Forget what you might know about human resources. As industries rapidly change, HR professionals must keep up with the business demands, the evolving talent market, technology trends and employee expectations. At BMS, our Global Human Resources team works diligently to accomplish this goal while attracting, supporting and nurturing the best possible talent — in every role and position. This requires a new type of HR professional who not only identifies personally with our mission to transform patients’ lives, but also embraces every opportunity to make a positive impact on just about every area of the company.

Because of that, we’re fortunate to have Nicolette Mitchell and Rajh Odi, two Global HR colleagues who consistently help deliver this level of excellence. Both senior managers, they are fundamental in two distinct and important roles — Nicolette as Senior Manager and Talent Acquisition Partner for Commercial, and Rajh in Talent Strategy Reporting and Analytics.

Making the Move

Nicolette began her career as an HR generalist in Washington, DC. Wanting bigger challenges — and perhaps better weather — she joined BMS, working out of our Tampa offices. She quickly rose to senior talent acquisition partner, taking on greater external responsibilities — attracting new employees via a more strategic and global focus. At BMS, she found a welcoming work culture for someone with her experience that also gave her the room to grow and develop.

“BMS is very open to professional development. Management wants to make sure you’re engaged and that you’re learning within your role, but also outside your role so you can take the next step.”

Nicolette primarily supports the BMS Commercial organization as a lead for our Medical Affairs business. In this capacity she sees herself as a bridge between the business units themselves and the right candidates. For her, it means having a solid understanding of the strategy side of the organization and the scope of their collaborative partnerships across BMS, as well as bringing her own creativity and innovative thinking.

“We have to make sure we are hiring the right individuals and we're not just placing someone anywhere. We need to align skillsets with the roles and make sure the culture aligns with a candidate’s background and career goals, while fulfilling what the organization is looking for in terms of talent.”

Add to that her global remit and Nicolette’s responsibilities take on a whole new — worldwide — dimension, one that she, of course, welcomes. “I'm fortunate on my end to work with everyone, from strategy and operations to finance to compensation, across the board, while grasping and understanding the nuances and the pieces.”

Success by the Numbers

Rajh has worked in healthcare and talent acquisition for most of his career, and soon realized he has a knack for analytics, data and operations — “technology and anything technical,” is how he puts it. It was a crucial moment in his career journey, one that opened up greater opportunities within TA and pharma and driven largely by his desire to learn and grow. Rajh was looking at recruitment from the perspective of data analysis and reporting in order to better anticipate future TA needs and trends.

“I got the opportunity to use some of my prior skillsets and experiences to pivot my career. In addition to that, I've taken some courses, I've attended conferences and I've done a lot of self-learning. I've realized that there are a good number of people in HR who don't have traditional HR backgrounds. So, looking at that data, I said, ‘Wow, this is something that we definitely will see more of.’”

Data and analytics might not readily come to mind for most people when thinking about human resources. But with the increasing prevalence of technology, the large number of open roles global companies like BMS must fill, and the sheer volume of applications to track and manage, having someone with Rajh’s expertise and knowledge is highly valued.

From a learning and development perspective, Rajh has not only been owning it, he’s also been giving back. For instance, he inaugurated “lunch and learn” series for colleagues about the value of TA analytics. Now he’s looking into implementing a self-service model of tech support within TA. For him, it’s a balance.

“Being at BMS there’s plenty of opportunity to be entrepreneurial as well as being able to devote some time for self-development. You shape your career here and bring your own ideas to the table. BMS does a great job supporting that.”

Most Important Resource

Nicolette and Rajh exemplify the kind of colleagues that define — and enhance — personal and professional success at BMS. By bringing their best selves to their respective talent acquisition roles, they're helping BMS teams around the world do the same every day. If having this kind of people-centric impact matters to you, explore a fulfilling career with our HR organization’s Global Talent Acquisition team.