Global heads of statistical programming functions manage diverse teams of individuals across multiple countries and cultures. Keeping everyone engaged is a fundamental skill of a global head. Staff engagement is one of the known drivers of productivity and is therefore of critical importance. What can leaders do to keep their employees engaged? In times like these, where most teams work remotely, do leaders need to adapt their leadership style to keep engagement at a high level?
Li Zheng (Genentech) and Olivier Leconte (Janssen Research & Development) attempt to answer these questions in our newest podcast in the PHUSE series The Undeniable Truth About 6 Skills Statistical Programming Heads Have That No One Is Telling You. Li and Olivier share their experiences of leading global statistical programming teams spread across multiple sites.
Watch Engagement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMNPc4ksgVg
Employee engagement is all about motivating employees to do their very best to achieve a common goal. As Li explains in the podcast, engagement is a community effort, which cannot be forced from top to bottom. In a collaborative and connected statistical programming community, even peers engage and coach one another. Functional leaders play an essential role here as they need to create a culture where employees engage themselves. How can they do this? Olivier believes that leaders need to have both a vision and a plan.
It is important that leaders adjust their leadership style and calibrate to various personalities as well as carefully listen to their employees. Leaders should challenge, and welcome being challenged. Intellectual debates are the basis for staff engagement and productivity. If a leader were to choose a top to bottom approach here, employees would comply but they would most likely stop being engaged. Clear communication and transparent decision-making are essential in this process. This is a huge challenge in a multicultural environment – and leaders should be aware of that.
When you watch Li and Olivier discussing this key skill, you will learn about the challenges in keeping employees engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic. These days, everyone is working remotely. The purpose of statistical programmers working in the pharmaceutical industry has never been more tangible. Many companies are contributing to global solutions to fight the pandemic; hence, the overarching objective to save the world has never been more realistic than it is today.
At PHUSE, we are blessed with a strong spirit of participation. Regardless of whether they contribute to the success of our events, are active members of our Working Groups or support the self-education efforts, our PHUSE volunteers are committed to advancing the industry and the regulatory landscape.
If you want to dive deeper into engagement, there are several resources available. The personality aspect of employee engagement is tackled in the excellent Harvard Business Review article Is Employee Engagement Just a Reflection of Personality? by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and others. Amy Bradley and Sharon Olivier have written another great article: How Engaged Is Your Team, Really?
Management book author Patrick Lencioni wrote The Truth about Employee Engagement. Following the style of his New York Times best-selling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni’s fable of engagement unravels the mysteries of employee satisfaction.
Alternatively, you could simply start by watching a thought-provoking TED talk such as Frientorship: The Solution to the Employee Engagement Problem by Claudia Williams.
Our PHUSE Education team is continually pooling educational material to help our community to explore these vital job skills further.
