Clare is an Agile Coach in Consumer Healthcare Tech at GSK and studied Biochemistry at the University of Bath.
With a career defined by learning and development opportunities, she shares her day-to-day work at GSK, why she chose GSK as an employer, and her future leadership ambitions.
Becoming a future leader
Clare's work mostly revolves around coaching the teams that create systems and for GSK customers, patients, HCPs (healthcare professionals) and employees.
She cites an example where one team is creating an online platform that will enable healthcare professionals to learn more about various diseases and the drugs GSK offers. The platform ensures that healthcare professionals have the right knowledge and information about drugs and treatments, to provide better care for patients.
An innovative working week
Clare's working week usually starts off with checking her emails – she tends to get quite a few emails late on Friday from the US. Then she meets with the other two coaches within her team and they discuss their schedules for that week.
She then usually prepares some workshops focused on product development, team education and ensuring they are delivering value to consumers.
"I’m currently working with a team mostly based in Poznan. This week we’ve been working remotely: a workshop for about two hours and then a working session after that for an hour. But for the last two weeks I’ve been working in Poznan – it’s quite intense; usually we try to do a full day of workshops and then some analysis of some of the teams’ behaviours and data," she explains.
"Being able to see first-hand the innovative approach the teams are taking is amazing...You can actually see how they are changing the way people engage with tech."
Reasons for choosing GSK
For Clare, GSK's atmosphere makes is a great place to work.
"I think everyone is really in tune with our goal of trying to help the patients," she says.
"Everyone has a different story about why they’ve come to work at GSK. Sometimes it’s because family members or relatives suffer from various diseases. Everyone wants to help people – I think that creates a nice atmosphere throughout the office."
She also feels that GSK has been really focused on her career development and how she would like my career to progress.
"I have had a very good mixture of formal training also a lot of opportunities to experience challenging work. I’ve been able to work with my manager and some of the senior leadership team in my area to decide what areas I want to go into and the skills I need to build," she adds.
An exciting career progression
Clare's first year’s rotation lasted 14 months because she wanted to stay on and finish the project she was working on.
"It was a great project that really developed me; I was using new methodology for delivering projects within tech and was given a high level of responsibility. I worked closely with colleagues in Switzerland, Singapore, Poland, UK and US, which enabled me to understand different working cultures," she says.
"I was then briefly in a compliance role for four months when the head of Consumer Healthcare Tech suggested my current coaching role, as she thought my skill set would be well suited to it."
Her current role isn’t just limited to coaching a team, it’s also involved in a company-wide transformation. In the future she will be focusing more on the wider transformation in the Asia Pacific region, leading the change not only within teams but also across the mindset of the organisation.
She enjoys being in a role that is constantly helping the company to change, and enabling GSK to emerge as a digital leader in healthcare.
"I would really like to be in a management role where you can ensure the company continues to thrive in a changing world," Clare adds.
Continuously evolving role
Clare's role has evolved since her last rotation on the FLP as an agile coach. She moved into product management leadership coaching, and now she's Lead Coach in Consumer Healthcare.
Her biggest achievement? "Helping people enjoy their work and feel proud of what they do. For me, the best moment is when I can see that they don’t need me anymore," she answers.
"When I rolled off the FLP scheme, I got an amazing opportunity to learn more about our business in the APAC region. Working in Singapore was incredible, but I also got to explore the rest of the region. I spent time in China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, understanding how those different markets operate. I went on some field visits and followed the sales reps, which was a real eye-opener," she continues.
"But perhaps the best experience I had in APAC was coaching a team in Manila. They had a specific goal to achieve: delivering a working piece of software. I could see that they needed to take a step back and look more closely at the problem. To understand the challenge, I got them to go out and meet the consumers and the sales reps. The experience made them totally change direction and deliver a better solution that was fit for purpose."
Looking towards the future
Clare's next task on her list is probably enhancing her leadership skills. With a team of eight working in APAC, EMEA and the US, she wants to get better at certain aspects of management, like giving people room to make – and learn from – their mistakes.
"One thing I would say to anyone thinking about applying for the FLP is that opportunities won’t fall into your lap," Clare concludes. "You have to know what you want and grasp development opportunities with both hands."
Enjoy a constantly evolving career with GSK
Employees like Clare are thriving in a career at GSK where learning, development and training opportunities are helping them to achieve their ambitions.
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