Useful Advices - Business

A March 5, 2007 article in the L.A. Times entitled "U.S. Looking for Ways to Retain Older Workers" highlights a critical issue not just for employers, but for our country's economic welfare. The article explains that

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

recent expert testimony before the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on Aging concluded that "A wave of retiring workers will weigh down U.S. economic growth in the coming years, unless … employers take steps to hang on to more

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

lder employees."

In response, the article says, the chairman of the committee has introduced legislation that would give employers a tax credit for putting into place flexible scheduling that would enable older workers to sta

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

in the workplace and maintain their benefits. Javon Bea, an executive at a network of medical facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin, thinks this is a step in the right direction. "I think that the mature workers can actually r

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

late to [our] patients better than our more impatient, younger workers," he told the Times. "As a business … we benefit."

With this issue on the minds from everyone from business owners and leaders to Al Gore – who i

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

his Academy Award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" warns that the world is set to swell in population from two billion to around nine billion people in the next 40 to 50 years – we decided to survey owners and lead

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

ers of successful small businesses, our Best Bosses*. Here are a few of their thoughts on best practices for attracting and retaining mature employees.

Demographers predict an impending shortage of employees in tradit

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

onal age ranges. A number of economic forces are converging to encourage workers to extend their years or employment. Are either of these factors affecting your business? If so, how? 2006 Best Boss Richard Catura

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

o, President, Vitale, Caturano & Company (marketing services, <500 employees): Yes. There are a number of Baby Boomer CPAs approaching retirement, so the shortage of CPAs becomes more acute.

2006 Best Boss Timothy P.

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

Keenan, President and Founder, High Performance Technologies, Inc. (information technology, <500 employees): We provide our services predominantly to the federal government and see the Baby Boomer retirement wave happenin

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

. This has created a significant change in our business, as the government can no longer staff their own positions and key expertise is retiring. Our firm is being asked to step into the breach and fill these needs.

Presi

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

dent of a Midwest-based management and technology consulting firm, <100 employees: No. The technology industry is constantly changing. Therefore, the technology we work with [was developed] within the last 10 years and ty

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

ically our employees are younger working on the ever-changing technologies. The average age of our employees would be mid 30s.

Does your organization have a particular interest in hiring "mature" employees? If so, wha

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

measures do you have in place to do so? 2005 Best Boss Trish Karter, President, Dancing Deer Baking Co. (consumer goods, <100 employees): We always look for maturity – in many interpretations. Typically in

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

he professional staff we, as a growing and small company, have a hard time hiring "gray hair" because we can't afford it. But we value wisdom and experience. We often substitute raw potential.

Keenan: Yes, we do. We

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

re looking at job sharing and specialty positions to account for [this] personnel need for less hours and more flexibility.

What do you see as the benefits that mature employees offer your organization?

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

>2004 Best Boss Georgia Berner, President and CEO, Berner International Corp. (manufacturing, <100 employees): Skills, experience, wisdom. They bring an understanding of how people work together, and of how to get things

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

one. I would say that their emotional intelligence level is much higher than that of younger employees. We try to avoid hiring individuals who are rigid and not open to new ideas – who have their minds made up before they walk

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

in the door. We find that this mindset is ageless – [it can be found in employees who are] 20 years old or 60 years old.

2006 Best Boss Megan Glasheen, Managing Member, Reno & Cavanaugh, PLLC (professional services, <50 e

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ployees): The "mature" workers that we have employed have always been flexible and creative thinkers.

Keenan: Their experience base is unquestioned and it offers my workforce a ready access to [a] knowledge base

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.usefuladvices.org.ua/article/45447/usefuladvices-Successful-Business-Owners-Weigh-in-on-How-to-Keep-Older-Employees-in-Workforce.html">Successful Business Owners Weigh in on How to Keep Older Employees in Workforce</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.usefuladvices.org.ua/article/45447/usefuladvices-Successful-Business-Owners-Weigh-in-on-How-to-Keep-Older-Employees-in-Workforce.html]Successful Business Owners Weigh in on How to Keep Older Employees in Workforce[/url]

I once wrote a direct mail piece that generated a dreadful response rate. It was too high.

Each year the United States Chamber of Commerce announces which States have the best and worst legal system. For the fifth year in a row, Delaware has received the top honors, being named the State with the fairest legal system. Additionally, a survey of U.S. businesses ranked Delaware as the State doing the best job of creating a fair and reasonable legal environment. As many of the top businesses in the United States, and a growing number of small and medium sized businesses, have chosen Delaware as the place to incorporate, that ranking should not come as a big surprise.

Tags

Links

Useful Advices - Successful Business Owners Weigh in on How to Keep Older Employees in Workforce

Related Articles: