Sandoz at 20 years in the Philippines, named HR Asia Best Company to work for in Asia 2022

Healthy Filipinos are the cornerstone of sustainable development. According to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), healthcare expenditure in the Philippines is still hugely considered an out-of-pocket expense for Filipinos, which means that Filipinos still pay for majority of their healthcare expenses. Therefore, there is high reliance on the availability of facilities and services, as well as high-quality affordable medicines, to sustain healthcare. Since the beginning, Sandoz Philippines has maintained a clear vision of making healthcare access happen for all Filipinos—the desire to reach out to people who need medical care the most and ensure that they are afforded adequate care through accessible medicines. 

Over the years, Sandoz launched milestone programs that supported communities, nurtured new talents, empowered women, and provided innovative medical therapies.  In 2015, Sandoz partnered with renowned and reputable organizations like World Childhood Cancer and Kids of Hope. Subsequently, the global Healthcare Access Challenge was launched in 2016 to engage local talents in finding ways to innovate. The years 2017 and 2018 were pivotal as one of the first biosimilars approved by the FDA Philippines was launched by Sandoz and Eleanor Lopez was appointed as a General Manager, being the first female and first Filipino General Manager (Country Head) of Sandoz, a multinational country affiliate of Novartis. Meantime, during the pandemic, Sandoz was one of the first companies in the Philippines to implement a work-from-home setup to ensure the health and safety of the employees, and even donated medicines and funding to a number of institutions to support their COVID-related efforts. 

As it celebrates its 20th anniversary in the Philippines, Sandoz continues to raise the bar in ensuring accessible healthcare access to all Filipinos. 

Recognized as a top employer in Asia

In the same way that Sandoz makes access to medical care happen for the communities, the company also makes access happen for its employees through career growth, empowerment, well-being, and encouragement to care for the environment. Because of this, out of 185 Filipino companies, Sandoz Philippines was recognized as one of the 35 awardees of this year’s HR Asia Best Companies to Work for in Asia Awards.

Country Head Eleanor Lopez and People & Organization (HR) Head Ninna Arellano during their acceptance speech in the virtual awarding of the winners of HR ASIA Best Companies to Work for in ASIA 2022

The HR Asia Best Companies to Work for in Asia Awards is an awards recognition program for organizations identified by their employees as one of Asia’s employers of choice and ascertains the best employers to work for. The award targets companies across Asia and recognizes companies with the best HR practices demonstrating high levels of employee engagement and excellent workplace cultures. 

More than 11,800 employees from 185 Philippine companies took part in HR Asia’s proprietary Total Engagement Assessment Model – ranking their employers on metrics ranging from workplace happiness and team cohesion to employee advocacy and continued job motivation. 

“Apart from our regular internal engagement survey, which measures how employees feel about working at Sandoz,  our participation in this external recognition process marked a great milestone for us as an organization where we can further strengthen our employer brand, learn from each other, and feel proud of the company where we are working at,” said Ninna Arellano, People & Organization Head of Sandoz Philippines. “This is the best gift we can receive on our 20th anniversary. It is a testament to our commitment to the Filipino people and our employees.”

Top-notch employee engagement

Circling back to the goal of encouraging their employees to act for the betterment of the environment, Sandoz has also conducted simultaneous tree-planting activities in different parts of the country, in partnership with the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“As a healthcare company and a world-leading generics and biosimilars company, our mission is to ensure that we make our affordable, high-quality medicines accessible to our fellow Filipinos. On the other hand, as a responsible organization and corporate citizen, it is also our duty to do our part for the community, and the environment. This is also our way of partaking in our global ambition to be a catalyst for positive change by continuing to invest in our planet,” added Ms. Lopez.

The tree planting activity definitely symbolizes Sandoz’s strength, growth, evolution, and success in its 20 years in the Philippines. 

Sandoz associates with partners from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in one of the tree planting sites—La Mesa Watershed, Quezon City

“It’s a demonstration and assurance that whatever we plant today will grow in the years to come, and someday we will be proud to see the fruits of our labor paying off,” Ms. Lopez highlighted.

With two decades in the Philippines and more than 100 years of solid history and heritage in the pharmaceutical industry, Sandoz has its roots firmly established, ready to weather challenges that may come, ready to grow, and ready to reap the rewards of its effort to make access happen for all Filipinos.

ADVT.

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