Guest blog by Ethan Cho BA, MBA; Growth Lead, Movemeon
People with passion change the world for the better - Steve Jobs, Founder, Apple Computers Inc.
Failure is success in progress - Albert Einstein
Passion and resilience in the face of failure are certainly two of a number of key characteristics needed by those undertaking early-stage technology commercialisation from research organisations. A passion for making a difference and persistence in the face of failure as commercialisation progresses, is essential. Finding candidates with the right blend of skills and traits for these positions is recognised as a difficult task. Due to the critical role of this activity in driving the UK and global economies through effective knowledge transfer, however, it was considered a sufficiently important topic for an MBA project completed at Warwick Business School in 2021. The project focused on UK TTOs.
Based on interviews with TTO executives, this project explored their experiences and difficulties in recruiting the right talent. While the current study is based on a small sample (7 interviewees) due to the limited time for completing the dissertation, the results shed an interesting light on the subject. The study illustrates the very broad range of multidisciplinary skills, both hard and soft, needed to perform well in the job. While different TTOs require somewhat varying skill sets the current study, supported by a review of the literature, highlights a number of key criteria candidates must demonstrate. This list is not exhaustive, but includes the following:
-
Strong academic/technical background in the relevant field, often to PhD level
-
Prior experience in a knowledge exchange environment
-
Managing a very high volume of work
-
Able to work well with the academic client base and hence strong relationship management skills
-
Good understanding and experience of industry
-
Ability to liaise well between the academic, commercial and investment worlds
-
Understanding the commercialisation process, IP and contracts
-
Highly effective and diplomatic communicators
-
Managing high risk early-stage opportunities
-
Passion for making a societal difference
-
Negotiation and business development skills for promoting their work and technologies
-
Prepared for a lower salary than a similar industry job
These are all substantive requirements and, taken together, a complex set of skills. Recruiting people who have been deeply immersed in industry and academia, as well as having all the above skills/aptitudes to a high level, is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
How can at least some of these recruitment challenges be addressed? In addition to highlighting the challenges emerging from the interviews, the study made some suggestions for consideration:
-
TTOs must agree to a commercialisation strategy with their university. It was not evident that all the universities interviewed had a robust commercialisation strategy. Of those who had a commercialisation strategy, fewer appeared to link it to a clear TTO recruitment strategy. In some cases, interviewees spoke more about the purpose of the TTO, than a strategy. Such a commercialisation strategy is best based on the university’s vision for entrepreneurship, taking account of its core competencies, available budget, and its plans for HEIF, KEF and KEC. This broad vision can then trickle down to an actionable commercialisation strategy relevant to that particular university. Only by having a clear strategy for commercialisation, can a university decide on the precise skills needed of their TTO staff.
-
The activities of a TTO are generally not well understood inside or outside the university, except by a small number who already engage with it. Therefore, TTOs are in significant need of both internal and external marketing to increase awareness of their activities. From an internal marketing perspective, TTOs should double down on their efforts to have greater awareness amongst researchers. A heightened awareness of TTOs by post-docs for example, could also provide a useful route for hiring TTO staff. TTOs often take this recruitment channel for granted, but it needs to be nurtured, as it is a valuable source of staff for three reasons:
- It is relatively inexpensive;
- It is likely to provide high quality candidates, who already understand the university environment and able to work with academic staff; and
- It may provide a better fit with regard to certain key job requirements, such as a good understanding of relevant technical areas.
Individuals recruited from within the university are more likely to need appropriate business training. However they would not only minimise costs relating to recruitment, but also bring the advantage of having someone who understands the research process and environment, a key requirement mentioned by many of the interviewees. Such referrals are generally considered to be one of the most effective methods of recruiting quality candidates in any industry, and the TTO sector may find many of its benefits appealing upon closer inspection.
-
Marketing externally to the university is also critical as the existing pool of talent is small and there is a clear need to bring in industry and other outside expertise as well. TTOs could attend job fairs, campus recruitment events, and use career websites to promote what they do and why it is important. More importantly, TTOs should also strongly promote their successes and impact on society. For example, why do the general public not know the names of the TTO staff who helped save millions of lives via the Oxford - AstraZeneca COVID vaccine? Shouldn’t their names be celebrated as well? These stories matter to job seekers and can have a profound impact on their career path decisions in the face of significant salary disparities between tech transfer and industry.
-
TTOs are generally bound by the pay grades of the universities they serve, which limits salaries compared to those commonly seen in industry. One solution may be for TTOs to pursue a business model where salaries are not aligned with the university, making it easier to attract staff from industry, but this is a complicated longer-term solution. Alternatively, perhaps there needs to be a broader discussion around how financial incentives can be deployed within the context of the TTO. We already know that commercialisation income is generally divided amongst the researchers, department, and the university but it leaves out the TTO who undertake much of the legwork to make critical deals happen. Universities should, perhaps, be more accommodating to the successes of their TTOs, and look to reward them financially as appropriate. These funds could then be used to recruit higher quality staff, who in turn, generate more successes.
This is a small-scale study which has highlighted some interesting areas for further investigation. The intention now is to continue this research to try and substantiate, and test, the issues raised more rigorously.
Ethan Cho BA. MBA , Growth Lead, Movemeon
Tas Gohir BSc. (Hons). DipIC, MSc. MBA. MRSB. RTTP, Senior IP and Commercial Research Manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust