A biotech or research laboratory runs on scientists who are paid for ideas and careful work. Here is how to build a people system that suits project-funded science.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsA biotech company or research laboratory works on discovery, development or testing: cell culture, molecular biology, analytical chemistry, bioprocess work or contract research. The team is led by scientists with deep training, supported by research associates, lab technicians and lab support staff. Work is organised in projects, often funded by investors, grants or client contracts, so headcount follows funding rather than steady demand. Lab work involves chemicals, biological materials and sensitive equipment, and good records matter as much as good results. Many people join to learn and move on within a few years. See also HR for pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
A grant ends or an investor round slips, and the lab must decide who stays, with little notice and a lot of anxiety.
A strong researcher becomes a group leader and is expected to run people without ever being taught how.
Research associates are unsure how they become scientists, so they leave for higher studies or a larger firm.
Each scientist keeps notes their own way, and when someone leaves, the work behind a result is hard to trace.
People handle chemicals, cultures and equipment with varied care, and induction is informal.
Who gets named on a result or a patent is decided late, and unresolved disputes sour teams.
Lab technicians keep the work running, yet pay, recognition and growth go to scientists.
When a project closes or a scientist resigns, methods and know-how leave unrecorded.
Start with the topics that matter most here: HR Strategy and Workforce Planning; Career and Succession Management; Health, Safety and Wellbeing. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for pharmaceuticals and life sciences, not in general.
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
The pieces a biotech and research laboratories business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
A simple plan that shows each role against its funding source and end date, so decisions about continuation are made early.
What this coversHideA simple plan that shows each role against its funding source and end date, so decisions about continuation are made early. The HR strategy and workforce planning work gives the structure.
Short, practical training for new group leaders on setting goals, giving feedback and handling conflict.
What this coversHideShort, practical training for new group leaders on setting goals, giving feedback and handling conflict. The leadership and manager development programme fits here.
Levels from technician to associate to scientist to principal, each with skills and evidence, so people can see what comes next.
What this coversHideLevels from technician to associate to scientist to principal, each with skills and evidence, so people can see what comes next. See role design and job descriptions.
A common notebook and file approach and an exit handover checklist for methods, samples and data.
What this coversHideA common notebook and file approach and an exit handover checklist for methods, samples and data.
A short written note on authorship, inventions and ownership of work, shared at joining and revisited with the team.
What this coversHideA short written note on authorship, inventions and ownership of work, shared at joining and revisited with the team.
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirementsConfirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
Matching people to project funding and planning ahead for gaps and endings.
Practical preparation for scientists who now lead teams.
Clear levels and role expectations from technician to principal scientist.
A routine induction and refresher approach for lab safety.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in pharmaceuticals and life sciences, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
Why people leave pharma and life sciences roles, and how to ask about qualification, shifts, territory and quality culture in an exit conversation.
7 min readRead article
Hiring decisions made one request at a time, in the month the pain is worst. What a workforce plan contains and why a twelve-month view changes what you hire.
7 min readRead article
A two-hour exercise that names the roles you could not fill quickly, who could cover them, and what readiness would actually require.
7 min readRead article
A laminated notice, an annual drill, and an incident register with three entries in two years. What workplace health and safety looks like when it is real.
7 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Plan early, tell people honestly, look for redeployment to other projects and give a clear timeline. Early, direct communication protects trust with the people who stay.
Not necessarily. Offer a technical track as well as a people-leadership track, and give training to those who take on teams.
Show them how they can grow, give them real responsibility on projects and review pay against comparable roles. Many leave for higher studies, so be open about expectations from the start.
The hazards in the specific lab, handling and disposal routines, equipment training, emergency steps and record-keeping. Pair the new person with a mentor for the first weeks.
Use a handover checklist covering methods, samples, data locations and open work, and agree it before the last week, not on the last day.
Opening topics would be each role matched to its funding source and end date, what management preparation group leaders have had, and what happens to notebooks, samples and data when a scientist leaves. Lab induction on chemical and equipment hazards might be included. A suitable first piece of work is a scientist ladder with a handover routine. Afterwards the scope is agreed with you in writing.
All 8 business types in pharmaceuticals and life sciences · Find another business type
See all HR topics for pharmaceuticals and life sciences, or another industry.
Identify payroll leaks, record gaps and hiring bottlenecks in a free first conversation, and leave knowing what to fix first.
Know what you need? Share your requirements in four short steps.
Want the full picture? See the paid HR Diagnostic.
Prefer a quick message? Chat on WhatsApp
