Building a “Best Place to Work”: The Lessons behind the Award

By Abby Murphy, Director of Strategy & Operations, Reference Medicine

When Reference Medicine was named one of GenomeWeb’s Best Places to Work for 2025, it was less of a surprise and more of an affirmation. We know we’re the best place to work, but now someone outside of our team sees it, too! I’ve been a part of this team through many iterations over the last four years, and I can safely say that this award is the culmination of years of deliberate focus and collaboration, not just a plaque to hang on the wall. 

So what makes a “best place to work,” anyway? Here are some of the things we’ve learned along the way that have helped us get to where we are today.

Teamwork makes the dream (and the day-to-day) work

It was easy to see why Reference Medicine was named a best place to work because we all genuinely like each other. (It also helps that we have the best on-sites and some of the most creative ways to celebrate milestones. 😁) 

But at the end of the day, throughout every high and low, we know we can rely on one another, and that’s what makes it such a fulfilling place to work. We pride ourselves on our ability to work together, and even if we don’t always agree, we know that we’re working towards a shared goal, and that’s the most important thing. This collaboration has driven everything we do, and it allows for a supportive and dynamic environment that grows to meet our own needs as well as our customers’. 

Values aren’t just a reflection – they’re a foundation

When Reference Medicine began, our values were a mish-mash of various buzzwords and the best of intentions. They were something you could find on almost any corporate company’s about page, and because of that, they didn’t match at all with the scrappy startup that we were or the delightful company we were becoming. Another way we became such a great place to work is that, as a team, we came together and brainstormed new values that didn’t just reflect what we were actually doing, but that also provided a foundation for us to rely on.

• We aren’t perfect, but we never stop trying to be better.
• We are always real in our words and our actions.
• We believe doing good work starts with being good to ourselves.
• We make the world a more delightful place.

In each of these values, there’s a throughline of caring for our customers as well as ourselves. We celebrate when a team member takes time off because we know they will come back even more invigorated to do the work we do, together.

Open communication is another form of caring: everyone is encouraged to speak up when things aren’t right internally, and externally, this manifests in how we own up to our mistakes with customers and always try to make it right with them. This kind of honesty isn’t always easy, but it shows how we see our customers as an extension of our team - and just like we want to be the best place to work, we want to be the best biospecimen provider they work with.

Performance reviews are a conversation, not a lecture 

Part of being a good place to work is making sure every team member finds their role rewarding. To ensure this satisfaction, our performance reviews are driven by the employee, not the manager. The employee looks at their own performance based on a few factors:

• How much time each responsibility takes: Knowing if something is a total time sink or something that deserves more time will help the manager better assign tasks and projects. 
• How well they feel they are performing the responsibility: A little bit of self-reflection goes a long way, and gives the manager insight into how their employee sees themself and their performance.
• How much they like the responsibility: Liking the work you're doing makes it way easier to like your job, and finding out whether a responsibility is loved or hated will help a manager determine which kinds of responsibilities the employee needs more of and which could potentially get reassigned.

This performance review format lays the groundwork for a more productive conversation, giving the employee the opportunity to advocate for changes that improve their work experience and giving the manager the chance to make sure the work the employee is doing aligns with current company goals. Additionally, every manager at Reference Medicine does regular one-on-ones with their direct reports. These regular check-ins ensure any employee dissatisfaction or deviations from company goals are addressed as they happen – not weeks or months later.

Diversity and community building go hand-in-hand

Being the best place to work means making your workplace the best place to work for everyone on your team, celebrating each team member’s unique background and perspective. As a woman-founded and -led company, it’s in our DNA to champion women in science in particular, looking to each other for both mentorship and community. 

Whatever your company's goals are, looking locally is a great place to start in terms of cultivating diversity and building a community. We work with the local Arizona community as part of AZBio, supporting them financially and with our time by contributing to and hosting interns from the AZAdvances program. We also show our commitment to LGBTQ individuals and their allies by being part of ONE Community, another Arizona-based organization fighting discrimination and advancing equality. It has never been a requirement for us to join any of these organizations, but doing so resonates with our values and shows our employees that they always have our support.

Doing it our way

Winning this award is an incredible honor, and I’m so proud of each and every team member for making this the welcoming, collaborative, and delightful company that it is. A steadfast commitment to doing the best we can for each other, our customers, and our community has gotten us to where we are today, and seeking out opportunities and connections that align with our values allows us to continue to grow and improve.

As we go forward, I know we will continue to be the best place to work, because our incredible team is supported by meaningful values that allow us to do the work we love: connecting researchers with the specimens they need to fight cancer. This shared mission is at the heart of all we do, and makes sure we do it the Reference Medicine way.