Ask the Expert: Amie Dawson, Senior HRBP at Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

We are seven months into our “new normal” where many of us are working remote and organizations have expressed this will be the case for some time. HR teams have been tasked with helping solution how to keep employees engaged, keep the company culture relevant (in some cases strengthen an existing culture), and make sure employees are ok overall, all while maintaining a sense of “how can we continue to grow and develop our employees”. We reached out to Amie Dawson, Senior HRBP at Deciphera Pharmaceuticals to learn which strategies and tactics they implemented during COVID and what their thinking is for 2021.

1) When Deciphera shifted to a remote work from home environment, what was one of the first things you needed to factor in to ensure employees were set up for success?

The key thing we did was to communicate with our employees and encourage them to utilize a flexible schedule to balance work and personal responsibilities. Our CEO is very connected with the employees and realized how important it was that he be transparent and open on what was happening in the business and at home. To ensure the company was aligned, we had a weekly All Employee Meeting to share information and allow questions. We have recently moved to every other week as remote work has put an increased number of meetings on the calendars and we want to allow employees to get the information they need and respect calendar bloat.

2) How has the transition to remote been accepted by employees?

Our employees have been fantastic. It certainly has not been easy for everyone as they learn to juggle work and family, but our employees and managers are communicating and working together to solve any challenges.

3) What has been the most consistent challenge Deciphera has faced in this new normal?

One of the struggles we have seen is connectivity. We are a very collaborative organization and are constantly trying to find ways to connect without the consequences of “zoom” fatigue. We continue to empower our teams to find the venues that work for them and their teams and be open to different ways.

4) Can you share with us a success story, of either a program or team that exceeded your expectation?

A program that was scheduled to go live the week COVID put us into a remote environment was our Management Training Program. This was scheduled to be a full day in person class that our managers had been asking for. Knowing the importance of this class, we reached out to Christy and her team, for their input as they had created the program for us. They suggested we pilot the program virtually over 5 days with 2-hour modules. By doing this, we were able to have employees participate from our two base locations as well as some field employees; it gave managers the opportunity to network with those they would not typically be with and practice their learnings in between sessions. Overall, the managers really enjoyed the session and are asking for similar forums to connect and work together on management topics.

5) What would be one piece of advice you would give your fellow HR colleagues as they continue to navigate through these challenging times?

There is no silver bullet and things are in constant change so we need to think about different tools and venues to help support our employees in this very fluid environment. Continue to listen to what your employees are saying, be supportive and adapt as the world around us changes along with their needs.

We thank Amie for her expert contribution, and we look forward to continuing to partner with Deciphera. Amie’s perspective and insight will truly help other HR professionals build successful programs, engage their employees, and drive greater opportunities for their organizations.