Following acquisition by a global industry leader, this highly successful UK-based biotech company underwent significant organisational change. Leaders wanted to explore employee views to support successful integration into the international group whilst maintaining the high-performing, unique culture that originated in the dynamic, fast-growing start-up.
The Little Survey Company worked with senior leaders to create a bespoke solution to discover how best to support people to thrive in this exciting environment.
Anna Johnstone, Director of The Little Survey Company, said:
“It is a huge credit to the leadership team and all wider team members to see such an enviable level of engagement. This project identified many positive aspects to proactively lean into as the company grows. Insights were also shared in relation to where this strong motivation may tip into overwork and unsustainable levels of stress. Actions are now underway to address these issues, targeting specific pinch points flagged in the survey, to ensure this doesn’t negatively impact upon quality and the company can continue to go from strength to strength.”
Employing around 50 people, predominantly greatly talented and driven scientists, this is a small company with a substantial impact. Thanks to enviable employee engagement and a highly positive culture, the company delivers innovative technologies to clinicians and patients worldwide.
The leadership team sought to identify, celebrate and strengthen the factors contributing to the exceptional success of their motivated and accomplished – yet geographically scattered - team, recognising the importance of maintaining well-being and engagement whilst embracing cohesive growth in alignment with challenging wider group demands.
The Little Survey Company was selected to create a people-focused survey tailored to discover what people value most in their work; to tease out the challenges they face; and to identify areas for improvement.
An exceptional response rate and abundance of thoughtful survey comments were achieved through personally communicating the value, purpose and methodology of the process.
An enriched understanding of the findings was unveiled through a subsequent Listening Tour where participants were confident that all comments would be aggregated and anonymised. The Little Survey Company met small groups of volunteers who offered their candid thoughts about the primary themes arising from the earlier survey.
Deeply insightful findings, based on plentiful, reliable data from the survey and Listening Tour revealed a culture of trust, agility and innovation, where leaders and colleagues were supported and valued, where individuals appreciated the inclusive nature of the company and enjoyed generous recompense. Furthermore, employees clearly valued the company's social aspects, with fun events and celebrations being an integral part of the culture.
From these strongly positive themes, The Little Survey Company identified opportunities for the leadership team to celebrate and strengthen existing successes and to make visible, people-focused improvements that would further enhance employee experiences.
With passionately motivated individuals tempted to work long hours and during leave, developing a strategy to create a sustainable and healthy work environment was a priority for long-term company success. The Little Survey Company recommended actions for achieving this.
In sharing the action plan, leaders demonstrated that they - as one employee put it “genuinely care about culture and people” – and have a determination to maintain a culture where feedback is actively sought, listened to, and acted upon; and where, ultimately, people can thrive and the organisation can flourish.
To obtain rich feedback from the people with whom you work, please do get in touch.
