Rebuilding leadership, culture, and performance

Working with the Country Leadership Team and senior leaders across ANZ, this partnership built the strategic leadership capability, alignment and accountability that drove stronger organisational performance and enabled confident leadership through Covid-19.

• 113% of budget delivered in 2019, from an organisation that had been operationally busy but not strategically focused
• Employee engagement increased by 11%, reversing a prior decline
• Senior leaders equipped to lead decisively through Covid-19 disruption, providing clarity and direction during significant uncertainty

When a new Managing Director was appointed in 2018, Merck, a leading global science and technology company specialising in healthcare, life science and electronics, was experiencing the cumulative impact of leadership instability, siloed ways of working, and limited performance visibility across its ANZ business. The organisation was busy but not strategic, with declining engagement and low confidence in decision-making.

LIW worked with the Country Leadership Team to reset the purpose, strategy, and ways of working of the business. A clear enterprise purpose anchored decision-making and performance priorities. Leadership capability was strengthened through a focused program built around strategic clarity and shared accountability, stronger collaboration and honest dialogue at the leadership table, and improved performance discipline through better data and governance. Critically, these shifts were role-modelled by the senior team first, then, with LIWs support embedded across the organisation through new forums, rhythms, and expectations.

In less than two years, Merck ANZ moved from declining engagement and scattered strategic focus to exceeding budget targets and responding to Covid-19 with speed and confidence. Following the program, the leadership team operated with clearer alignment and stronger performance culture, changes that proved resilient under the pressure of a global disruption.