Huxley Morton Podcast – Only Quality People. Series 4, Episode 23
In this edition of the Huxley Morton Podcast, James Fowel and Adam Walker speak to Melissa Church, SVP of Strategy and Solutions at Catalyst Clinical Research. Tune in to hear Melissa’s story and how Catalyst is committed to creating a culture that promotes a healthy work-life balance and aims to ensure colleagues have everything they need to be successful. Read on for a summary of the 5 reasons why Melissa chose Catalyst Clinical Research:
1. “Culture had become really significant to me to work with passionate, like-minded people with a clear vision for the company. That was where Catalyst really impressed me. A small company with a very strong focus on its culture, a focus that seemed unusual for a startup, but there was clarity and intention in creating the desired culture.”
2. “Upon joining Catalyst, I was allowed to expand into new areas and diversify within my role. An example of this was taking ownership and creating a 5-year business plan. I’d worked on many plan delivery teams, but this was different; this was me truly driving and managing the plan for a blank page to completion. This was a stressful process at times but one I found incredibly rewarding.”
3. “During the pandemic, Catalyst remained composed discussing the various options, issues, and dilemmas we could potentially face, with maybe a couple of constructive and heated debates along the way. Our decided plan enabled minimal disruption to our employees, and clients and kept the business financially strong. I was most impressed by problems being identified, acknowledged, and resolved with no finger pointing whatsoever.”
4. “I’ve felt both challenged and supported throughout my time with Catalyst. Everyone is so open to listening, discussing, and working through any issues whilst being totally passionate about the core of what we do: accelerate getting medicines to patients. I’ve learned so much about the company but also about myself. I’m confident and trust myself more than I ever have from the autonomy and influence to change I’ve been offered. Feeling comfortable making decisions whilst trusting the team around to support but also question me.”
5. “Catalyst has a healthy growth plan but is passionate about never overpromising. This is vital to our clients but also to our people. We want people to have a work-life balance, we appreciate everyone has busy spells, but we monitor to make sure these spells don’t turn into months or even years. So as a business we have turned work away, which is hard to do but at times the right decision for all involved.”
