LEADING THE CHARGE A spotlight on how two HBA corporate partners are igniting change The business of healthcare is changing rapidly, and the HBA provides companies the opportunity to be industry influencers with a robust and diverse partnership program creating opportunities for organizations to be trailblazers for change within the industry. Corporate partners gain a competitive advantage with the HBA corporate partnership program including but not limited to improved business results by developing talent within the organization, increased brand recognition on an international platform, stronger relations with organizations across the healthcare industry and the tools to empower women with proven opportunities for leadership development and growth. Here is how two of our corporate partners apply aspects of our corporate partnership programs within their organizations. 32  |  HBAdvantage Winter 2018  |  33 RADICAL HOSPITALITY | PROFESSIONAL ENRICHMENT | BUSINESS GROWTH | INCLUSION The HBA offers corporate partners a powerful way to recognize exceptional female talent through the Rising Star and Luminary awards. In the past 17 years, Syneos Health–the result of the merger of INC Research and inVentiv Health, and many smaller acquisitions over the years–has recognized more than 60 HBA Rising Stars and Luminaries through our various legacy businesses. The problem? How do we continue to recognize the company’s greater than 60 percent female talent across what is now a 23,000-strong, diverse and global talent pool while representing a single “brand” in the marketplace? To answer that, in 2017 we launched our own internal version of the award, which now serves as a nomi- nating pool from which our executive leadership team selects those honored on the dais at the HBA’s Woman of the Year awards luncheon. Aligned completely with the HBA application to ease the final submission, we layered in our company values of challenging the status quo, collaborating to deliver solutions and being passionate about changing lives. Working with leadership across the globe, we’ve honored 43 women worldwide, from countries including Australia, Serbia, France and England, to the U.S. and more. Importantly, we’ve purpose-built the program with expanded career visibility opportunities and peer-to- peer connectivity–within Syneos Health and through HBA–to deepen and extend the relationships formed year over year. All honorees are flown to NYC for a full day of career programming and feted lavishly in the evening as they network with the most senior leadership from around the world. SyncUp, our in- tranet, lights up with profiles and the value statements of these accomplished professionals, showcasing their many contributions to the company at large and spotlighting them as role models for a variety of career paths ranging from early stage clinical to finance, and from marketing to market access. Our corporate partnership with the HBA enables us to demonstrate our commitment to our colleagues by offering unparalleled opportunity for recognition, leadership development, mentoring, volunteering and education. With over 10,000 members supported by over 130 corporate partners, HBA is truly a global force for change. As we become more regional, our focus is shifting toward engaging members in non-traditional programming. This past October, we had a last minute request from Sanofi to sponsor a component of their upcoming Gender Parity Panel program that was held at Medida- ta Solutions in New York City. With the goals of opti- mizing inclusion and engagement, the volunteer team designed the program as a hybrid one–with in-person plus virtual components, given that the majority of their employees are not local to the New York area. This was a unique, novel approach with many logistical unknowns. With this in mind, it would have been easy to get discouraged and give up since this wasn’t something that has been tried/proven to work before. Yet, when we proposed this idea to the HBA team, we were met with nothing but support and encouragement, which gave us the push we needed to pursue it. One thing we knew for certain was that the topic and content would resonate with HBA members. Given the recent LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company “Women in the Workplace 2018” report, it was of paramount importance for two of our Gender Parity Collaborative founding member companies, Medidata Solutions and Sanofi, to co-sponsor the program. Despite the logistical challenges, the program drew a packed in-person crowd and high virtual attendance from the United States and abroad. Medidata Solutions, Sanofi and the HBA would like to thank the entire volunteer team, who paved the way to design and execute this successful hybrid program. The learnings from this event will help to shape future HBA programs. HOW DO YOU TAKE A GREAT PROGRAM AND MAKE IT BETTER? HOW DOES YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE HBA ENCOURAGE YOU TO STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE TO GAIN NEW EXPERIENCES? Lisa van Capelle, chief human resources officer, Syneos Health, Teal level partner Dianne Yurek, VP, corporate marketing, Medidata Solutions, Gold level corporate partner