Dual competencies

As biotechnology companies grow, they tend to develop their operational and management team by bringing in people who have dual competencies — formal qualifications in both science and business.

Such skill sets are attractive to companies because they allow them to expand their existing competencies without needing to employ a huge number of people. They can also aid communication between research-based innovation and administrative support.

For scientists, having dual competencies can accelerate their career path — especially in the private sector. This tends to mean greater management responsibility — and usually higher salaries — than their bench-bound colleagues.

But for many of these high-fliers, the move into management will spell the end of lab work, leaving them facing an office-based future. Indeed, researchers and engineers who will have studied for 5–8 years for their scientific qualifications very often quit their lab-based posts after just one year of business school. This is a sad situation, as the skills that they are gaining in business readily translate into the world of research.

For example, a knowledge of accounting and finance is essential in product development for understanding investment, value and the return on investment. Similarly, skills in the management of human resources will aid the planning and recruitment processes to get projects up and running.

At Protein'eXpert, a biotech firm in Grenoble, France, we have sought to tackle this with our strategy of employing or shaping (on-the-job education) people with dual skill sets. Of the six members of the management team, five have both science and business qualifications — the exception is the marketing manager. Although both the chief executive and director for intellectual property and quality control have left the bench behind them, the other three dually skilled managers all make use of their newly acquired business skills to guide scientific projects.

Whether they are used to change career direction, or simply to enrich the current path, dual competencies represent a challenging opportunity for scientists. The acquisition of business skills should be encouraged — both at universities and in the workplace as they can bring huge value to scientific projects.

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