4 Key Takeaways from our Annual Meeting

The way we work has changed 

There’s no denying that the pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we work as a team. But in many ways, this change has been for the better. Our shift to a “work-from-anywhere” environment with employees now located in 25 of 50 states means that the traditional days of gathering in a conference room to whiteboard ideas are gone. But one COVID-era adaptation that will remain a part of our business or culture even after we return to quote-unquote ‘normal’?The 24/7 Brainstorm. Pre-pandemic, teams would get into rooms, toss around ideas, but have a finite amount of time to come up with THE idea. Now, we’re using new platforms to capture ideas that strike anytime, anywhere to deliver the very best ideas for our clients. The ability to adapt proactively and pivot when we need to – even to “fail fast” – keeps us agile and ready to achieve the desired results for our customers. 

Digital transformation is not just a buzzword, it’s an imperative 

The pandemic was an accelerator of several trends across industries, and the life sciences industry was no exception. We know that continued digital transformation in healthcare is essential for us to respond to HCP needs and consumer trends and to future-proof our customers from disruption. 

However, we also know that digital innovation can occur incrementally, particularly in the healthcare industry thanks to its highly regulated nature. It’s up to each of us to identify where this transformation can occur, how we can move the needle, and how we can champion this change for our clients, in order to drive richer, more engaging, and more innovative HCP experiences. 

We must foster inclusion on purpose 

Knowing our workplace has our backs is an imperative for our team members to feel accepted and respected, and thereby do our best work for our clients. Leaders must identify and expose bias in the workplace in order to foster psychological safety for our teams. We must start now to actively foster diversity, equity, and inclusion; and this should not only be our internal mantra but must be clearly represented in the work we produce for our healthcare clients to, ultimately, have a positive impact on patient care. 

We are Farmers and Hunters 

One of the highlights of our workshops was the analysis of an Innovation Assessment of our company by our partners at Trend Hunter. Trend Hunter leverages big data, human researchers, and AI to identify consumer insights and deep dive opportunities for the world's most innovative companies. 

We were fascinated to learn our individual archetypes across the company, which can be broken down into characteristics generally belonging to those of “hunters” and “farmers”. From Trend Hunter: 

A "Hunter" is an individual who is driven by the desire to disrupt the status quo. Hunters are motivated to disrupt and change the way businesses think, strategize, ideate, and operate. They are inspired and pushed by the possibility of new opportunities. A Hunter will prioritize expansion, growth, and development over maintaining success. They are looking to spread their influence and presence beyond their current market and industry. They move very quickly and are rarely bound to the past or a company’s history. Hunters are motivated to meet a demand that doesn’t yet exist, fulfill a need others don’t see, and connect the dots where others cannot.

A "Farmer" is an individual who is driven by the desire to optimize their current strategy, objective, or purpose. The Farmer is often highly specialized in their craft and is motivated to maintain a high level of success, excellence, and predictability. They are driven to update, refine and improve current processes, procedures, and rituals to maximize a successful outcome. A Farmer will prioritize proven processes and tested procedures over those that harbor uncertainty and a potential threat. They value the foundations on which their organization was built and are loyal in their efforts to preserve the company’s success, achievements, and purpose.

What does this mean for the team at Avant Healthcare? We can feel confident in acknowledging and calling on our individual strengths as both “hunters” and “farmers” to contribute to the work we do as a team for our clients.

In closing, at Avant Healthcare we’re entering the second half of 2022 feeling positive about exciting transformations in the healthcare industry and the opportunity to keep embracing change and innovating at every turn for our customers.