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The BioHub - Avetix Podcast - S2 Ep53 - Lisa DiPaolo - Chief Human Resources Officer at Karyopharm · The BioHub - by Avetix

• 0:04
  So welcome back to the episode of the Bio Hub.
• 0:07
  Today, we're thrilled to be joined by Lisa De Paolo, who
• 0:10
  serves as EVP and Chief Human Resource Officer at Cario Farm
• 0:13
  Therapeutics. Lisa brings a wealth experience,
• 0:16
  having built a career across one of the most influential names in
• 0:18
  the industry, including Ipson, Biogen, Smith's Medical and
• 0:22
  Novartis. And Lisa has consistently
• 0:25
  stepped into organizations at pivotal moments, whether during
• 0:28
  rapid growth, integration or transformation, and has built HR
• 0:32
  strategies that fuel long term success.
• 0:35
  So Lisa, thanks so much for coming on.
• 0:37
  How are you? Yeah, I'm good.
• 0:39
  Thanks for having me. Good to be here.
• 0:41
  Yeah, it's an absolute pleasure. So look, let's start off with a
• 0:45
  little bit about you then. So can you talk us through your
• 0:47
  journey in biotech and were there any specific mentors or
• 0:51
  role models who influence your professional journey?
• 0:54
  Yeah, no, absolutely. So all together I bring about 30
• 0:58
  years of HR experiences, primarily in the life sciences
• 1:03
  industry. You named some of the companies
• 1:06
  where I worked, but early in, earlier in my career, I also
• 1:10
  worked at UPS and Hertz. But I consider my true launch
• 1:14
  into my life sciences career at Novartis.
• 1:17
  And so there I had several roles including supporting a major
• 1:20
  commercial expansion, serving Chief of staff to the CHRO,
• 1:25
  supporting corporate teams in the New York office, a
• 1:28
  secondment to Switzerland, transforming a business unit, as
• 1:33
  well as establishing and leading HR for a new vaccines and
• 1:36
  diagnostics division in Boston. So really great 10 year run at
• 1:39
  Novartis. And following Novartis, you
• 1:42
  know, I LED HR efforts through growth, CEO transitions,
• 1:46
  cultural transformation, in house executive search, M&A
• 1:50
  activity at Biogen and ipson. And at ipson, you know, I was
• 1:54
  really brought in there to build a $20 million global hub to
• 1:58
  really strengthen the employer brand and you know, really build
• 2:02
  a presence within the, the, the biotech ecosystem.
• 2:07
  I also LED talent acquisition, executive search which delivered
• 2:13
  you know, a significant amount of savings.
• 2:16
  I oversaw post merger integration, etcetera.
• 2:20
  I also had spent time supporting the global R&D organization at
• 2:26
  IPSON which was going through a major transformation.
• 2:29
  So in that capacity, establishing centers of
• 2:32
  excellence, upscaling capabilities and really
• 2:35
  addressing, you know, the overall structure and the way
• 2:39
  the organization was working and obviously the culture.
• 2:43
  So after great five years there, I joined Cario Farm in September
• 2:47
  22 where I was really following the CEO of North America.
• 2:53
  It's in North America and I so obviously following the CEO,
• 2:57
  it's like putting on an old pair of jeans, right?
• 2:59
  Like very comfortable, you know each other.
• 3:02
  But I was really drawn also by the fact that we have such a
• 3:05
  strong mission to defeat cancer and the opportunity to really
• 3:08
  shape a high impact, purpose driven culture.
• 3:12
  So that was really what drew me here.
• 3:15
  And I guess I would say, having said all that, over the course
• 3:18
  of my career, I would say there may be the two people that
• 3:22
  really stick out as having significantly influence and
• 3:26
  shaping my career. The first was a global business
• 3:30
  leader I worked with at Novartis.
• 3:33
  His he was a Swedish executive named Matt.
• 3:36
  You know, he taught me what it truly means to be a leader and
• 3:40
  to lead with strength, to have courage of your convictions,
• 3:44
  staying grounded and smart business decisions, you know,
• 3:47
  really well owning your perspective.
• 3:49
  And there's there's two pieces of advice he gave me that still
• 3:52
  stick out to this day. He always said don't over
• 3:55
  explain and don't over apologize.
• 3:57
  And so that was really stuck with me.
• 3:59
  So he was very influential in my career.
• 4:04
  And I would say another person in my career was a CHRO that I
• 4:09
  worked for. His name was Ken.
• 4:12
  And Ken was intense and super smart, sharp, you know, he could
• 4:19
  be tough. He he showed me how to lead with
• 4:22
  both precision and humanity. He had a no nonsense kind of
• 4:27
  clearview of business strategy, but he never lost sight of the
• 4:30
  people at the centre of it. You know, So that balance, being
• 4:34
  tough minded, making tough decisions while being deeply
• 4:38
  empathetic and focusing on the people are something that have
• 4:42
  been foundational to my leadership style and I, I am
• 4:45
  body today. I love that fine.
• 4:50
  And you've been with Carrier Farm for coming up to three
• 4:52
  years now. What key initiatives have you
• 4:55
  introduced to enhance Carrier Farms culture?
• 4:58
  Yeah, Yeah. So I've been with Carrie A Farm,
• 5:01
  yeah, coming up on three years and I was really hired to work
• 5:04
  with the CEO, Richard to help transform the company into a
• 5:09
  scalable integrated commercial organization.
• 5:13
  Yeah. So I think one of the things
• 5:15
  coming from a founder LED organization that I focused on
• 5:19
  was really looking at and taking stock of the culture.
• 5:22
  So what was working, what wasn't working, and where did we need
• 5:26
  to evolve? And that led to a full on
• 5:30
  cultural assessment, which spawned some very intentional
• 5:34
  changes to some of the programs that we put in place.
• 5:39
  And it helped us implement changes to align our culture
• 5:42
  with the organization's evolving needs and aspiration.
• 5:45
  So I would say, you know, from the beginning I've been focusing
• 5:50
  on evolving the culture to one that really prioritizes, you
• 5:55
  know, belonging, well-being, performance.
• 5:58
  And that was done through a number of ways.
• 6:01
  We introduced an industry leading, I, I think it's
• 6:04
  industry leading flexibility model, work model.
• 6:09
  We refreshed our development programs to focus on the whole
• 6:12
  person that were really fit for purpose.
• 6:16
  We launched several employee resource groups that we never
• 6:22
  had in the organization before, really bringing people together,
• 6:25
  creating that inclusivity. Yeah.
• 6:28
  And so evolving from that founder LED organization also
• 6:31
  required several shifts on how we operate.
• 6:33
  So we aim to create a really empowered collaborative culture.
• 6:38
  And so we began also with an initiative to refresh those core
• 6:42
  values and really helping people to understand what they mean.
• 6:45
  So they weren't just words on a wall or words on a page.
• 6:48
  So in practical terms, showing people what it means to live
• 6:52
  those values here. And while that sounds probably
• 6:55
  pretty fundamental, it was essential to really grounding
• 6:58
  our culture and clarifying expectations for how we work
• 7:01
  together. And at the same time, we
• 7:04
  identified areas of the business that needed strengthening to
• 7:07
  ensure we had the necessary capabilities to execute on our
• 7:10
  core programs. We levelled up in some key
• 7:14
  functional areas. We made some changes to the
• 7:16
  leadership team and as part of a broader and cultural human
• 7:21
  capital strategy, we revamped our recognition programs to
• 7:25
  reflect our new ways of working and our, you know, our talent
• 7:29
  programs. As I had mentioned previously,
• 7:33
  we also did, you know, not all of it has been, you know, a bed
• 7:36
  of roses. I think in biotech it's
• 7:38
  challenging right now. So there are times in the
• 7:41
  organization where we had to go through a right sizing effort.
• 7:45
  And so that is challenging and tough, but you know, it has to
• 7:49
  be done while navigating challenges.
• 7:51
  I think what I'm most proud of in the time that I've been here
• 7:55
  with Cario Farm is the impact that HR has helped has had on
• 7:59
  the company and is stewards of the culture and in partnership
• 8:03
  of course with the executive team because everybody owns
• 8:06
  culture that we were recognized as a most loved workplace or
• 8:11
  Newsweek magazine and one of Boston Globe's top places to
• 8:15
  work. So these recognitions really
• 8:19
  reflect the strength of our culture as demonstrated in a
• 8:23
  recent survey that we had, which was 9%, a 9% increase over the
• 8:28
  over the previous year. So you know, culture is really
• 8:31
  The X Factor and you got to get it right.
• 8:33
  And I think we're doing pretty well in that regard.
• 8:37
  Very good. And you mentioned Richard Brief
• 8:40
  briefly before you worked together at Ipson, now worked
• 8:42
  together at Carrie Farm. Can you talk us through the
• 8:45
  importance of that relationship between Chief Human Resource
• 8:48
  Officer and the CEO and also how you'll look to collaborate when
• 8:52
  looking to bring new talent into the business?
• 8:55
  Yeah, no, absolutely. So the relationship, it has to
• 8:59
  be, you know, you have to have the right amount of respect for
• 9:02
  each other and the, to enable that those disagreements, the
• 9:09
  sparring on key issues and, and alignment to get to the best
• 9:13
  outcome for the organization. So if it's not there, then and
• 9:17
  then HR effectively becomes an order taker, I I think.
• 9:21
  And that's not a strategic relationship.
• 9:23
  So I view HR as the truth serum for the organization.
• 9:29
  HR has knowledge of the people and the dynamics and can really
• 9:32
  play a role in influencing those key decisions that ultimately
• 9:36
  have a huge impact on your culture.
• 9:38
  So HR can't be just the party planners.
• 9:41
  They need to have a seat at the table and be able to talk those
• 9:45
  through. And so you need ACEO that's
• 9:47
  going to listen to you. Even if you don't agree, you
• 9:49
  need to get to a place where it's the right decision for for
• 9:53
  the company. Yeah, when the relationship
• 9:56
  isn't optimal, I think it's obvious to the organization and
• 9:59
  your culture will take a hit. So I always partner with Richard
• 10:04
  when bringing talent into the organization and moves that
• 10:07
  we've made where we've hired new leaders, it's really just kind
• 10:11
  of aligning on what the needs are and and working together
• 10:15
  very collaboratively to find the right people that will be
• 10:18
  successful here. Yeah, good.
• 10:22
  I was actually speaking to someone last week about how you
• 10:24
  don't see too often, like chief human resource officers on the
• 10:28
  board of a company, you know? Yeah, I found it a really
• 10:31
  interesting conversation, like the importance of the role that
• 10:34
  you guys have. And very rarely do you see a
• 10:36
  company have someone on the board, which I found a super
• 10:40
  interesting conversation. Yeah.
• 10:44
  I mean, I'm part of the core operating team.
• 10:47
  So I participate in the board meetings and attend the board
• 10:50
  meetings. And I think that just speaks to
• 10:52
  how Richard views HR and the importance and the values so.
• 10:57
  Yeah, fine. And you've been on both sides of
• 10:59
  the fence now. So you've been obviously big
• 11:01
  pharma HR, you've been small biotech HR.
• 11:04
  Can you talk us through what you think the major differences are
• 11:07
  in being a leader in the two different environments, in terms
• 11:10
  of how you think, how you, how you approach people, everything?
• 11:15
  Yeah, I mean, obviously, suffice it to say, in small biotech,
• 11:19
  there's really nowhere to hide and you don't have a lot of
• 11:22
  endless amounts of resources at your disposal.
• 11:26
  So, you know, you need to, everyone needs to perform well
• 11:29
  within the organization. You need to have the right
• 11:32
  capabilities. You only have so many chess
• 11:35
  pieces on the board, so to speak.
• 11:38
  But I think as a leader, you you have an opportunity to wear so
• 11:42
  many different hats in the organization.
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  Like for me, I feel less like a function of HR, even though I
• 11:50
  represent HR. But really a business leader
• 11:53
  being so deeply involved in those business discussions and
• 11:58
  in a small biotech, I think you're really connected to the
• 12:02
  bottom line and the inner workings of an organization in a
• 12:06
  way that you don't always get to experience in a larger
• 12:10
  organization. So you have greater visibility
• 12:13
  to the balance sheet and how you impact that.
• 12:17
  You know, even as an enabling function and everything that
• 12:20
  happens within a company, in large pharma, you know, more
• 12:25
  resources to pull from, you know, decisions tend to be
• 12:28
  slower. So in biotech, you also are, you
• 12:32
  know, smaller biotech making decisions much more quickly.
• 12:35
  So I think it's a much more dynamic environment.
• 12:38
  The other key distinction I would say is that, you know, as
• 12:43
  a leader, you get to make decisions, you know, not only
• 12:48
  quickly but pretty autonomously. So I know that Richard trusts me
• 12:53
  to make decisions, and there's not a lot of bureaucracy or red
• 12:57
  tape to go through. So it's really empowering.
• 13:01
  Yeah, I love that. And I think restructuring is a
• 13:04
  topic that comes up quite a bit, particularly at the moment with
• 13:07
  the current biotech market. But how do leaders in companies
• 13:11
  approach restructuring in a way that prioritises like fairness,
• 13:14
  empathy when making the decision to let people go?
• 13:18
  Yeah, I, I mean, it's a good question.
• 13:21
  Bottom line is you need to be honest, you need to be open and
• 13:23
  you need to communicate more than you think you have to.
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  The other thing is if you're disingenuous and trying to sell
• 13:31
  a picture or story, it really damages your credibility and
• 13:36
  your culture. So that's why I mean, it's
• 13:38
  really important that you are very open and honest to the
• 13:42
  extent that you you can share. You also need to treat the
• 13:46
  people who are exiting the organization fairly.
• 13:49
  They need, there needs to be a selection process.
• 13:51
  There needs to be criteria, right?
• 13:54
  But you have to do it with integrity and you have to do it
• 13:57
  in the right way while also not forgetting that your focus
• 14:01
  should also remain or stay focused on the people who are
• 14:06
  remaining with the organization. So I've had a lot of experience
• 14:09
  restructuring at larger organizations, and I kind of
• 14:12
  made a mental list of practices that I always hated that I had
• 14:16
  to kind of abide by. And they also don't translate
• 14:19
  into smaller organizations. For example, in a larger
• 14:22
  organization, it was never announced.
• 14:25
  The departing colleagues, there was never a way of saying
• 14:28
  goodbye. It's like they were just kind of
• 14:30
  gone. People would get a, an e-mail
• 14:32
  bounce back and they didn't know what was going on.
• 14:34
  And that was always a complaint that we received.
• 14:37
  But that was always the practice in larger organizations.
• 14:40
  So when we've had, when I've had to do it here, you know, made a
• 14:45
  point of tactfully and gracefully saying, wishing our
• 14:48
  colleagues well and sharing who are the colleagues who have
• 14:51
  departed that have, you know, really done a great job and,
• 14:55
  and, and did a lot for the organization.
• 14:57
  So tried to make it more personable, but it's one step
• 15:00
  toward being more transparent to the organization.
• 15:03
  And I think they really appreciate, appreciate those
• 15:06
  smaller things. Yeah.
• 15:08
  I think one of the beauties of biotech, it's sort of a
• 15:10
  community in a way. Like when a company goes for a
• 15:13
  restructuring, often resume books will get passed around to
• 15:16
  different companies and it's sort of like a very supportive
• 15:19
  community when that type of thing happens.
• 15:22
  Yeah. I mean, we do all that too, of
• 15:24
  course. You know, trying to help them,
• 15:27
  offer them the right benefits, support transition services.
• 15:33
  Yeah, I think you have to do all of that.
• 15:35
  Yeah. And it's a really difficult
• 15:37
  time. I think as as a recruiter that,
• 15:40
  yeah, it's worrying how many more messages I seem to get on
• 15:43
  like a daily basis of people who have been let go.
• 15:45
  So it's it's a really interesting time for sure.
• 15:49
  It's tough. Yeah.
• 15:51
  So look, and I think just you mentioned you've done executive
• 15:55
  search recruitment in some of your businesses before.
• 15:59
  I know we've never worked together before, but when you do
• 16:01
  look to collaborate with with a recruitment partner, talk us
• 16:05
  through some of the things that you're looking for in a, yeah, a
• 16:08
  potential partner. Yeah.
• 16:11
  I mean, I always get a lot of calls from recruiters and I
• 16:16
  think the ones that really stand out are the recruiters who whom
• 16:22
  I feel can really operate as a true extension of our our
• 16:26
  company and culture. So they understand, they take
• 16:30
  the time to understand the company well and can be that
• 16:35
  ambassador in that face again, as an extension of us, but also,
• 16:40
  you know, recruiters that are proactive, flex, flexible to
• 16:45
  work with because as you just mentioned, you know, tough,
• 16:48
  tough times. So flexibility is always
• 16:50
  appreciated. Just easy to work with who are
• 16:55
  connected within the life sciences kind of ecosystem and
• 16:59
  can really deliver the best talent.
• 17:02
  But it, it really comes down to there is a style stylistic
• 17:06
  element. I think, you know, understanding
• 17:10
  the business is one piece, but the way in which recruiters, you
• 17:15
  know, work with you, I think, you know, that can really leave
• 17:19
  an impression and make you want to work with them again for all
• 17:21
  the reasons I just mentioned. Yeah, fine.
• 17:25
  And I think there's been a lot of talk around like particularly
• 17:29
  post COVID around like hybrid remote on site.
• 17:32
  How do you see the future of work evolving in the biotech
• 17:35
  industry with with those three different things?
• 17:39
  You know, it's a really interesting question because,
• 17:44
  you know, I, I keep pretty connected to, you know, what's
• 17:47
  going on with an industry. And I do think at the moment
• 17:50
  there's probably a little bit more of a push to get CEOs want
• 17:55
  employees back into the office more frequently than, you know,
• 18:00
  when COVID, when everyone was full on remote.
• 18:02
  But I'm also seeing a good mix of companies that still have
• 18:07
  that, those flexible work models.
• 18:10
  So personally, I think that we could never go back to the way
• 18:14
  it was pre COVID. I think people got a taste of,
• 18:18
  you know, working from home, working remotely, They're able
• 18:23
  to better balance their life with their career.
• 18:28
  Some people feel a lot more productive, you know, with that
• 18:32
  flexibility. I, I think, you know, we've gone
• 18:36
  to a place at Carryo Farm, we where we're very, very flexible.
• 18:39
  I mentioned this earlier, over 60% of our workforce is remote
• 18:45
  and we don't really mandate people to come into the office,
• 18:49
  although we do have these core weeks where people can come in
• 18:51
  and, and get together and have in person, you know,
• 18:54
  collaboration. But you've got to strike the
• 18:57
  right balance. I think it comes down to balance
• 18:59
  between, you know, flexibility and connection, you know,
• 19:03
  leveraging technology, being human.
• 19:07
  But I do think that having that flexibility is giving companies
• 19:11
  an edge into retaining talent and also attracting talent.
• 19:17
  So as I said, we learn more flexibly than the companies that
• 19:22
  I'm familiar with. And I think this has really
• 19:26
  helped us with our, you know, the survey results I spoke about
• 19:29
  earlier and our culture. Great.
• 19:33
  And this is a question that we'll often finish with on the
• 19:36
  Biohub, but if you could go back in time and give advice to your
• 19:39
  21 year old self, what, what would it be and why?
• 19:44
  Don't drink too much. Yeah, right.
• 19:47
  You know, I would say heed every opportunity to learn.
• 19:51
  Take the roles that you're offered, even if they're not,
• 19:55
  you know, appealing at first or you may not be sure.
• 19:58
  There's always something to learn, even if the only thing
• 20:02
  you learn is that you never want to do that again.
• 20:04
  I think it really expands your thinking and really rounds out
• 20:10
  your experience set. And I would also say, don't
• 20:15
  stress about what others think. I know it's easy to say that
• 20:19
  with some years gone by, but. You know, keep challenging
• 20:22
  yourself to grow, take the risks early on and don't always think
• 20:28
  of your career in terms of a linear path.
• 20:30
  Careers can take unexpected turns.
• 20:33
  If you're in HRI, highly encourage you to step into a
• 20:37
  role into the business because each experience really shapes
• 20:42
  you and gives you confidence and as I said, rounds you out.
• 20:47
  Brilliant. I love that.
• 20:49
  Well, look, thanks so much for coming on and helping us out.
• 20:51
  It's been an absolute pleasure to have you on.
• 20:53
  So yeah, appreciate you making the time.
• 20:57
  Yeah, thank you so much. This is fun.