties: potential employees as well as prospective vendors and investors. “Frankly, if there’s authenticity there or there is visual support of the awards, success begets success,” he adds. When your values are aligned with creating a better workplace, you’ll attract and retain top talent. “You might get more play from the marketing that you wouldn’t otherwise, if you’re just trying to have your head down and do the pure science…” says McGowan.
McClain says, “While they can be used as a marketing tool for talent, companies should also evaluate how the process integrates with their human capital strategy.” Companies looking to hire the best biopharma candidates could certainly aim to earn workplace awards, but it should only be one part of your recruitment strategy.
Furthermore, McGowan advises that the awards should be part of your company’s strategic operations outcomes, as opposed to the driver. In other words, your recruitment strategy around awards shouldn’t be focused on winning a certain number of awards. To really stand out, awards earned should be a result of things your company intentionally does well to create a strong organizational culture, which in turn attracts quality job candidates.
The winning formula for success and impact
McGowan communicates often with the investment banking community as well as institutional investors and says, “Very few of them buy the science. They buy the management teams, they buy the people. Which is really telling, that you can have great science but if you have a bad team you’re not going to attract the resources or the interests that you need.”
The same goes for attracting candidates. Focusing on building a workplace where people actually want to work can reap more rewards than simply striving to earn a best workplace award. As McGowan says, “If you’ve got good science and a good to great team and you can put that together, you’ve got not only a winning formula but a chance of real success and impact.”
