BIOTECHNOLOGY, PHARMACEUTICAL, AND LIFE SCIENCES COMPENSATION

Overview:

In the fast-paced biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life sciences industries, it is crucial to employ staff members who are passionate about their research and are devoted to innovations in medicine and technology. Given significant investments in research, development, and commercialization, attracting and retaining key talent is critical.

As compensation consultants, Compensation Resources understands the need for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life sciences companies to recruit and retain their high-performance individuals. Periodic benchmark analyses ensure that pay is competitive. Effective compensation structures that recognize key performance indicators are essential for driving research, development, and go-to market strategies, often through long-term compensation strategies. We have experience in assisting organizations to avoid the costs of employer turnover.

The services we provide include, but are not limited to:

• Base Salary Administration
  • Salary Structure Design
  • Staff Compensation Studies
• Board of Directors’ Compensation Studies and Advisory Services
• Executive Compensation Studies
• Incentive Plan Design
  • Annual Incentive Plan
  • Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP)
• Job Description Development
• Market Pricing / Salary Data
• Performance Management Programs
• Sales Compensation Program

Issues:

• Board of Directors wanted to align total compensation package for senior management with the competitive market.
• Board wished to implement formal annual and long-term incentive awards.
• Board wanted to tie incentive awards to results around key performance indicators.

Solutions:

• Provided client with empirical market data to serve as a foundation for assessing competitiveness and defining plan designs.
• Conducted a peer proxy analysis to determine competitive levels of base salary, annual incentives, stock option grants, restricted stock usage, perquisites, benefits, and deferred compensation arrangements for C-Suite positions.
• Defined annual and long-term incentive plans and supported the Board in defining metrics under both plans tied to the organization's strategic plan.
• Prepared the plan overview covering the annual and long-term incentive programs.

Case Study #2: Competitive Market Study

Issues:

• Job descriptions were outdated and inaccurate.
• Employee turnover was believed to be caused by below-market salaries.
• Employee morale was low.
• As a pre-revenue company, there was a desire to implement long-term incentives in order to conserve cash.

Solutions:

• Facilitated the development of new job descriptions to ensure proper communication of duties and accountabilities.
• Increased salaries where necessary to reflect competitive market levels.
• Designed and implemented a long-term incentive program for key staff to focus attention on longer-term performance metrics and tied to future product launches.

We are available to answer any questions you may have and to provide the necessary compensation consulting support to your organization. For more information, please contact:

Mary A. Rizzuti, CCP, PHR, SHRM-CP
Partner
201-710-6476