T2B Tag: purpose

The Biopharma Communicator’s Problem Statement

At a holiday networking event last week, someone doggedly kept asking me what problem I’m solving with our community.

I’ve always seen an OPPORTUNITY with T2B, but this line of questioning made me reconsider whether we are in fact a solution to a problem.

We all know that what we do as communicators in THIS industry is so unique and complicated and highly specialized.

We also know in our heart of hearts that we can have a huge impact on our individual clients and companies.

But have you thought about how much we as an industry are holding ourselves back with the current conservative, siloed structure?

To put a finer point on it, I suppose the problem statement here is a future WITHOUT any changes to the status quo across our profession.

Ask yourself this: What’s the point of all of our colleagues’ tireless hours in the lab, painstaking study designs, negotiating with regulators – all of it – if the people who need to know about this work don’t know about it or understand it?

Or worse, what if these medical advances of the future are acknowledged but then rejected?

Honestly, in my opinion, none of it matters if we’re not reaching the people who are meant to receive these updates and making a lasting impression in their hearts and minds.

With an uncertain political environment, mis-, dis-, and mal-information lurking in every corner, the beginnings of unprecedented technological shifts with AI, and a huge trust problem with our industry, we can’t afford NOT to challenge the status quo.

T2B’s mission from day 1 has been to create community by cultivating connections and conversations.

We’re constantly listening to all kinds of biopharma communicators and evolving HOW we create those opportunities, but with over 750 members, the need is apparent and the movement is real.

So, I challenge you to think bigger than maybe you have in the past.

What can YOU do to change the course of storytelling in human health, and how can we help you do that?

Social Impact as an Employee Engagement Strategy

We heard from Sarah MacDonald last week that part of the value of community impact initiatives lies in the opportunity to connect employees with our companies’ and clients’ mission in another way.

We’ve all seen stats similar to this one published in Forbes last year: Three-quarters of US survey respondents indicated they want to work for a company that is trying to have a positive impact on the world.

Even in our industry, as we’ve discussed here at T2B, making medicines is only a piece of that purpose-driven work we so often speak about.

Whether you’re supporting team outings centered around community service, clothing and food drives, or care kit assemblies for patients at local hospitals, as communicators, we have a responsibility to also incorporate this work into our companies’ and clients’ narratives:

It’s not enough to have C-suite support for your initiative. Work with the executive assistants to have all your leaders actively participate.

Regardless if your org has a formal corporate social responsibility program, don’t leave impact initiatives only to your HR and corporate affairs teams. Internal promotion starts at the top, but as Sarah reminded us, it needs to be in line with the leadership team’s expectations and priorities.

Assign your org’s leaders responsibilities, even if that means simply showing up and being engaged. Be clear about their role in the context of any planned activities.

Capture and celebrate with your org the impact your initiatives have, and talk with employees about how you’re going to continue building on that moving forward.

Incorporate the work you’re doing in your communities into your actual communications materials, whether that’s social media, corporate website, intranet or digital signage.

Take advantage of the long shelf life of this work by partnering with your People & Culture and HR teams on how to weave it into talent branding and onboarding resources.

Tell us how you’ve successfully engaged your companies and clients at all levels of the org to engender even greater commitment to living our values and working toward our mission.