A true story of how a biopharmaceutical company in North Wales transformed its fortunes in five years to secure its future with employee surveys.

2004: Ipsen Biopharm ceases manufacture of their core product and makes around 100 people redundant, a third of the workforce. The future success of the company relies on launching its up and coming product in the US market, but that requires license approval by the FDA (US Food & Drugs Agency), by no means a foregone conclusion. The very future of the site is on the line. Morale is low, working practices are outdated, and there is little trust and cooperation between management and staff.

Absenteeism is running at 8-9%

June 2009 Chris Marshall, Research Director at Employesurveys is the first person to see the results of Ipsen Biopharm’s 2009 employee survey.  “I was amazed – the results were truly outstanding, not just in terms of the absolute scores for each question, which were superb, but the degree of improvement in a three year period since our first survey with the company in 2006. The results are certainly among the best we have come across”.

Absenteeism is now averaging 1.5%.

This begs the question: just how did they do that?

Alison Tucker is Ipsen Biopharm’s Head of HR. She has been with the company since 2001 and is one of the Senior Management Team who led the change. “In 2004 we were 20 to 30 years behind the times; inward looking, staid and hierarchical. The management style was mushroom management and there was a blame culture. We knew we were not in good shape to deal with an uncertain future. Since then we have benefitted from a stable and forward thinking senior management team of six people headed by Mike Harvey. We knew we had to change the culture or we might cease to be. It was that serious. We knew we had to pass a rigorous pre approval inspection by the FDA or else the site would not be licensed. That helped focus the mind and we set about the task.” (As it happened, when the inspection time came they sailed through without a single blemish – an outstanding achievement in itself).

Over the next five years not much was left alone. It all started with a first ever company conference in 2004. It was called 20/20 and its purpose was to set a clear vision that everyone could believe in. Around this time a climate survey was conducted that revealed the size of the task. The survey highlighted to management the changes that were needed. The management team promised action and they were true to their word.

One of the first things to go was reserved parking for directors and senior managers. Even more significant was clocking in and out. This was seen as demonstrating a lack of trust. As Alison puts it “employees wouldn’t give us a minute, because we wouldn’t give them a minute”. Another symbolic change was the removal of approval forms to visit a dentist or doctor. This was left to managers to use their discretion. These steps and others started to build trust, but as Alison said “it takes time.”

Communication across the business was identified as a key area that needed to be transformed. The first conference in 2004 has become an annual event. A Wrexham site forum was set up to allow for discussion and consultation on any matter. Core monthly and quarterly briefing sessions were set up and strictly adhered to. Induction was reviewed and a new induction programme was introduced.

Alison is convinced that regularity and consistency were key factors. “To build trust and commitment, you need to demonstrate over and over that you mean what you say. We continued to survey and we were able to use the briefing process post survey to share the results – warts and all!” Chris Marshall from Employesurveys believes that the way Ipsen Biopharm managed the post survey process was ‘textbook’. “They were open and honest with the results. They asked the employees in workshops what they wanted to see happen and categorised ideas that emerged into three themes: quick wins for immediate action, actions to be implemented within nine months and ideas that require further review or consideration”. Gradually, they proved to all but the biggest sceptics that they were serious and the remaining sceptics in time became increasingly isolated. The survey had clearly played a key role in helping to move the organisation forward.

Leadership, management, and rewards are key factors that help to build employee commitment and engagement. Recognising the need for effective and skilled management, all managers at Ipsen Biopharm now take part in a management development programme. The recent success of the business means that they are able to provide staff with excellent pay and benefits and improve working conditions. A self financing bonus scheme is a new imaginative initiative that allows all employees to share in success by improving efficiency and saving costs.

The leadership team realised early that they needed to lead by example and that they needed to make sure that none of the initiatives drifted.

Commenting on the 2009 survey results, Mike Harvey, Director, said “We are all proud of what we have achieved. Our people have security, good pay and conditions; they work in an effective organisation but are realistic that it is a business in a competitive world.  We are seen as a centre of excellence within the Ipsen Group which is an extraordinary turnaround from where we once were. Everyone at Ipsen deserves credit for this”.

Some highlights from the survey:

•    89% of questions scored above the benchmark
•    98% employees are willing to change if it would improve the site’s performance
•    97% employees are treated pleasantly by colleagues
•    96% employees say their department concentrates on meeting customer needs
•    95% employees say Ipsen Biopharm is a good place to work
•    88% employees feel that the company is genuinely interested in their welfare.

So what happens now? This year’s results are being briefed and discussed. Areas where they can make further improvements will be identified and together they will see what can be done. As Alison says “The change in attitude, the willingness to consider new systems, the way we share knowledge, all these things have helped us to become a thriving organisation. Everyone has personal objectives that are linked to the site’s goals. The culture is supported by good systems and processes that put us in a very strong position. The survey was instrumental in identifying what changes were needed to help improve staff motivation, commitment and engagement”.