The Hindu Business Line : Attrition fever grips pharma sector

There is high attrition at the first line, field-force level, with poaching by financial institutions and insurance companies that offer fancy designations.

P.T. Jyothi Datta

Mumbai, April 27 Losing as many as 20 people in a single day, as one drug firm did, attrition has the pharmaceutical industry worried.

With attrition levels at about 30 per cent, drug companies are trying hard to retain talent besides attracting new talent, observes Pfizer India’s Managing Director Mr Kewal Handa. There is high attrition at the first line, field-force level, with poaching by financial institutions and insurance companies that offer fancy designations, he says.

At Pfizer, where attrition is about 20 per cent, encouraging people to grow in their career through training helps retain good hands, he says.

The industry is bereft of talent, agrees Novartis’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Mr Ranjit Shahani. Even at the mid-level, drug companies are losing employees to the expanding financial and service sectors, he says.

At Novartis, attrition is pegged at about 10 per cent. In addition to a people-oriented policy, the company head needs to be visible to employees, talking to them and making them feel valuable, says Mr Shahani.

Change in hiring patterns

And it is not just the multinationals but even domestic companies are gripped by attrition. Attrition has increased in recent years because recruitment patterns have undergone a drastic change, says Ranbaxy’s Vice-President and Head, Global Human Resources, Mr Bhagwat Yagnik.

“Competitive organisations are moving from skill-based to potential-based recruitment. Resources from cross-industries are considered for even top leadership portfolios, making employee movement across industries relatively easier,” he observes.

Ranbaxy pegs attrition at the “low teens” and tries to stem it by being transparent with employees, he says, through periodic open-house sessions and recognising successes at regional and functional levels among other things.

“When the winds of change blow, some build shelter and some build windmills,” the official says, citing a Chinese proverb. Attrition cannot be addressed by episodic salary corrections or promotions. An organisation needs to support an employee in achieving his or her growth aspirations, he adds.

At Nicholas Piramal, attrition is 20 per cent at the field level, but lower at the higher levels, says Chairman Mr Ajay Piramal. Sun Pharma pegs attrition at 10-12 per cent, largely skewed towards lower, entry levels in the field, sales, marketing and, sometimes, in research.

Sun Pharma addresses attrition by recognising performance and merit, says a company spokesperson. It teaches employees new things and allows them to take responsibility for tasks that are procedure-bound or done differently elsewhere. Also, the company’s career progression plan identifies and trains people for higher responsibilities, the official said.

Cipla’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Amar Lulla, however, says attrition has decreased in the last four months compared to the high levels seen previously. He attributes it to a slowdown in business.