Moving from moderate to top quartile zone on the staff engage-o-meter

ROCHE Diagnostics Asia Pacific is big on employee engagement, and has put itself up for the Aon Hewitt Best Employers award to get a measure of how deeply it is engaged.

It has gone far. "On Aon Hewitt's engage-o-meter, we moved from the moderate zone to top quartile zone," says Lance Little, the Asia-Pacific head of the world's leading in vitro diagnostics company.

"This recognition (is) a confirmation that we are focusing in the right direction when it comes to engagement," he says. "It legitimised the efforts we are putting in to make Roche Diagnostics a best place to work."

Over the past two years, Roche Diagnostic Asia Pacific has made a big jump in employee engagement - up 16 per cent, according to Mr Little. Which is why the company is also a winner of the Best Employer for Commitment to Engagement this year.

Roche Diagnostics, which employs 250 people in Singapore, believes strongly that a healthy and engaged staff brings out the most in a company. Thus, it has put in place various programmes aimed at employee well-being.

They include flexible benefits to tailor perks according to staff's individual needs; flexible work arrangements for employees to achieve a better work-life balance; and regular town hall meetings to keep staff engaged and up-to-date on important matters.

Mr Little discloses that Roche Diagnostics is also working towards a Once Voice 2018 Vision guided by a five-year roadmap.

"One key objective of the One Voice vision is to create a regional culture that touches us personally and creates an Asia-Pacific pride that others want to be part of," he says.

The company listens to employees and seeks their feedback through a regular employee survey. "The results are taken seriously and are discussed openly within teams, with improvement plans developed and followed through," Mr Little says.

Becoming a Best Employer did not happen by accident. "It takes commitment and effort from the leadership team and the company as a whole," he says.

To become the Best Employer for Commitment to Engagement, Mr Little says that it is important for staff to understand and feel part of the overall strategic direction of the company. A key goal of the One Voice 2018 Vision project is to reinforce this.

"Our leaders (must) understand what it takes to be a leader in Roche," he adds. "We have seven Leadership Commitments which are communicated to all leaders, and all our people managers are strongly encouraged to attend a globally run programme which seeks to embed the commitments."

Mr Little says that employees pick up on this strong and positive leadership culture, which in turn has an impact on engagement.

Last year, Roche Diagnostics invested S$1 million to review and revamp a number of programmes to build its leadership pipeline. They include the company's Assessment

Development Centre, which helps its high potential staff understand their strengths and areas for development.

APAC Discover is a dynamic nine-day management development programme for people managers on the fundamentals of being a people manager.

And there is an advanced leadership development programme, run in conjunction with INSEAD, for Roche Diagnostics' next-in-line general managers.