CROs are now commonplace, as Pharmaceutical and MedTech companies outsource most, if not all of their clinical trial management projects, appreciating the CRO’s contribution to the success of product development.
Many CRO employees are former nurses, lab technicians, and new life science graduates. Their daily tasks include clinical trial set up, monitoring, data handling, project management, team liaison with research teams, ethics committees all under intense compliance to strict regulations. Much of a clinical research associate’s life is spent traveling, visiting clinical trial sites, sometimes each and every week. This can result in significant burn-out rates.
A recent statistical report conducted by BDO revealed that there is a high staff turnover for CROs averaging 26% in the US and up to 33% in countries outside the US for the year 2015–2019. Some of the contributing factors noted include limited career development or opportunities, a lack of opportunity for personal growth, and inadequate remuneration packages. In short, the grass really is greener for a CRA to move on into a new role than remain.
4 Major Benefits of Employee Engagement to Boost Productivity
Research has found that employee engagement is the best predictor of performance and, for this reason, many organizations are focusing on strategies to increase the engagement of their employees. Employee engagement means increasing an employee’s level of psychological commitment to their organization. When employees are engaged, they feel more connected to the company and loyalty results.
There are 4 major benefits that employers can enjoy if their employees are engaged:
- increased productivity
- increased output
- improved customer service
- and reduced absenteeism rates.
Employers can then use these work engagement strategies to increase emotional attachments between employees and the company:
· Invest in developing a strong organizational culture
· Make time for employee recognition
· Build strong relationships with your employees
· Provide opportunities for growth
Staff Retention Strategies
In the age of the gig economy, retaining staff has become a vital task for most CROs. With companies battling to hire and keep qualified employees, it is important to understand why staff retention is so important and what steps to take to keep our staff around. Mobius is vigilant about retaining our staff and is extremely proud of our 86% staff retention rate (2011 – 2021).
If the reason employees leave is to explore new opportunities, it’s important for the company to provide the best working environment for them where they are. At Mobius, we actively encourage our entire team to communicate with management as openly as possible. We strive to identify any shortcomings, and work to resolve them; we analyze the market ensuring we remain competitive with salary packages; we involve every single member of our team in many facets of the decision-making process. Most importantly, we maintain honesty and transparency with our team and enjoy the same in return.
In general, some of the key components we practice are a flexible and friendly work environment that is mutually beneficial for both the company and the employees; investment in the professional and personal growth of our employees; foster autonomy and responsibility.
Implementing these best practices results in an increase in performance and productivity, as well as maintaining a focused and content team. We find higher levels of engagement amongst our team lead to remarkably low turnover rates and higher levels of job satisfaction.
Our team at Mobius Medical, including our regular team of contractors, is our greatest asset and we are intensely proud of each and every member of staff on a daily basis. We believe it is a privilege to employ such talented, conscientious, and professional people in our organization.
