Commercial Excellence 
As we reach the midpoint of 2024, HR leaders in life sciences play a crucial role in enabling commercial success. While your commercial colleagues reassess their strategies, it’s equally important for HR to reflect on how we can best support their evolving needs. Here’s a framework to guide your mid-year reflection:
Talent Alignment Review: Assess how well your talent strategies align with commercial priorities:
- Are your recruitment and retention efforts focused on critical commercial capabilities?
- How effective have recent hires been in driving commercial results?
- Are there any skill gaps hindering commercial performance?
Action step: Partner with commercial leadership to update talent profiles for key roles.
Learning & Development Audit
Evaluate the impact of your L&D initiatives on commercial performance:
- Which training programs have most directly improved commercial outcomes?
- Are there emerging skill needs not addressed by current L&D offerings?
- How can you better leverage digital learning tools to support the field force?
Action step: Design a “Commercial Capability Accelerator” program for H2.
Performance Management Check Review: How well your performance systems support commercial goals:
- Do your KPIs and incentives drive the right commercial behaviors?
- How effectively are managers providing performance feedback?
- Are your recognition programs reinforcing commercial excellence?
Action step: Conduct focus groups to gather feedback on performance management effectiveness.
Organizational Design Assessment
Consider if your structure optimally supports commercial strategy:
- Are there any organizational silos impeding commercial agility?
- How well does your current structure facilitate cross-functional collaboration?
- Are decision-making processes aligned with the pace of market change?
Action step: Facilitate a cross-functional workshop to identify structural optimization opportunities.
Culture and Engagement Pulse Check
Gauge the health of your organizational culture:
- How engaged is your commercial team?
- Does your culture foster the innovation and customer-centricity needed for commercial success?
- Are there any cultural barriers to executing the commercial strategy?
Action step: Conduct a targeted culture survey focused on commercial enablement.
HR Analytics Review: Assess how you’re leveraging data to support commercial decision-making:
- What workforce insights are you providing to inform commercial strategy?
- Are there untapped data sources that could yield valuable commercial insights?
- How can you enhance your predictive analytics capabilities?
Action step: Develop an “HR Insights Dashboard” tailored for commercial leadership
Talent Planning Evaluation: Review the robustness of your commercial leadership pipeline:
- Do you have strong successors identified for key commercial roles?
- How diverse is your commercial leadership pipeline?
- Are your leadership development programs cultivating the right future-focused skills?
Action step: Update succession plans for top commercial roles, identifying any critical gaps.
HR Strategy Alignment: Ensure your HR priorities fully support commercial objectives:
- How well does your current HR strategy align with commercial goals?
- Are there opportunities to reallocate HR resources to better support commercial priorities?
- What HR initiatives will have the greatest impact on commercial success in H2?
Action step: Create an “HR Commercial Enablement Plan” for the second half of the year.
Remember, HR’s role goes beyond traditional people management – we are strategic partners in driving commercial excellence. Use this mid-year reflection to strengthen that partnership and position your organization for a strong H2.
How are you aligning HR strategies with commercial priorities? What challenges are you facing in supporting commercial excellence?
