This month marks the 5th Anniversary of Congenius. Born from a passion for sharing knowledge, Congenius was founded in 2016 to offer customers tailored medical device and IVD expertise in Quality and Regulatory. Half a decade on, the successful delivery of over 200 projects across the MedTech industry has driven our expansion into eHealth, Operations and Clinical. Upon celebrating this 5-year milestone, our CEO Jörg Dogwiler reflects on what the past years have taught him as the founder of a growing company. Take a look at his 5 key learnings below.
1. A growing responsibility
Whilst I started Congenius alone, we now have over 30 employees. The sense of commitment to the company and the responsibility for our growing team has certainly brought with it an increase in emotional investment compared with the founding years. It is no longer about developing just a business – but also about helping to nurture people’s careers. This has changed my outlook, and in turn has influenced my business strategy on some level.
2. Welcoming change
My function as managing director has evolved from purely managerial in the initial years to more of an entrepreneurial role. This evolution has meant that it can sometimes be a challenge to let go of the day-to-day to focus on the bigger picture. But I have found that having the right people in the right place and function and monitoring this with a continuous process is the cornerstone for the sustainable existence of our company.
3. Showing appreciation
The most important asset of a consulting firm is its excellent employees, who contribute to the core success and growth of the company through their daily work. Even though we are now a larger organisation, and it is sometimes no longer possible to maintain constant close contact with individual employees, it is still important to maintain regular and meaningful communication with them – be it through quick coffee catch ups, formal appraisals or even with an ad hoc email or phone call just to say thanks. The appreciation of employees has been and will continue to be a central priority of Congenius.
4. Ensuring simultaneous growth
To maintain steady and consistent growth, I have learnt that focus needs to be divided equally across every part of the business. It is important in a growth phase that each area of the company is given the necessary attention it needs, so that the flow of all processes is maintained, thus ensuring that the quality of work remains consistently high both internally and externally.
5. Inspiring confidence
Building a culture of trust within an organisation starts by inspiring the confidence of the employees, and develops by encouraging that confidence to permeate the relationships nurtured with customers. I find that passion sprinkled with humour in what you do, as well as performing daily actions with authenticity and honesty, is the key to instilling confidence amongst all parties.
On a final note, as we take a breath to celebrate our 5th birthday, it is important to say that whilst we continue to grow, our vision remains the same: to enable the smartest route to enhanced medical solutions. Achieving this vision would not be possible without the hard work and efforts of our Congenius employees, and the continued partnership with our customers. So to both the internal team and our valued partners, I send my heartfelt thanks as we raise a glass – here’s to reaching our next milestones together!
