Why Contract Teams Fails: How to avoid common pitfalls with a talent-centered approach

Through Mix's extensive experience, which includes playing a role in hundreds of field team builds and expansions, we have seen time and again that building and leading successful field teams ultimately comes down to three priorities, each of which is centered around talent:

1. Selecting the right talent
2. Aligning talent to mission, vision, and values
3. Optimizing talent performance with training, coaching, development, and leadership

These are not novel ideas but, in our experience, they are too often forgotten or diminished when a team is made up of contract talent.

The best practices of field team builds and leadership generally do not apply to contract teams as they should, which we see as a hindrance to the many benefits of contract talent: namely, quality talent within a flexible model.

This point of view doesn’t just apply to sales builds. Talent should be at the center of contract talent engagements regardless of whether you’re seeking to fill one pre-commercial clinical role, build a technical operations team, or – yes – deploy a full-scale contract team.

Doing this well requires doing things differently – it requires an operational model that leads to better outcomes by design. To explain how, let’s look at why the typical CSO model often falls short and how life sciences organizations can do better with the talent-centered Mix CTO approach.

Priority #1: Selecting the Right Talent

When building a contract field team, efficiency and cost-savings are important. However, oftentimes with large CSO organizations, the focus on faster and cheaper can quickly overshadow what matters most for a successful team outcome – talent.

That is, finding the best talent for a role and building a team with the right talent to achieve and exceed business objectives.

The prevailing belief that the individuals who are part of a contract team are not of the same caliber as those working for the manufacturer is only true if talent is not the focus. The strategic business decision to contract a field team requires a partner who is focused on finding, training, and coaching the right talent to achieve alignment with the client’s strategic business goals and objectives.

As Greg Michael , Mix Talent 's Head of Talent Solutions puts it:

“The most important resource a company has are its people – so bringing the right team on board, even when we’re talking about contract talent, is paramount.”

He continues:

"In my experience, you shouldn’t accept the idea that the right talent for your team can only be delivered if they are permanent hires. We believe when an organization clearly defines what good looks like; assesses and selects to those competencies; inspires performance with clear alignment to vision, mission, and values; and develops talent with trainings and resources to help them achieve success, field teams will deliver outstanding results – regardless of whether they are direct or contract hires.“

Another common practice that emphasizes cost-savings over quality is re-selecting contract talent from previous projects regardless of profile or fit.

While creating opportunities across clients for contract talent is a benefit of a broad organization, the talent selection process should not be compromised – or worse, skipped – in favor of those most readily available.

In the words of Cassie Vick , Executive Director at Mix Talent :

“Each contract team needs a unique set of people to be successful, even if it’s the same therapeutic area as a previous build. Take the extra week or two to find the right people. Don’t sacrifice the short game for the long game and it will pay dividends.”

The Mix CTO Fix: Assess for behavioral and cultural fit

Finding individuals who are likely to be successful in their roles can be accomplished by building targeted job profiles, administering custom assessments , and interviewing for key competencies, experiences, motivations, and cultural fit.

This allows you to go beyond looking merely for experience, which some studies have shown is a poor indicator of performance when used alone, and instead helps you find candidates with the values, mindset, and characteristics that align with your organization and operational model.

If you’re a startup, for example, you need to build a team with demonstrated flexibility, made up of individuals who are resilient and know how to persevere through tough times, whether those times are caused by limited brand awareness, limited resources, or rapidly shifting priorities.

At Mix CTO, we use our proprietary SPARQ assessment , which was developed by Mix’s Coaching and Consulting team of behavioral scientists, led by Chad Thompson, Ph.D. This assessment provides a quantifiable measure of candidates’ resilience and perseverance, giving us an objective way to identify right-fit candidates who will best fit within a client’s stage of growth and operational model.

Priority #2: Aligning talent to mission, vision, and values

Oftentimes, CSO resources are perceived purely as “feet on the street” and not much effort – if any – is put forth to encourage their alignment to the values and vision of the organization.

After all, contract talent is viewed as less important compared to direct hire employees and often seen as a temporary solution, so why invest in them?

The reason is simple: Your organization’s success and the opportunity to impact patients depends on the success of your field team, regardless of whether that talent is direct hire or contract.

In most cases, customers won’t know (or care, for that matter) whether the individual they’re interacting with is direct hire or contract. What they care about is your mission to impact patient lives and bring something unique to the market.

As Cassie Vick puts it:

“When the talent hired isn’t aligned to the client's mission, vision, and values, as well as the compensation for the quality of work needed, the delivery suffers. In some cases, there’s this sense that you can hire anyone who might have what is perceived as the right experience, underpay them, and expect more from them. It’s no wonder that some contract teams aren’t successful, and the client isn’t satisfied.”

The Mix CTO Fix: Build a “one-team” culture

From a compliance standpoint, contract talent cannot be managed the same as employees – but that doesn’t mean you can’t support their alignment from a cultural perspective.

From how you handle their onboarding to the way you communicate on a regular basis, aligning contract talent to your unique values and mission is key to optimizing engagement and performance while giving you greater flexibility.

That is, while the intent is not always to transition/convert contract talent to full-time roles, the goal should always be to create an environment that makes contract talent want to stay with your organization as long as possible. If it remains a positive experience throughout the engagement, that’s a win-win for organizations and the talent they have on contract.

However, this only works when your outsourcing partner provides the same experience – an experience that CSOs historically have not focused on.

At Mix CTO, the experience contract talent has with our organization matters just as much as the experience they have with our clients’ organizations. That’s why we prioritize living out Mix’s own values when we engage and interact with contract talent, focusing on the individual and their experience above and beyond how they are going to be paid or how long they are going to be engaged at the organization

Priority #3: Optimizing performance with training, coaching, development, and leadership

Leading your team on a day-to-day basis isn’t just about staying focused on the goals and expectations you have established but also guiding your team through the challenges and opportunities they each have on an individual basis.

And yet, in many CSO engagements, contract talent is not provided with the ongoing training, coaching, development, and leadership they need to be as successful as possible and to perform at a high level. As with mission and vision alignment, it can seem like an over-investment for a temporary solution.

This lack of attention not only makes it diffcult to keep contract talent on board as long as you would prefer – or to transition them to direct hire roles if appropriate – but it can also sacrifice their engagement with your team and, ultimately, your results.

Cassie Vick compares it to coaching a sports team:

“Even top sales reps, like the greatest athletes, have areas for improvement. You've got to meet them where they are to guide and coach them so they can do even better every single day – and then do the same for your less experienced reps and rising stars regardless of whether they are direct hire or on contract.”

The Mix CTO Fix: Invest in contract talent’s learning, growth, and development

To truly engage your contract talent, you need to develop a team environment that’s structured upon a common goal and purpose and make sure that every person on the team knows what their role is, how success within it will be measured, and how it contributes to the organization’s broader goals.

In Greg’s words:

“Communicating clear expectations and creating a culture of accountability for all is critical for a team to succeed.”

The benefits of leadership coaching , for example, including better outcomes transitioning into new roles, are well-documented. This type of coaching can be appropriate for contract talent who may benefit from additional support throughout their work with your company.

This may not be a common approach in CSOs, but at Mix CTO it is, and it is an effective way to engage contract talent at a deeper level.

With Mix CTO, training, coaching, development, and leadership solutions are a part of what we do because we understand the value these investments add, allowing us to help our clients realize their business goals.

In other words, the choice does not need to be between hiring a high-performing in-house team versus deploying a flexible contract team. With the right approach, you can have the best of both worlds. That is, if you’re willing to do things differently.

The Difference is in the Mix: Keeping Talent at the Center with Mix CTO

At Mix, our name implies a lot about how we approach our work – namely, that we believe it’s essential to find the right mix of skills, experience, personality, and personal motivation to ensure long-term success in a given role. Mix CTO is no different: Talent is at the center of all we do.

To us, everything revolves around finding the best talent and building the best teams for our clients, regardless of how they want to structure the engagement. By doing so, we avoid common issues with the CSO model, including hurried talent selection, mission and vision misalignment, and lack of investment in training and developing talent, and elevate it to the most optimal talent solution – Mix CTO.

If you’d like to speak with our leadership team about your organization’s goals and needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out .

Meet the Mix CTO Field Team Specialists

Greg Michael , Head of Talent Solutions

Experience: Schering-Plough, Symphony Health, Publicis, Shionogi, Syneos Health, Mix Talent

Greg has been in the pharmaceuticals industry for 30 years and has worked for manufacturers and service providers throughout his career. He started as a sales representative for Schering Plough/Merck and sold to physicians, pharmacists, wholesalers, and hospitals. Greg also worked for Symphony Health selling healthcare information to manufacturers. He later joined Shionogi Inc. where he led their primary care sales team and sales operations before becoming a Director of Business Development. In 2011, Greg joined Syneos Health’s Contract Commercial Organization and was responsible for consecutive revenue growth for eight years in key accounts as a Senior Vice President, General Manager and Global Commercial Leader.

Cassie Vick , Executive Director, Talent Solutions

Experience: Bayer, Shionogi, Publicis, IQVIA, Mix Talent

Cassie brings over 20 years of life sciences experience, in sales, sales leadership, training, operations, and talent acquisition. She has expertise in most therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, rare disease, genetics, neurology, cardiology, and more. She led talent acquisition teams for more than 80 builds/expansions in the life sciences industry encompassing all roles needed for commercializing a new product, including: Sales, Market Access, Medical Science Liaisons, Clinical Nurse Educators, Patient Support Specialists, and others. With Cassie’s unique experience of working in the field, she is able to use this alongside her recruiting expertise to be an invaluable partner and consultant to clients. At Mix Talent, Cassie leads the CTO team deployments and ensures we are a true partner to our clients and deliver with the quality and excellence they need.