Company Background

Stiefel Laboratories is the world’s largest privately held pharmaceutical company, specializing in dermatology. The company manufactures high quality, effective prescription and over the counter skin care products, and is renowned for its legacy of more than 160 years of ‘skin care firsts’. Stiefel Laboratories’ innovative skin care products have been prescribed or recommended by doctors and pharmacists in over 100 countries around the world, improving the quality of life for millions of people each year. Stiefel is currently headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. Subsidiaries of Stiefel include Glade Pharmaceuticals, which makes generic dermatology drugs, and contract research facility, Stiefel Research Institute. In 2006, Stiefel acquired Connetics Corporation creating one of the most robust and diverse dermatology product lines in the industry and reinforcing the company’s commitment to the advancement of dermatology globally. Over the past two years, Stiefel has made several other strategic acquisitions. In April 2009, GlaxoSmithKline and Stiefel signed an agreement to create a world-leading edge specialist dermatology business.

Engagement

Stiefel Laboratories Human Resources and Organizational Development leadership engaged us to recruit and successfully assimilate key HR and OD talent for their team. They also engaged us to assess the state of their U.S. HR operation to specifically highlight what was and was not working within this department. Based on our analysis, we determined that Stiefel’s business strategy warranted world-class capabilities to recruit, develop, reward and retain the highest quality talent in the dermatological pharmaceutical business. We also noted that an enhanced capability for managing its talent base would be essential to the on-going success and growth of Stiefel’s business. Our approach consisted of four primary work streams: developing a global HR strategy, conducting a gap analysis, designing the future HR organization and preparing for implementation.

In addition, since Stiefel had just hired a new Global Head of Human Resources we were engaged to support this new leader in assimilating into the organization quickly and productively. We created a customized “First 100 Day Plan” to familiarize the new leader with the expectations of her new boss, internal clients and staff, and aid her in setting goals and priorities for this new role. We also served as an on-going coach and mentor to this executive during her first three to four months of employment.

Results

We identified and screened several senior level HR and OD candidates for key positions in the Global HR and OD team. To identify candidates for these roles, we first created the position and role descriptions; and made recommendations to Stiefel’s HR and OD management about the scope, level and compensation for each of these roles, as well.

We helped Stiefel improve the effectiveness and efficiency of HR services delivery to their U.S. Operation through our U.S. HR assessment. And we helped them develop a competitive advantage with respect to recruitment, development and retention of premier talent in the dermatological pharmaceutical business. Our final report resulting from our assessment work covered four key areas: Developing a Global HR strategy, conducting a gap analysis, designing the future U.S. HR organization and preparing for its implementation.