BRANDED CONTENT
Empathy and flexibility: How biotech firm’s staff gain job satisfaction and efficiency
Strict meeting guidelines and training on people-centred leadership are among the latest tools Amgen Singapore is wielding to meet evolving employee needs
Amgen Singapore Manufacturing keeps Mondays and Friday afternoons meeting-free for staff to focus better and not work late going into the weekend. PHOTO: AMGEN SINGAPORE MANUFACTURING
Rachel Chia
Follow topic:
The typical employee’s calendar might be jam-packed with meetings, but for Ms Jermaine Ho, Mondays and the latter half of Fridays are automatically greyed out.
This is one of several local initiatives her employer, biotechnology company Amgen Singapore Manufacturing, has introduced to protect employees’ focus time – and free time – now that hybrid work is here to stay. Meeting-free Mondays were rolled out in 2018, with Friday afternoons added more recently amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When things suddenly went virtual, the number of meetings increased,” says human resources director Mrs Shobha D’Sa. “We felt this was a good way to ensure staff are not pulled in different directions and trying to figure out how to finish all the work at the end of the day.
“The last thing we want is for them to continue working late into Friday evening or having to open their laptop on a Saturday or Sunday.”
Beyond limiting the days on which meetings can be held, Amgen further culled meeting bloat by introducing a global decision-making methodology in 2016 known as “DAI”, which requires all participants in a meeting to be assigned to one of three roles: (D) who makes the decision, (A) who advises the decision-maker and (I) who is informed and/or implements a decision. One of the critical success factors of this methodology is that all employees understand and, above all, respect the definition of roles in the decision-making process. A number of tools and concepts are also used to support decision making (such as assigning "Devil's Advocates"), which adds quality, assertiveness and, especially, agility to the discussions.
Any decision, no matter how complex, can thus be less challenging. This empowers junior staff to take ownership of projects, learn from their choices and develop as leaders, adds Mrs D’Sa.
This methodology has also helped to improve efficiency tremendously as teams now reach decisions within a single meeting instead of up to five previously, says Ms Ho, who is a senior manager in the biologics manufacturing department.
“In the past, when we did not have the right parties involved, we would spend a lot of time in discussions and have to revisit things all over again the next day,” she says.
“Now, we gather all the background work, go to one meeting, present it and make a decision. We no longer waste time going around in circles.”
Productive days
Maximising productivity while keeping their employees’ welfare in mind is what makes Amgen Singapore Manufacturing one of the top employers in Singapore, according to findings by global research firm Statista in collaboration with The Straits Times.
Collectively, these initiatives have helped Ms Ho get a third more work done, based on the number of tasks she checks off her weekly to-do list. Some tasks, such as reviewing manufacturing deviations, require three to four hours of uninterrupted focus.
“In the past, I would book slots on my own calendar to work on tasks, but often, I end up cancelling them when I get caught up in a meeting or phone call,” she says. “Now, when I set goals for the week, I easily get 30 per cent more work done.”
Increased output and leadership opportunities also gave Ms Ho – who joined Amgen as a senior engineer in 2019 – the confidence to apply for and obtain a leadership role just one year into the job.
She went for internal interviews around the same time she became pregnant and settled into the role after returning from maternity leave.
The transition was made smooth, thanks to a supportive manager who held one-on-one sessions with her once a week to ease her into the position. He also granted her the flexibility for time-off requests to attend doctor’s appointments when her son developed a milk allergy and checked in often on her well-being, she says.
Mrs D’Sa notes that today’s employees expect their managers to be equipped with the soft skills to create optimal working conditions.
“As people come back into a post-pandemic workplace, their needs have evolved,” she says. “People are expecting leaders to be able to connect better with subordinates.
“Work-life balance and flexibility are issues that employees are actively asking about, even at the interview stage. These need to be addressed if you want to be an employer of choice.”
Leading with compassion
To lead a new generation of people and to manage everyday complexities in a post-pandemic environment, Amgen’s operations formalised a “People-Centred Leadership” framework this year to inspire leaders to operate from an ideal “Wise Compassion” matrix, where one demonstrates an ability to courageously do the hard things of leadership in a compassionate way and delivers results. This matrix also became a framework for holding one another accountable.
Training on the framework has recently been completed for the company’s executive directors and directors across the globe. It will soon be rolled out to all supervisors, says Mrs D’Sa, adding that a robust MAP (Maximising Amgen’s Performance) process allows feedback from all stakeholders including subordinates where ongoing feedback, coaching and career development take place throughout the year as part of their performance appraisal.
As for Ms Ho, beyond guidance from her boss, she is also being mentored as a leader by another leader working at the company’s California headquarters, as part of the Operations IGNITE mentoring programme.
Rolled out in 2022, an online system matches junior managers with volunteer leadership mentors across the multinational company based on strengths rather than job scope or location.
Guidance from her mentor helped Ms Ho respond well when a member in her team of 20 raised issues of stress. The employee had joined Amgen during the circuit breaker period and lacked sufficient knowledge of on-site processes to do her job well.
“We heard her and redeployed her to a different role, rather than penalise her,” says Ms Ho, adding that the employee is now thriving in the new role and was recently promoted.
“We want to keep people at the centre of all we do,” adds Mrs D’Sa. “Everybody is learning how to be a bit more empathetic in this new age of work.”
By the numbers: Cultivating growth in Amgen Singapore Manufacturing
500
Mentorship slots available every year to middle managers under Amgen’s new Operations IGNITE mentoring programme, which provides access to leadership mentors across its global sites. There are about 40 mentees and 22 mentors in Amgen Singapore Manufacturing alone.
Mentorship slots available every year to middle managers under Amgen’s new Operations IGNITE mentoring programme, which provides access to leadership mentors across its global sites. There are about 40 mentees and 22 mentors in Amgen Singapore Manufacturing alone.
18 months
The duration of Amgen’s “FUEL Your Potential” Emerging Talent Rotational Program (ETRP), which provides high-potential junior staff, managers and directors with rotations in operations at different global sites or job functions.
The duration of Amgen’s “FUEL Your Potential” Emerging Talent Rotational Program (ETRP), which provides high-potential junior staff, managers and directors with rotations in operations at different global sites or job functions.
50%
Half of Amgen Singapore Manufacturing’s leaders are women, as part of the company’s efforts to promote a diverse, inclusive, high-performing culture where all can leverage each other's talents and backgrounds to thrive and grow
Half of Amgen Singapore Manufacturing’s leaders are women, as part of the company’s efforts to promote a diverse, inclusive, high-performing culture where all can leverage each other's talents and backgrounds to thrive and grow
