Treat uncertainty: how successful pharmacy chiefs can protect the well-being of employees and net profit

Employees and managers of the pharmaceutical industry face a state of increased uncertainty and anxiety. Recent events do not help. Politics becomes more polarized, the financial markets are relaxing under the weight of unpredictability, and the labor market is shaken by everything, from AI to new policies returning to the office. Pharmaceutical companies set up war rooms to sail in rapid regulatory changes and prices. Uncertainty is not uncommon, but this moment is different.

Current emergency is the potential impact of anxiety on mental health and productivity. The latest human development report of the United Nations Development Program noted that the number of people expressing stress, sadness, anxiety, anger or concern is at a top of ten years. In addition to the obvious impact on well -being, this stress and anxiety have a direct impact on the production of employees – with an estimate of Gallup which cost each year 8.9 billions of lost productivity, or 9% of world GDP.

It is hardly surprising. Environment threats can reduce concentration and write innovation and collaboration. Being overwhelmed by repeated and unresolved threats leads to paralysis. If employees already feel threats in their personal life, it is not much necessary for work events to overwhelm them. The pharmaceutical industry has seen this overwhelming anxiety and the corresponding decline in productivity during disruptive or destabilizing events such as mergers or reorganizations. The industry has also seen how managers can follow certain very specific strategies to considerably reduce anxiety and stimulate productivity and innovation. These research lessons on effective changes can provide pharmaceutical leaders with strategies to help their employees in current uncertain and anxiety moments.

Operate in a common language

In emotionally complex conversations, a common language allows alignment to the question in question can be extremely useful. As a species, humans are motivated by survival and curiosity – by nature looking for both threats and novelty. This double motivation led to evolving a system with two channels, which governs our response during a period of uncertainty. The survival channel is activated by threats and leads to feelings of fear, anxiety and stress, triggering the sympathetic nervous system to attract all the attention to the elimination or the elimination of the threat. On the other hand, the Thrive canal is activated by opportunities and is associated with feelings of excitement, passion, joy and enthusiasm. These triggers activate the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing our mind to expand its perspective and collaborate new ways. Understanding these human responses and using the language of threats and opportunities can help leaders to take up the challenges more precisely and to call what is necessary to move from anxiety to action.

Transparently tackle threats and opportunities

With a common language in place, pharmaceutical leaders can start working with their teams to identify the threats and key opportunities that create anxiety or excitement. Whether they come from the modification of the regulations of the FDA, from the legislation on the pricing of drugs, patent cliffs or another change which can disturb the status quo, an open discussion on what may or not a change will help keep the emphasis on real threats – not perceived.

The leaders often hesitate to approach the uncertainty head on, fearing to create more anxiety in the process. But that only does employees that feel unrealized and psychologically dangerous. Research on mental health in America indicates that less than 50% of employers encourage transparent communication. In a world very connected with almost endless sources of information, protecting employees from uncertain news often turns against, while rumors exceed reality.

The adoption of AI is a perfect example of a threat and uncertain opportunity. While more and more pharmaceutical organizations are starting to experiment with AI, the threat of job losses or job redefinition is still present in the media. Although the changes to certain jobs accompany certain AI applications, this impact is certainly not universal and will be felt in different ways between the functions. Managers should have this conversation. They should approach the possible impacts of AI in specific contexts, even if it is still speculative to ensure that the employees and patients they support can also see the opportunities that present. Managers who do this focus on use cases that add value quickly and clearly. For example, some pharmaceutical companies have started using generative AI to accelerate the discovery of drugs and predict the results of clinical trials. Companies like Novartis have also done a good work of articulation for their employees where and how AI can be useful and what are the current limits to its use.

Adopt various experiences and various responses

The science of the brain teaches us that we do not all have the same response to the same stimuli. An experienced clinical researcher at the start of a new difficult medication test could have their prosperous channel highly activated by the work they are pursuing, but a novice researcher could rather be in survive mode, intimidated by the complexity of the task and the possibility of failure. Our experiences, personalities and objectives all have a role to play in the way we perceive a certain event.

Looking again at the example of AI, some pharmaceutical employees could be excited by the prospect of using cutting -edge technology to discover new therapies faster, while others may be afraid of the learning curve to adopt new tools. In another context, with returns to the office, some employees will see an opportunity to learn from their peers and others may have trouble losing flexibility.

Pharmaceutical leaders must recognize these disparate reactions and recognize the legitimacy of the different responses of the employees. The messaging on changes should reflect these various points of view and aim to alleviate anxiety by clear, coherent and empathetic communication. Amplify excitation by focusing on the advantages of a change, but be careful not to overestimate or generalize.

Crop threats as opportunities

Uncertainty is not necessarily bad – times of change and disturbance are filled with possibilities to find new and better ways of working. Managers can help their teams recognize the threats they face, but also to focus on finding opportunities. If new regulatory requirements disrupt how a pharmaceutical company has worked, it will do so for the whole industry, potentially creating an opportunity to move the landscape and go out.

For example, consider price reform mandates. Pharmaceutical leaders can sympathize and recognize the challenges that the mandates present are present, while discussing the opportunities they have for greater innovation and access to patients. But a word of prudence: leaders can easily seem disconnected from reality if their attempt to reframe a threat appears to be fallacious or too optimistic. The objective is not to convince employees that there are no threats to put these threats in context and to amplify opportunities within them. We can see an example of this reframing in the effectiveness of managers who take care of “failures” – they do not minimize the cost or impact of a failed clinical trial, but they also focus on the advisability of learning lessons to make future efforts to develop more successful drugs.

Reduce system noise

Anxiety and fear can have a strong composition effect. If an environment contains more triggers than Thrive, a new event or a new change is more likely to be considered an important threat. And because our human wiring cannot always easily distinguish small threats as a demand for “urgent” information from large as a problem of security for important drugs, we are often overwhelmed by pure quantity.

Modern work has a lot of noise. Meetings, emails, measures and compliance requirements can all activate a surviving response. Managers can help their teams by reducing this noise. The distinction between important and urgency, by eliminating unnecessary measures and memos, clarifying the principles behind regulatory policies, and the definition of clear expectations are all ways to do so.

With employee anxiety at a record level, reducing fear and stress is increasingly important for organizational performance. Although managers cannot control external events, they can help alleviate their impacts on their organizations and people. In recent years, we have seen companies through the pharmaceutical industry to use these strategies to improve employee engagement. From a health technology company that has improved employee engagement scores by 24% and 26% income in three years, to a pharmaceutical company by seeing 50% participation rate on improvement initiatives leading to millions of dollars in savings and less quality defects.

Uncertainty is a constant, but anxiety and the absence of non-activity should not be. For the good of our global health and our general well-being, finding ways to prosper will be critical. Pharmaceutical leaders who want to succeed in this era of uncertainty must also find a way to reduce stress levels while increasing innovation levels to meet the constantly evolving needs of patients.

Photo: siphotography, Getty images

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