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How a global pharmaceutical organisation's Compliance & Quality Control department reduced sick days by 67% and turnover to 12% through AQai®-led intervention.
Sick days declined 67% in 2024 across the Compliance & Quality Control department.
Staff turnover fell to 12% in 2024, significantly reducing attrition costs.
Active participation in team meetings rose from 1-in-5 to 3-in-5 employees.
Large global pharmaceutical organisation with 40,000+ employees and US$10bn+ revenue.
A global pharmaceutical organisation's Compliance & Quality Control department deployed AQai® Certified Partner Andrew Southwood of FreshXpressions to address an escalating workforce crisis. Using AQme individual assessments and AQteam group-level data mapped through the A.C.E. Model, the engagement uncovered that strong individual capability was being undermined by low environmental support. Three targeted interventions across junior management, wellbeing, and senior communication reduced sick days by 67% and turnover to 12% in 2024, protecting the experienced workforce needed for several high-potential product launches.
A Compliance & Quality Control Department within a large global pharmaceutical organisation with 40,000+ employees and US$10bn+ revenue. The department's effectiveness is critical to the successful launch of high-potential products, with material implications for the company's bottom line.
A Compliance & Quality Control Department within a large global pharmaceutical organisation was experiencing a significant and escalating workforce crisis, one that threatened to undermine the successful launch of several high-potential products with material implications for the company's bottom line. Staff turnover was rising, stress and anxiety levels were elevated, and critical institutional knowledge was concentrated in a small group of experienced employees, most approaching 50 years of age, while the remainder of the team had been with the organisation for less than ten years. A further organisational restructure had left employees feeling disconnected from leadership, with little clarity on the reasons behind the change.
With several high-potential product launches imminent, the organisation could not afford to lose its most experienced Compliance & Quality Control staff. Left unaddressed, the knowledge concentration risk alone had the potential to delay or compromise launches worth millions in future revenue, while compounding costs from attrition, retraining, and declining team performance continued to mount invisibly in the background.
AQai® Certified Partner Andrew Southwood of FreshXpressions deployed AQme individual assessments across the department, mapping adaptability through AQai's A.C.E. Model: Ability, Character, and Environment. AQteam data was layered in to surface group-level patterns, and findings were validated through employee interviews. This diagnostic approach uncovered a critical insight: employees demonstrated strong individual capability, but low environmental support was generating burnout risk and active disengagement. Three targeted interventions followed: a Junior Management Training Programme to strengthen adaptive leadership and people management capability; a Wellbeing & Anxiety Reduction Initiative focused on resilience-building and stress management; and an Enhanced Senior Management Communication Plan to increase transparency and close the perceived leadership distance.
Resilience, Mindset, Mental Flexibility, and Unlearning were measured at individual level. The data showed strong individual capability across the Compliance & Quality Control department, with implications for team performance, learning agility, and adaptive capacity.
Hope and Emotional Range were measured to surface wellbeing, career wellness, and stress patterns. Elevated stress and anxiety levels in the department signalled the need for the Wellbeing & Anxiety Reduction Initiative as part of the response.
Team Support, Company Support, and Work Stress measured the surrounding conditions. The data revealed that environmental support was the gap driving burnout risk and active disengagement, despite strong individual capability. This redirected the intervention towards team support, leadership communication, and junior management capability.
Engagement surveys flag rising turnover and stress; they can't tell you why. AQ®'s Ability, Character, and Environment model split the diagnosis into three measurable layers, and the data showed something a generic survey would have missed. Individual capability was strong, but Environment scores (Team Support, Company Support, Work Stress) were the gap. That distinction redirected the intervention from "build resilience training" to fixing team support, leadership communication, and junior management capability. The 67% sick-day reduction and 12% turnover rate followed from getting the diagnosis right.
By the end of 2024, the department had delivered measurable results across every target area. Sick days declined by 67% and staff turnover fell to just 12%, significantly reducing the compounding costs of attrition, retraining, and lost productivity. Active participation in team meetings rose from 1-in-5 employees to 3-in-5, signalling a fundamental shift in psychological safety and team cohesion. A structured mentorship programme, introduced as part of the Junior Leadership Development Programme, began transferring critical institutional knowledge from senior employees to the next generation of talent, directly mitigating the knowledge concentration risk that had threatened the product launch timeline. Most significantly, retaining its experienced workforce enabled the organisation to deliver its planned product launches successfully and on schedule, realising millions in projected revenue. AQ® assessment is now embedded as a core tool within the organisation's Skills-Based Organisational Strategy.
Incorporating AQ into our Skills-Based Organisational Strategy has been a game-changer in how we create a great employment experience for our employees and management. What was once intangible is now readily available at a few clicks on the keyboard. I would recommend this powerful tool to all business managers.
I am a forward thinking leader with broad international experience in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG products), food ingredients, fresh produce, agricultural commodities., aviation and emergency shelter deployment.
View partner profile →AQai® assessments across Ability, Character, and Environment showed individual capability was strong but Environment scores were low. Targeted interventions in junior management, wellbeing, and senior communication reduced sick days by 67% and turnover to 12% in 2024 for a 40,000-employee pharmaceutical organisation in Canada.
In a pharma Compliance & Quality Control department, AQ®-led interventions retained the experienced staff needed to deliver several high-potential product launches worth millions in projected revenue, while cutting sick days by 67% and turnover to 12%.
Yes. AQ®'s Environment dimension measures Team Support, Company Support, and Work Stress at individual and team level, surfacing burnout risk before turnover materialises. In this pharma engagement, low environmental support was identified as the leading burnout driver despite strong individual capability.
Andrew Southwood, an AQai® Certified Partner at FreshXpressions, deployed AQme individual assessments and AQteam group-level analysis across the Compliance & Quality Control department.
AQme is the individual report covering 15 sub-dimensions of the A.C.E. Model for each employee. AQteam aggregates those profiles into group-level insight, surfacing collective strengths, gaps, and patterns a single individual report would miss. The pharma engagement used both: AQme to identify personal development needs, AQteam to spot the environmental support gap.
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