"Employers follow this path because the nature of the product development in biotechnology demands it," says David G. Jensen, principal consultant for Search Masters International, based in Downers Grove, Ill. "But employers have complicated niche hiring themselves by filling jobs only with extremely specialized people where there may have existed the option to hire those who could quickly and efficiently be brought into the system."
Not only does niche hiring shut out good people from jobs, but it also can drain creativity, according to Leo Kim, a consultant and former executive vice president and chief technical officer for Mycogen, a biotechnology company in San Diego, Calif. Managers could build a better workforce by hiring creative, critical thinkers as well as good implementers, and giving people a chance to broaden their experience, rather than simply recycle a niche skill, Kim says. "Creativity should go on at the bench, often when the ...
