Leading Through Adversity: How Putting People First Drives Success
By Christine Miller
This is the second article in a series on “putting people first” as a leader. Click here to read the first article in the series.
I've always believed that the true measure of a company's success lies in its people. When your teams have clarity and are aligned around shared goals, the natural outcome is high performance and engagement toward achieving those goals, both personal and professional.
It’s one thing to say that in a business school paper or LinkedIn post, it’s another to actually implement it.
When I joined Melinta Therapeutics as President and CEO during the pandemic summer of 2020, I embarked on a mission to redefine our organizational culture, placing a strong emphasis on putting people first.
Our focus as a company is becoming an industry leader providing innovative therapies to people impacted by acute and life-threatening illnesses; to me, that means that the single most important asset we have is our team. And we had to do right by them.
Listening Is Leading
That time in our country’s history was a period when so many of us were questioning our society, our role in it, and what we could do to help make a difference. In my case, I recognized that I had the unique responsibility of modeling the kind of change I wanted to see in my capacity as an executive.
I don’t think I fully appreciated at the time how much this commitment would be tested.
On a sobering note: our employee satisfaction score stood at a disappointing 69%. In a time when the world of virtual work was exploding, and talent had more options than ever for where to bring their skillsets, we could not let this status quo persist. It was evident that our culture needed a transformation, and I was determined to lead the charge.
Armed with a vision of fostering a workplace where every individual feels valued and empowered, we set out to instill a culture of trust, transparency, and collaboration. (And I stress that word “we.” This was a team effort, through and through.)
A mountain of research reflects that organizations that prioritize investing in creating a positive workplace culture for their people, reap the rewards; analysis from SHRM Research, for example, has found that positive emotional states and high employee satisfaction at work are linked to higher productivity and performance. But there’s work to be done, considering that less than 53% of professionals surveyed worldwide give their organizations high ratings on culture and work/life integration.
We set out to do our part in moving the needle at our organization. We embarked on a comprehensive strategy to co-create and co-reimagine our mission, vision, and core values with our employees. Many leaders have kicked off their tenures in new roles by embarking on listening tours. This is a proven strategy for quickly meeting colleagues, gaining a sense of the land, and demonstrating that you are more interested in listening than lecturing.
In some ways, the pandemic made this process more thorough than it might have been in normal times. With no ability to fly across the country, I was able to meet with every single person in the company over Zoom. Through many, many one-on-one conversations and small group sessions, I had the privilege of gaining invaluable insights into the aspirations and concerns of our team members.
I heard from colleagues across the organization, but we kept returning to a few consistent sets of questions that impacted all of us — what was the culture of the company? What do they want the culture of the company to be? And what would they do with the company if they were CEO?
I wanted to walk in their shoes as much as I could and understand their pain points early on. My team listened intently, taking note of their feedback (both qualitative and quantitative) and incorporating it into our cultural initiatives. We quickly got to work implementing their feedback and holding ourselves accountable for doing better — laying out some strategic priorities with bold goals, including establishing an employee-driven cultural advisory board focused on embedding our new culture that would lead the company to becoming a recognized leader in acute care.
The results were nothing short of remarkable. Within less than a year and half — working diligently with concentrated focus — we conducted the same survey, and our employee satisfaction score soared to an impressive 94%. It was a testament to the power of prioritizing people and fostering a culture of mutual respect and support. We held high expectations of one another and as a result, we have outperformed many of our peers in terms of job satisfaction.
And with the buy-in of each other, we achieved great things, driving product revenue growth by over 60% in two years and achieving profitability for the first time. It was an affirmation of my central belief: create an environment where people can be their best selves, and they will yield amazing results.
Putting People First
The journey was far from over. In the subsequent year, we faced a new series of daunting challenges. The macro environment for our industry grew increasingly turbulent. We had ambitious business goals and faced — as many in the industry faced — some market challenges. While we achieved some of our big goals, we did fall short on others as a result. As we prepared to conduct another employee satisfaction survey, I braced myself for the possibility of a dip in our scores.
Yet, to my astonishment and delight, our latest survey results exceeded all expectations once again. Despite the adversities we faced, our employee satisfaction score climbed to an unprecedented 95%. It was a reaffirmation of the resilience and strength of our organizational culture, a culture rooted in the fundamental principle of putting people first.
Throughout the year, our commitment to transparency and open communication remained unwavering — both throughout our successes and our unexpected challenges.
At Melinta, we are not merely focused on achieving short-term success; we are invested in nurturing and empowering our employees to reach their full potential. Our Chief Commercial Officer once said something that has really stuck with me: We must strive to be developers of talent, not just acquirers. It is through this commitment to personal and professional growth that we will continue to thrive as we pursue some challenging goals, no matter the challenges we may face together, whether it’s a pandemic or whatever the future holds.
Our journey is a testament to the transformative power of putting people first. By prioritizing the engagement of and connection with our employees, we have not only weathered storms but emerged stronger and more resilient than ever before. As we look to the future, I am confident that our unwavering commitment to our people will continue to drive our success and propel us to new heights.
About The Author:
Christine Miller is president and CEO of Melinta Therapeutics.