Attracting the Best Talent - Our Story

Creating an Attractive Workplace

To paint a clear picture of the best recruitment strategies and give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the day-to-day life here at Panda, we sat down to interview Polly Stafford, our Head of Talent Acquisition. 

Polly is responsible for identifying and selecting the best Life Science recruiters and bringing them on board to work with us. According to her, Panda’s success comes from our dedication to testing out new employee initiatives.

“When you consider the people we are looking to attract, you can see that we want the best of the best. We strive to hire experienced headhunters, top-scoring graduates, and ambitious over-achievers. To bring these individuals into our fold, we make every effort to offer an array of competitive benefits.”

One of Panda’s most recent schemes introduced a four-day workweek to the team. It’s already seeing incredible results and significantly benefiting mental health. 

“To promote a healthy work-life balance our recruiters are given the opportunity to take a four day work week and enjoy a three-day weekend. This is made possible by the accountability of our team and the way they take ownership of their work. It is great to have the flexibility and the freedom to do this and have an extra ‘life admin day’ or an extra day to travel!”

Establishing a Strong Employer Brand

Why are we so successful?

Polly credits Panda’s culture, employee wellbeing, and team-building efforts as three of the most essential players contributing toward our goal to bring in top talent. They lay the foundation for a strong employer brand, allowing our reputation to speak for itself.

“We’re always looking to introduce more wellbeing initiatives within the business so that we can give our employees the highest level of care possible. 

We already offer gym memberships and host clubs for different hobbies and activities, including running. This gives everyone a chance to get together, do things that they enjoy, and bond further as a team.”

She also acknowledges that the ambitious nature of our workplace needs to be bolstered with additional support.

“At the end of the day, we’re a recruitment organisation with targets to meet. To motivate our team and boost their spirits, we always take the time to acknowledge someone’s effort. Whether they’ve placed the perfect candidate in their dream role or been promoted internally, we’ll pop a bottle of champagne and make sure they feel celebrated!”

Offering Ongoing Career Progression

Still, there’s more. 

To successfully offer job satisfaction to our employees – both new and experienced –, Panda looks to promote career progression and ongoing learning and development in all areas.

“When you join Panda, you’re welcomed with open arms. We have a pre-established onboarding process that runs every employee through the basics, like using our systems. If you’re new to the industry, you’ll get lots of additional classroom time to get you up to speed.”

“From there, every employee has a Career Pathway that clearly outlines where they are now and what their next steps should be. This can take someone from a trainee right through to management if that’s something they aspire to. As a part of this, employees are offered constant support, training, and progress updates. 

It’s all mapped out.”

Polly then explains that the further you go up on Panda’s career ladder, the more benefits an employee can unlock for themselves…

“Once you’ve been with us for a while and have earned the title ‘Principal Consultant’, you gain the option to work remotely anywhere in the world for up to four months in the year. One of our team members - Beata – has recently enjoyed a month-long remote working trip to Portugal Because she went above and beyond in achieving her target for the previous quarter, we paid for her flights and accommodation as a way of saying ‘thank you’.”

Competing for Talent

To finish up her interview, Polly gave us a little insight into Panda’s general recruitment process. 

“The demand for talent, especially in the recruitment market, is always going to remain high. Still, there are fantastic candidates out there and I’m certain that the decisions we make within Panda are the key to attracting them.

We onboard employees from a range of sectors, introducing them to the Life Science industry and promising them an incredible long-term career. We get to make a difference in the world every single day, which is a big selling point for anyone who wants to do something more.”

Working for Panda

Are you a recruiter who has reached a ceiling in your current role? Are you looking for something different with real meaning?

We can provide it. 

Panda has always invested in our employees and we would love to have you on the team. We reward hard effort and promise to never let your achievements go unappreciated.

Please reach out to the Head of Talent Acquisition – Polly Stafford - +31 20 20 44 502 – p.stafford@panda-int.com