IN PERFECT ACCORD Sandra Lee, Managing Director of Operations at Accord Healthcare, on how being visible and ‘walking the floor’ during times of major change keeps employees proactively engaged. INTERVIEW BY
Amy Schofield
H
ow did you get to where you are today? I first joined the industry 35 years ago as a young chemist working at the bench. I was really fortunate and was able to study a degree part time, did a post grad, then became a QP. It was at that point that I started to realise how important it was to connect people together. I’ve been at Accord for five years now, and on a daily basis from the site here in Barnstaple we produce around 20 million tablets. I’m responsible for and lead a team of around 500 people across two sites, where we perform manufacturing and packing, supply chain and planning, warehousing, testing and development of new products. It takes quite a lot of people to make that happen. When we’re making products, and you’ve got 500 people – it’s the connections that make it work. I’m really lucky, because every single day I can make a difference to someone’s health and wellbeing. That chemistry that introduced me into the industry…it’s also about the chemistry of people and making it all come together.
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Tell us more about how you led Accord’s staff through the transitions last year when Actavis UK rebranded as Accord Healthcare following its acquisition by Intas? When you’re leading that change, it’s exciting. I work on what I call my ABC; at the start set the direction of how the businesses are going to come together, the second part is about being transparent, and the third is about how to connect the goals of the two companies. Everyone needs to know exactly where they fit in and what the destination is, so that everyone is aligned, and every individual knows what it means to them. From scientists to process leaders to the people who drive the fork trucks – they all want to understand what the impact of that change is going to be and how it is going to impact them personally. It’s about conversations. When I’m leading a transition, it’s about standing at the front, but it’s also about the conversations afterwards, these are what bring everyone together. How did you keep everyone engaged through that time of change? Being visible is key to managing any transition. Now, just over a year later, I walk the floor, and people say that they’ve seen a change. It’s been very positive. The factory is now producing 25% more, and that’s what people want to see; more product coming through the factory and investment. I have my most fruitful conversations when I’m walking through the packing floor, or visiting the lab, or bumping into someone in the coffee queue or the restaurant. Those are key places where I can really dip in, test the temperature of the water at that moment. It all comes back to the conversations, the two-way thing of not only sending a message but receiving it and listening. Also, as a combined organisation we get tremendous support from the parent company in India, from which I’ve just returned after a week working with my colleagues over there. What is it like being a female in the traditionally-male dominated sector of manufacturing? I have been very fortunate, because in the early days of my career I joined an organisation that heavily invested in me in terms of developing my qualifications, but also professionally,