How did Steve Collis help AmerisourceBergen
Grow to a 46b company and be recognised as number 12 on the Fortune 500?
When Steven Collis became CEO of AmerisourceBergen (ABC) in 2011, the employees and the market felt that their place was to be number 3.
Steve was determined to change that.
“We wanted people to feel proud about where they worked,” says Steve
- “We invested in training, organisational development and in a very fair compensation system.”
- “We made several acquisitions, including a strategic partnership with Walgreens/Alliance Boots, the retail pharmacy chain.”
- “We made sure that our team had the right tools, passion and energy to grow and be number one, and the intellectual confidence to know that we are providing value to the customer “
- “We strove to upskill, inspire and enthuse our employees so that they could demonstrate our values in a bold and consistent way to the marketplace.”
- “We made some bold moves that cultivated innovation and entrepreneurism at the company. We encouraged M&A activities which gave us an energy and momentum - that we were a go forward company - ready tand take risks and be adventurous.”
- “We made sure that our customers did not deal with us based on price but perceived us as their partner”
Those steps he says, built “intellectual confidence” in the team. Getting them to feel and portray that their company was and is number one!
7 years on , employees have increased 3 fold to 21,000 and turnover has doubled to $53b pa, and are regarded as number 12 on the Fortune 500 - and the leading wholesale drug distributor in the world, and Steve is regarded as one of the most top performing CEOs in the USA today.
The key lesson Steven Collis says that was most critical in that growth and transformation is to take care of your people.
- Respect people.
- Listening to people.
- Get ideas from people.
- Embrace Diversity of people.”
Steve, if you had one piece of advice to give to s millenials - what would it be?
About Steve Collis
Born and bred in South Africa
Family Man
Regular human
Loves his golf
Regarded as one of USAs most successful CEOs
Comment from Steve :-
Thanks Ivan not that I am counting but it’s actually $160 BN In Revenue So my advice would be to always put the needs of the organization before yours I Have Observed that associates that put themselves front and center however talented are not successful in the long term in building teams ; collaborating and inspiring confidence Also (for millennials especially )find a company whose work and mission you love and stick it out for a while .
You get more valuable to your company every day you are learning ; growing and contributing on the job ! For yourself and the organization you are employed by .