I recently wrote a profile of Teva Neuroscience Canada, a pharmaceutical company located in Montreal that was named the best small company to work for, according to a survey conducted by Queen's Centre for Business Venturing and Hewitt Associates. The story is on The Globe And Mail's website here, and the text is below.
How one firm saw the light on hiring
Teva Neuroscience nurtures a happy and productive work force by sticking to the HR basics and making sure employees strike a chord with its culture, writes CRAIG SILVERMAN
MONTREAL
-- The offices of Teva Neuroscience Canada are almost more remarkable
for what they don't have: You won't find slick furniture, a gourmet
kitchen or foosball table -- the bells and whistles that some companies
have come to believe are essential to employee satisfaction and
productivity.
Rather, people like to work there because they believe they belong
there -- and they're rewarded for their loyalty and commitment.
"Five years ago, I was reading Fast Company [magazine], and they
talked about having chefs to make lunch and playing basketball during
the day," Teva Canada general manager Jon Congleton says in an
interview at the pharmaceutical company's Montreal office. "That's the
fluff -- not the substance that can feed people long-term and sustain a
career."
"We focus on three clarities," he continues. "Clarity of structure:
Where do I fit in with this company? Clarity of direction: Where am I
going? And clarity of measurement: How do I know I did a good job?
"Maybe it's not as sexy as a lot of other things, but it is sustaining and it feels more real, and I think people value that."
Largely because of this fundamental approach to human resources, and
the way the company implements it, Teva has been selected as this
year's best small company to work for, based on a survey conducted by
Queen's Centre for Business Venturing and Hewitt Associates. It beat
out about 120 small companies for the honour.
The 62-employee company borders on obsessive when it comes to living
its values. It strives to hire the right people, keep staff
well-informed, gather feedback from them and ensure that employees know
how they fit in with the organization, Mr. Congleton says.
Teva stands out because it creates the activities, programs and
environment that make those goals a reality for all employees. And it
acknowledges their contributions with 18 different awards and other
forms of recognition, such as reward trips for meeting corporate
objectives, trophies and cash bonuses.
The result, according to Mr. Congleton, is a sense of purpose and
belonging that permeates the organization and empowers employees.
The company needs that kind of focus, he says, because of its
position as the Canadian subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Ltd., a global pharmaceutical company based in Israel.
Teva Canada staff work with the company's U.S. team of 627 people
and must also integrate its operations and strategy within the
27,000-employee global work force. As a subsidiary, it benefits from
being able to send staff to the North American headquarters in Kansas
City, Mo., for high-level training and assessment programs to prepare
them for upper management positions; yet, it also must meet global
objectives and dedicate employees to North American and worldwide
initiatives.
"We look for people who can work across geographical and across
cultural boundaries," Mr. Congleton says. "There are multiple projects
led from here and many of our people participate in global initiatives.
So we need people who can turn on and off the leadership button."
Brigitte Bernard, Teva Canada's senior manager of human resources,
says a key to its success is a rigorous candidate interview process
that ensures the company hires the right people. "There's a really big
focus on finding a person who is going to fit with our philosophy and
culture."
Teva puts job candidates through a series of interviews, often
back-to-back, with people from different departments and seniority
levels.
In addition to a focus on the skill level and experience of the
candidate, Teva delves into how the candidate will fit with the culture
and values of the company. The company doesn't hesitate to end an
employment trial if a new hire isn't fitting in. "When you make a
hiring mistake, fix it promptly," Ms. Bernard says.
Another factor that makes Teva a happy place to work involves what it does.
The company is responsible for marketing, selling and conducting
clinical research and customer support for Copaxone, a drug to help
sufferers of multiple sclerosis, and Azilect, a new product for people
with Parkinson's disease.
The nature of the products and how they help patients are a factor
in employee satisfaction, according to Ms. Bernard. "We regularly meet
patients and hear how the products have made a difference. We have a
sense of the difference we're making, and that nourishes the passion
[for the work]."
The company also inspires dedication through awards and other means
of recognition. This includes annual bonuses, retreats for all staff
for team building and to celebrate hitting sales targets, as well as
special cash awards and certificates for exemplary work or attitude. It
also pays $3,000 to any employee who refers a successful job candidate.
Though it shuns the trappings most-associated with the dot-com era,
Teva does provide a range of benefits. Its location offers access to an
in-house gym, the company reimburses half the cost of tuition for
employees, and it offers $400 a year per employee for wellness and
cultural activities, such as ski lift tickets and tai chi.
"[The reimbursements] are an acknowledgment of the need for a
balanced life," Mr. Congleton says. "We can't just work them 20 hours a
day and expect to get the best of an individual. People need to shut
down their work."
Manon Bélanger, 43, senior manager of clinical research at Teva,
says the company creates a positive work atmosphere that lets employees
know they are valued.
"It's a friendly atmosphere but we also feel that associates are the
focus of the company," says the employee of four years. "At other
companies I saw the values literally posted on the wall but you
couldn't feel them on a daily basis."
Mr. Congleton says it comes down to the "feeling that people have walking in the door everyday."
"Knowing what they need to do, [enjoying] the people they are
interacting with, and getting that sense of trust," he says. "That's
the stuff that's there every single day and it's what attracts people."
***
The five-step plan for happy staff
Brigitte Bernard, senior manager of human resources at Teva
Neuroscience, offers five steps to an award-winning work environment.
Hire for values, not just skills: "New hires should be
interested not only in the job, but also in what the company is about,"
Ms. Bernard says. Teva puts candidates through several interviews with
managers, executives and associates, often lasting a full day, to
assess how applicants would fit in with the company's values, people,
practices, and work environment. Hiring managers are trained in
interviewing techniques and the company is quick to let a new hire go
if the fit is not ideal.
Two-way communication: The company regularly conducts
anonymous employee satisfaction surveys and follows up with focus
groups to zero in on issues and find strategies to resolve them.
Regular staff meetings with executives provide the overall picture of
Teva's progress, and the company regularly communicates via e-mail and
its intranet. "Open, clear and timely internal communications . . . is
fundamental to creating a sense of belonging, to motivate involvement
and to earn the employees' trust," Ms. Bernard says.
Clarity: "Each employee must know and understand how he or
she is contributing to building the company's success," she says. The
company pursues this with frequent performance reviews and evaluations
that ensure employees know exactly what their role is and what is
expected of them.
Reward and Acknowledge: For meeting corporate objectives,
Teva offers 18 different rewards and means of acknowledgment, ranging
from cash bonuses and trophies to trips to a sunny locale, that are
open to all staff. To motivate and provide accountability, every Teva
employee is eligible for a performance bonus.
Balance: "[Our employees] are not just workers, but also
parents, spouses, children, students, grandparents, etc." Ms. Bernard
says. The company encourages work/life balance by offering
reimbursements for wellness and cultural activities, such as painting
classes and gym memberships, as well as for school tuition. It also
allows employees to set their own schedule around the core business
hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and offers a competitive health benefits and
vacation package.