National Post (National Edition)
CULTURE HELPS GENERATE NEXT-GEN LEADERS
“Moving these large, strategic initiatives would not be possible without our people feeling invested in our purpose. People feel like they are a part of something bigger.”
FOCUSED ON DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION
OF LEADERS
Organizations continue to prioritize employee development and retention. They are focused on succession planning, and are taking a proactive approach to developing diverse pipelines for a variety of roles. “This has been happening for a while, but the sophistication is growing,” says Parker. “Our team-building leadership work at Waterstone has tripled because organizations want access to best practices in this area. They are identifying the skills they have and those they'll need to drive their strategic plans, and they're developing the next level of leadership from within their organizations.”
More than this, learning and development programs are being shaped through the lens of inclusivity as well as the key behaviours that drive performance in their organizations. This is exactly the case at biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Canada, a 2023 Canada's Most Admired Corporate Culture Enterprise category winner.
Gaby Bourbara is a result of the purpose-driven company's approach to developing its next generation of leaders. Bourbara joined the company as an MBA coop student from McMaster University 22 years ago and went on to hold senior commercial roles in a number of therapeutic areas. He led the U.S. respiratory business and served in Canadian and global leadership roles in oncology before his appointment as general manager of Alexion, the company's rare disease business. On March 1, 2024, he became president of AstraZeneca Canada.
“AstraZeneca has an incredibly diverse and inclusive culture that supports life-long learning, growth and development,” says Bourbara. “I am here because of the strong leaders who mentored me, the learnings I gained from exposure to markets within and outside of Canada, and opportunities to grow and build capabilities in different functions and roles along the way.”
AstraZeneca Canada's approach is rooted in the belief that the company is at its best when employees are at theirs. Exposing employees to ongoing learning and skills development, along with encouraging them to explore stretch projects and new roles, is key to sustaining a high-performance culture.
“We have a powerful purpose to push the boundaries of science to deliver lifechanging medicines,” says Bourbara. “The magic happens when diverse perspectives are valued and heard, and when people are supported in getting the breadth and depth that helps them grow into strong contributors and excellent leaders. I have experienced this throughout my career, and it's what I try to model. It's the collective power of diverse teams that drives innovation, solves challenges, and enables great performance,” says Bourbara.
The result: AstraZeneca recently announced a major expansion of its R&D hub, the creation of a new Alexion rare disease hub in Canada, and hired 500 highly skilled people in the last year. “This global investment in AstraZeneca Canada is a recognition of our positive, collaborative and inclusive culture and our track record,” says Bourbara.
PURPOSE-DRIVEN
PurposeMed, a virtual care company connecting patients dealing with complex health challenges with specialist clinicians, launched its first brand, Freddie, during the early days of the pandemic. Since then, the Canada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures Emerging category winner has set itself apart as a high-performing organization improving access to empathetic, complex care to some of Canada's most vulnerable communities: LGBTQ2S+ individuals, neurodivergent persons, and people who are gender-diverse.
“We're committed to solving some of health care's most complex challenges that no one else is willing to tackle. To do that, we team up with passionate, high achievers who aren't afraid to do things differently and who are aligned to our key values of being patient-first in all we do, working with urgency as a team, and taking ownership of achieving results,” says cofounder and CEO, Dr. Husein Moloo.
PurposeMed's mission and the nature of the services it provides has meant a deep commitment to advancing DEIB from day one. “There's no way we'd be able to develop the right services for the communities we're building for without having such a diverse team to represent and share the lived experiences of our patients.”
Based on self-reported data, 68 per cent of PurposeMed's team members identify as women, five per cent as non-binary, gender fluid, or multiple genders, and two per cent identify as transgender. Twenty-five per cent are part of the LGBTQ2S+ community, 21 per cent are living with a disability, and 33 per cent are of racialized identity.
PurposeMed has incorporated sexual health education into the onboarding process, launched a DEIB council, developed patient advisory boards, provided more than $130,000 to date in grants and sponsorships to LGBTQ2S+ groups, and increased mental health benefits and gender-affirming care to better support team members.
PurposeMed's keen alignment to their mission is making Canada's health care system more inclusive and accessible — and changing lives for the better. Their team is achieving patient satisfaction averages greater than 97 per cent across its brands.
It is helping to prevent over 125 HIV cases per year through Freddie, Canada's largest and highest-rated sexual health service for the LGBTQ2S+ community. Data from more than 10,000 patients treated by PurposeMed's Frida, which provides diagnosis and treatment for adult ADHD, shows 80 per cent reported clinically significant improvements in feelings of hopefulness and self-worth within six weeks and patients see a 34 per cent improvement in their ADHD symptoms by month four. An astounding 99 per cent of Frida patients say they've experienced a positive life impact from their treatment.
“Not only does our work have such a positive impact on our patients, but our focus on preventative care saves the Canadian health care system hundreds of millions of dollars by reducing HIV transmissions (through Freddie alone). The success we've experienced through growing Freddie has allowed us to expand our brand lineup and help thousands of patients through Frida, and provide crucial care to our gender-affirming care patients with Foria,” says Dr. Moloo. “We've just launched Freddie in the U.S. and are excited about what's to come. As we move forward, our commitment to our mission remains unchanged: we'll keep opening doors to compassionate care for those who have previously felt left out in the cold.”