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Happiness…. Productivity…. Increased Sales….. Success…..

According to a recent HBR article titled The Happiness Factor “emerging research from neuroscience, psychology, and economics makes the link between a thriving workforce and better business performance absolutely clear. Happiness can have an impact at both the company and the country level.”

 “Research shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level—productivity, creativity, engagement—improves” states Shawn Achor, distinguished teacher, speaker, and author of the HBR article Positive Intelligence. 

“Every business outcome shows improvement when the brain is positive…. one’s general sense of well-being is surprisingly malleable, the habits you cultivate, the way you interact with coworkers, how you think about stress—all these can be managed to increase your happiness and your chances of success”.

Shawn Achor also delivers lectures on positive psychology in the most popular class at Harvard (watch this TED video if you’d like to see him in action).   And on the west coast, Jennifer L. Aaker, Marketing Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaches the popular MBA elective titled Designing Happiness. 

Add to the mix, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, author of the popular book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose (written after the 2009 acquisition of Zappos by Amazon for $850 million) and you’ll start to connect the dots.  Happiness…. Productivity…. Increased sales…..  Success…..

And how might this apply to you and your company? 

Attend the BOLD June 13th workshop Positive Psychology at Work: New Approaches to Organizational Success  with guest speaker Dr. Patrick Hyland, Director of R & D at Sirota Survey Intelligence.  

Besides highlighting how this new field is generating fresh insights about everything from leadership development to organizational change,  Patrick will share recent engagement and workforce trends, and highlight ways to integrate positive organizational psychology into current engagement strategies.

Following Patrick’s review of the field, participants will have the opportunity to share insights, best practices, and approaches in a facilitated World Café. 

Register now, and join us at Genencor in Palo Alto June 13th!

Is HR in the Life Sciences Different From Other Industries?

by Mary Ann Ireland, Founder and Lead of BOLD, and Director of The Stratam Group

Background:

Over the years in leading BOLD, I’ve been asked by many people “is there a difference between HR in biotech or the life sciences vs. other industries?”.   My response is…. Yes, and No.  This whitepaper is intended to clarify why I say “yes - biotech is different than other industries". 

This is not a research paper, rather a means to orient HR professionals new to the industry - or refresh veterans - and encourage dialogue around how these factors can and do impact HR, Organizational Development and Learning and Development initiatives.

Overview:
I’ve divided the topic into a few different sections, each contributing to the uniqueness of the industry:

• Overview - Terms and Relevant Facts about the Industry
• Sectors included in the Life Sciences Industry
• What makes the Biotech Industry Unique
• Market Influencers
• Understanding Scientists (life in academia)

How to be a "Best Place to Work"

by Jill McGillen, Next Turn Consulting  (This is a summary of Jill's research as represented in her BOLD Roundtable discussion on January 31st.  The slide presentation is available for BOLD members.)

Every April, the San Francisco Business Times announces the Bay Area Best Places to work winners. 125 companies are chosen based on their employees’ evaluations of how satisfied they are in their workplace.  The question always crosses my mind: “I wonder if these companies are using similar approaches to engage their employees?”

In July 2011, I set out to answer this question by telephoning and meeting with a sample of Bay Area human resource executives and 2010 winners from these top companies. They answered my question:  Yes, they do share common strategies. The surprise was that most methods are cost effective and require little time to implement. 

Best Places to Work Award winners that I interviewed shared the following key commonalities:

Mentorship: Red Flags and Best Known Methods for Mentoring

This article is authored by BOLD Member, Ron Sacchi, in preparation for the BOLD Workshop titled "Mentorship:  GoldMine or Minefield" on Sept. 1st, 2011.

1) Business Case for Program unclear:
Organization is unclear on business benefits the program would bring or more importantly how they would measure its success—as though it were a business.  Examples of business measurements:

• Decreased time to productivity for new employees (requires knowing a baseline for the current “time to productivity”)
• Positively correlating decreased attrition to the program (requires specific data which positively ties the two factors –attrition and mentoring—together)
• Application of mentor knowledge to mentee’s job (requires observation or behavioral analysis)
• Recession and environmental factors which may have contributed to Mentoring becoming a “solution” for development. Two consistently heard:
  Decreased spending on developmental programs and/or HR Programs in general; mentoring on the surface appears to be a “cheap” way to develop people.
  The “Employee Engagement Bandwagon” – because hiring in general has diminished, keeping high performers happy (beyond “pay for performance”)  in their current job has been a concern.

How companies succeed in a permanent state of change

By Ana Lucia Jardim Evans

In a recent newsletter, an OD professional association led the announcement of its new membership renewal process with the following quote: “Change is good. You go first.”

As BOLD goes through its own process of strategic change –working on its vision and mission for the future- we also open the dialogue with our members on strategic change management in the industry at the upcoming June 16 workshop entitled “What… More Change? How HR Can Take a Leading Role in Organizational Change”

FDA biopharmaceutical drug approvals increase despite slower development time

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has passed nearly twice as many biopharmaceutical drug approvals in the last 10 years than it did in the 1990s, a news release from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD) has indicated.  From 2000 to 2009, 65 biopharmaceutical drugs got the OK from the FDA. In comparison, the 1990s saw 39 approvals, while the 1980s had 13 approvals, according to the CSDD study. Click here to read the full article.

The Games Companies Play

Corporate learning is evolving:   Here’s a Business Week article from 4/4/11, featuring examples of how companies are using games to simulate a work environment, help employees excel in marketing or customer service, and even educate and engage their board of directors.  One study reported that “Those using video games had a 14 percent higher skill-based knowledge level, an 11 percent higher factual-knowledge level, and a 9 percent higher retention rate than trainees in comparison groups”.

Issues, Trends and Possibilities for the Life Science Industry: Presentation Summary

For those of you that attended the February 17th "State of the Life Sciences Industry" presentation delivered by guest speaker James Sabry, MD, PhD, you have a taste of what some of the issues, trends and possibilities are for the industry. 

Members can access James Sabry's slides by clicking this link and entering the current username and password for the members-only part of the BOLD website.  Questions about the presentation or BOLD membership can be directed to:  info@growBOLD.com

Free Passes to BOLD Members for BayBio Conference April 20th, 2011

BOLD has been gifted with 10 free passes to the upcoming BayBio conference.  These passes are available to the first current BOLD members that register online.

BayBio 2011 Annual Conference: Powering Global Innovation

With Northern California regarded as a global innovation engine, theBayBio2011 Annual Conference will explore themes and topics that focus on fostering global collaborations in research, development and commercialization. BayBio2011 Annual Conference will feature a BioSpace Career Fair, Partnering Forum, Company Presentations and a dedicated Human Resources Track. The first 10 BOLD members to respond receive a free one day pass.

CBI Life Sciences Training, Learning & Development Congress, March 2011

 

Bio/Pharmaceutical and Medical Device
Training, Learning and Development Congress

Date:  March 21, 22
Location:   Hyatt Regency at Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia, PA

• Are you helping your leaders fill the knowledge distribution gap across your organization?
• Do you create training strategies that align development goals with business objectives? 
• Are you managing people and solutions that help accomplish learning objectives on an enterprise or global scale?