When Verena Schramm was approached with the opportunity to boomerang back to SOPHiA GENETICS after working there in its early days, she knew the company had grown and was thriving, yet she had one major question on her mind.
“Are the culture and mission still the same?”
After speaking with various team members throughout the interview process, Schramm confirmed that the answer was a resounding “yes.”
Now, one year into her current role as VP of product management, she’s excited to have space to thrive professionally while driving influence on a global scale.
“While my role comes with a high level of responsibility, feeling the strong impact of the work we do is exciting and motivates me to strive for excellence here at SOPHiA GENETICS,” Schramm said.
She believes that in order to win back boomerang employees like herself, company leaders can do their part to cultivate workplaces that stand out from the rest. And in Schramm’s mind, one of the most effective ways to do this is to simply show that you care for your employees and the impact they have on the organization.
“Value people’s contributions and achievements and ensure they leave on a positive note,” she said.
Below, Schramm shares more about her decision to return to SOPHiA GENETICS, what she’s most excited to pursue and the advice she would give to leaders eager to build workplaces worthy of boomerangs.
Democratizing Data-Driven Medicine
SOPHiA GENETICS is driven by the aim to democratize data-driven medicine. Powered by AI, the company’s SOPHiA DDM platform enables healthcare institutions to standardize, compute and analyze digital health data in order to generate insights from complex multimodal datasets.
What drew you back to SOPHiA GENETICS as a boomerang employee?
I first joined SOPHiA GENETICS in a sales role when we had fewer than 20 employees. While I decided to leave to develop my skill set toward product management, I always stayed in touch with former colleagues and followed the remarkable growth of SOPHiA GENETICS over the years. I was especially impressed by the expansion to the American continent and the IPO.
When a former colleague from SOPHiA GENETICS reached out with the perfect opportunity to come back and contribute my experience in product management, I was immediately intrigued. I knew the application portfolio and the SOPHiA DDM platform were competitive in the market. However, my biggest concern was whether the company culture and strong mission would still be the same despite the organization growing to more than 400 employees. Luckily, every single person I spoke to during the interview process and on the side was able to prove that the core values of SOPHiA GENETICS haven’t changed.
One year into the job, I truly enjoy working with smart, passionate and purpose-driven people every single day to expand access to data-driven medicine and therefore deliver world-class care to patients across the globe.
Since returning to SOPHiA GENETICS, what are you most excited to have back in your professional life?
To fully thrive in my professional life, I need a feeling of impact and an environment where everyone works toward the same goals. Despite the expansion and exponential growth the company has gone through in the past few years, I’m lucky to find such an environment and role here at SOPHiA GENETICS.
Together with my teammates, I’m helping collect the market dynamics and trends that will shape data-driven medicine tomorrow by putting customers at the heart of what we do. We define and shape our product roadmap and bring solutions to market that will positively impact patient outcomes.
“Together with my teammates, I’m helping collect the market dynamics and trends that will shape data-driven medicine tomorrow by putting customers at the heart of what we do.”
What advice would you offer to leaders who wish to create the type of workplace that draws former employees back?
Our industry is so small that people build a good peer network in only a few years. If someone decides to leave a job, they’re still an ambassador for your company and they share their experiences with their network.
As leaders, we need to have clarity about the culture and values that form the company’s work environment. This enables hiring talent that amplifies this culture and rewarding behaviors that further nurture the work environment. For me, a truly great workplace is one where I can be my authentic self; where my own behaviors and motivations align with what the company stands for and expects from its employees. Needless to say, job hygiene factors — such as competitive salaries and good work equipment that allows employees to focus on their jobs — need to be met as well. That way, if someone decides to move on to a different company, they’ll still remember their colleagues and overall work atmosphere in a very positive way and will be good candidates for becoming “boomerang employees.”
