Like a child leaving home to chart an independent path to grow, biopharmaceutical company AbbVie separated from pharmaceutical and medical device giant Abbott Labs in 2013.

Now a biopharma titan, then AbbVie was a start-up—but one in a unique position: It was not only well-funded and came from an established player in the industry, it also was home to many former employers of Abbott, who transferred over during the spinoff. They were familiar with the culture of their former employer, creating an interesting challenge for AbbVie's founding CHRO, Tim Richmond, as he worked to establish a culture that was a departure from that of Abbott. Building culture from the ground-up, he says, was both an exciting opportunity and a daunting task.

Fortunately for Richmond, AbbVie's founding CEO, Rick Gonzalez, who now serves as AbbVie's executive chairman, and other members of the original C-suite team made culture one of AbbVie's top four business priorities. Richmond notes most companies treat culture as an add-on to the business strategy instead of a focus.