By Tamara Lovi
WLP Thought Leadership Series is a bi-monthly communication to Women Leaders in Pharma from the WLP Board of Directors. It is intended to be thought provoking, stimulate reflections on industry trends and leadership, and further empower women to reach their full potential.
2022 Outlook for WLP
Dear Women Leaders in Pharma,
WLP has high ambitions for 2022. We plan to double our membership by the end of 2022, growing from over 400 to reach 800 members. The more women we reach, the more women we help empower. And the more change we can ignite throughout the Canadian pharmaceutical industry. Through an exciting offering, tailored to the needs of our members, we fulfill our mission:
Enhanced Coaching & Mentorship programs
Inspiring events
Optimized networking opportunities
New thought-provoking podcast series
Expansion into the US
Thanks to our many generous sponsors for providing the means to achieve our mission.
For more details, check out our website: https://www.womenleadersinpharma.com/ and make sure to follow-us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Leadership: how it has evolved since March 2020
Although the pandemic has had devastating impacts on so many levels, it has also had some positive impacts. One such positive “side-effect” has been a heightened focus on employee well-being and engagement, which have often been in 3rd or 4th place, lagging behind other business priorities.
The focus on employee well-being and engagement requires leaders to lead with empathy and empower their teams. Both of these skills are finally receiving heightened attention from employers and are increasingly making their way into employee development plans and company values. How would you rate yourself, or your team, on these critical leadership skills?
From what I have seen (and heard) in the past year, many leaders in our industry “cranked up” their leading with empathy emphasis, yet too few leaders truly empower their teams. Empowering people is key to driving engagement(1) and it allows everyone in an organization to rise to their full potential. Empowerment is the new delegation; it provides the opportunity for more strategic thinking, more creativity, and a greater sense of accomplishment.
As we move through 2022, and continue to focus on employee well-being and engagement, we will be creating a new workplace. Based on articles published by PWC and McKinsey (3)(4) in 2021, employee preferences for hybrid models are all over the map. What this insight tells us is that flexibility will be key.
What is exciting is the unique opportunity we have to shape the employee experience (2)(4) and create a new, reimagined work environment designed for and by the employees it serves. Keeping employee well-being at the heart of our thought process, and being sensitive to the diversity of the workforce and their respective needs, we can only end up at a better place than where we were, prior to March 2020.
Wishing you all a joyful, healthy and fulfilling 2022. Let’s continue to empower each other to reach one another’s full potential!
Tamara Lovi
Vice-President of the Board & Co-Founder
Women Leaders in Pharma
Sources:
(1) Cornerstone: Why empowerment is key to employee engagement, Aug 7th 2017
(2) HBR: How to Empower and Engage Your Workforce by Focusing on the Employee Experience, Nov 14th 2019
(3) PWC: Future of work: what boards should be thinking about, Aug 2021
(4) McKinsey: This time it’s personal: Shaping the ‘new possible’ through employee experience, Sept 30th 2021
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