Paul Watson is at the Biotechnology Human Resource Council, 401-116 Lisgar Street, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0C2, Canada. paul@bhrc.ca
Managing human resources at an emerging biotech company is just the latest stop in Jim Williams's varied career.
SemBioSys Genetics (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is pushing the frontiers of what's possible in biotechnology by fundamentally changing the way proteins are made. The large investments made in immunology, genomics, high-throughput molecular screening and other technologies in the 1990s are resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of biologics under development and on the market. SemBioSys uses its proprietary Stratosome Biologics System to cultivate and extract biologics from oil bodies in the safflower plant. This production model can help overcome the capital requirements, formulation, capacity and cost of goods issues facing pharmaceutical developers to help ensure that biologics addressing critical unmet needs are successfully brought to market. The company is well financed, and has attracted high-caliber scientists and experienced executives who operate as a motivated and cohesive team.
The opportunity to help shape a corporate culture from the ground up has been a rewarding experience for Jim Williams.
Since its inception in 1994 as a spin-off from the University of Calgary, SemBioSys has grown from a team of 6 researchers to a workforce of 42. Andrew Baum was recruited in 1998 when the company needed a full-time president and he, in turn, hired Jim Williams as director of finance and administration in 1999. In July 2001, the company moved to a state-of-the-art complex that includes research facilities, head office and a pilot plant. Recently, Williams, now vice president of finance and administration at SemBioSys, offered his insights into the ups and downs of managing such growth.
Jim Williams has more than 20 years of experience in all aspects of financial accounting and reporting to internal and external stakeholders. He articled with Deloitte & Touche in Toronto and received his Chartered Accountant designation from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1973. He has been a private business consultant and a director at Industry Canada. Williams also spent ten years in the oil and gas business, both in Canada and overseas. He was responsible for external financial reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Ontario Securities Commission, organization and preparation of annual operating and capital budgets together with internal, external and joint venture audits. For all his experience in finance, however, Williams is not your typical bean counter. "Mostly because he knows how to have fun," joke his colleagues.
One of the things that distinguishes Williams from most CFOs is his role as head of the human resource function at SemBioSys. "There are probably a lot of CFOs who see things very black and white and who wouldn't necessarily be comfortable dealing in the shades of gray that govern human interaction and workplace relationships," says Williams. Having worked in the public and private sector in a variety of roles, both in Canada and abroad, Williams understands the merits of a nuanced management style. He applies lessons learned throughout his varied career to his administration of HR at SemBioSys.
The dollars and cents of HR "Having a certain amount of control over finances can be very helpful in running human resources, since it's maybe a bit easier to balance off the dollars-and-cents side of things against the beneficial impact of HR decisions. Many times, I've seen tremendous morale benefits for what appears to be a relatively modest cash expense." Williams explains, for example, that SemBioSys employees that originally came from the University of Calgary were accustomed to having time off between Christmas and New Year's Day. This was not the case for other employees. When staff from different locations gathered under one roof and HR policies had to be harmonized, Williams argued vigorously that giving everyone a few days off would buy more loyalty and productivity than the actual cost of shutting down operations. "So far, we've retained that policy, and in my view it's a tremendous morale booster...and something our employees brag about to their not-so-fortunate neighbors. And we also avoid complicated issues like staff coverage. What's more, our staff is extremely dedicated—if someone's conducting an experiment and needs to come in to the office for a few hours, they just do it on their own."
Empathy pays The ability to see things from the other person's perspective is of tremendous value to an HR practitioner. "When building a case or approaching negotiations, I try to put myself in the other person's shoes. If I'm presenting an idea to a financial person, I try to think like a CFO...which in my case isn't difficult because I am one." Williams stresses the importance of knowing your audience and tailoring your message in a way that will stimulate their interest and understanding. "When dealing with a scientific manager, it's best to use a specific analytical approach—no ambiguities or 'warm and fuzzies.' Scientists are trained to question everything. They have logical and rational minds. When implementing a new HR policy, you must be able to demonstrate how it will make people's jobs easier or better." As a CFO who must approve expenditures, Williams expects the same. When team members need to make major purchases for the lab, they are asked to demonstrate the advantages gained in time, money or improved accuracy.
The importance of measurements "What is the real cost of hiring...or of someone leaving the company? An HR manager should always be striving to develop models to quantify elusive costs of this type. Many people just don't realize what it costs to replace a departing employee. When you consider the real cost of hiring, downtime, training, learning curve ramp-up etc., I figure you're approaching a full year's salary, on top of the salary of the new employee." In the scientific environment of biotechnology companies, HR managers are further compelled to supply hard data to support their rationale for new programs and policy directions. Williams notes, however, that it is important to keep systems simple and not spend an inordinate amount of time trying to achieve absolute precision. The important thing is to collect data that can be reduced to the commonly understood language of dollars and cents.
When does a company need a full-time HR person? "As vice president of finance and administration of a smaller company, I still view HR as an administrative function. Of course, it is critical to go beyond 'mechanical' functions such as payroll and benefits and encompass what I call true HR—personnel policies, performance evaluation, training, HR forecasts and the like." Effective HR management has definitely been high on SemBioSys' corporate priorities in its efforts to build a sound corporate culture, but with typical CFO frugality, Williams does not see the need to hire a full-time HR manager until the company grows a bit larger. "At some point, a company will hit a critical mass where roles and systems are clearly defined. This becomes a baseline against which an HR practitioner can measure success. Until you've reached that stage, it's hard to formalize the HR function because people wear too many hats and things get ambiguous. They just pick up work that needs to be done when it arises."
Although it is true that fluid roles do pose a challenge to HR personnel in a small company, the opportunity of helping shape a corporate culture from the ground up has been a rewarding experience for Williams. "When you're still relatively small and everyone knows each other, there is less of an advocacy role to be played by HR as an interface between management and rank-and-file employees. Part of the rigors of finance is ensuring that systems have checks and balances. The care and custody of assets, for example, should fall into two separate hands. It has often been said that human capital is a biotech company's biggest asset. In order to make sure people enjoy coming in to work in the morning, why not multiply the number of hands to include every employee? When everyone shares a commitment to practicing good HR, things start to flow." By all indications SemBioSys will continue to flow smoothly in the wake of its fluid HR processes anchored onto solid dollars-and-cents decision-making and an exciting technology platform.
This article was reprinted with some modification from the 2003/2004 Biosciences Resource & Recruitment Guide (Biotechnology Human Resource Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2003).
