CASE STUDY - GLOBAL PHARMA
A three-year partnership with a global pharmaceutical company, helping leaders and teams stay resilient, speak up and keep performing while everything around them shifted.
SECTOR:
Global Pharmaceuticals
DURATION:
Three Years 2024 to 2026
FORMAT:
Workshops, consultancy, peer learning and coaching, and 1:1 executive coaching
PARTICIPANTS:
Senior leaders and employees
Pauline Hughes, founder of Gains, with Gains associate and executive coach Nazly Frias.
The setup
Brilliant people. Huge responsibility. Constant change.
Pharma is one of the most complex places to lead. Highly specialist teams carry enormous responsibility, work across global time zones and matrixed structures, and absorb reorganisations in the middle of critical work.
Gains spent two successful years helping leaders build resilience across the department. And 2026 brought a new level of pressure. People were being asked to do more with fewer resources. AI and new ways of working were arriving fast. Senior leaders were so stretched they had little time to think, and reactive firefighting was starting to replace the strategic leadership they wanted.
The question was how to protect wellbeing and performance at the same time, and build a culture where people felt safe to speak up, set boundaries and push back.
What we did
THRIVING THROUGH CHANGE: BUILDING AGILITY, RESILIENCE AND FEARLESS CULTURES
One programme, three connected strands
Years one and two built the foundations: boundaries, managing perfectionism and preventing burnout. In year three we widened the reach, so the whole system was moving together, from senior leaders to the people in their teams.
Refresher for alumni
24 participants from years one and two reconnected with their toolkits, tackled new pressures and stepped up as culture ambassadors for their teams.
Leading Through the Storm
A programme built for senior leaders explored leading themselves and their teams through change: spotting burnout early, giving permission to set boundaries and building fearless team cultures.
Riding the Wave
A programme built for employees close to burnout, focussed on practical change agility: managing energy and pressure, assertive communication and kicked off a support network across the business.
Every leader and employee also had three 1:1 executive coaching sessions. This year Gains associate Nazly Frias joined the coaching team. Each person had space to work on their own challenges alongside the group learning.
What changed
People left with a new, practical toolkit, and the confidence to put it into action.
100%of leaders and employees feel better-equipped to manage their resilience and wellbeing
90%of leaders feel more confident spotting early signs of burnout in their people
90%of leaders changed how they role model healthy working to their teams
85Net Promoter Score from leaders, and 80 from employees
Leaders described using reframing in the lead-up to a reorganisation, giving their teams space to shape the change, and pushing back and delegating with more confidence. Employees talked about speaking up to protect their wellbeing and being honest about capacity when priorities collided.
Most of the leaders who responded, and 70% of employees, said the programme made them more committed to staying or improved their view of the organisation as an employer. In a sector where specialist talent is hard to replace, that matters.
Figures from 2026 evaluation surveys
“Having worked with several executive coaches over the years, I can honestly say that Pauline has been one of the most impactful. Pauline brings the perfect balance of warmth, insight and practical challenge.”
Senior leader, Leading Through the Storm
“What I appreciated most was that it didn’t just offer ideas in theory. It gave me approaches I feel I can genuinely use in day-to-day situations. I’m more self-aware, more confident, and better prepared to handle challenges in a thoughtful and constructive way. I’m sincerely grateful for the support, guidance, and care that went into creating this experience, and I appreciate the positive impact it has had on me.”
Participant, Riding the Wave
Leading people through change in pharma?
Let’s talk about what a fearless culture could look like for your teams.