What's culture got to do with R&D? Everything.

We recently wrapped up one of my favorite internal events: our annual Sandoz Research and Development Days (SRDD). After three dedicated days to get together and celebrate our employees and our scientific achievements, I walked away feeling so energized and excited for what’s to come.

Over the last two years that I have been working at Sandoz, I continue to be impressed by the scientific expertise, dedication, and desire of our people to deliver value to patients. Now more than ever, as a newly independent Sandoz, delivering scientific excellence to support our robust portfolio and pipeline is vital to achieve our purpose: pioneering access to patients.

How can we ensure R&D excellence time and time again? By cultivating an environment that nurtures and enables our people to shine – allowing them to innovate, collaborate, knowledge share, develop, and be recognized for their contributions.

We all know that having a strong company culture is essential. Not only do half of job seekers name culture as an important factor but from as far back as Kotter and Heskett’s ground-breaking study in 1992, we also know that culture contributes to the bottom line.[i] [ii]

I’ve seen firsthand how culture plays an important role in R&D. In the two-years I’ve been with Sandoz, time and time again, I have observed that when we come together as one team with one purpose we become an unstoppable force, unlocking infinite possibilities. This collaborative attitude combined with our scientific spirit plays a crucial role in driving growth for our organization and pioneering access to increasingly complex, high-quality medicines for patients worldwide. 

It’s also why we hold events like SRDD and why they are pivotal to Sandoz. Not only are these platforms to share the great science that we are doing with our peers, but they also help create a culture that supports knowledge sharing and the growth of our employees. From keynote speakers sharing perspectives from the patient community to plenary sessions shining a spotlight on our scientific work, SRDD has it all!

My highlights from SRDD this year were the dedicated sessions on the development of inhalation drug products and drug delivery devices – specialist capabilities that we will be continuing to strengthen and build upon to help meet patient needs.

And as a newly independent organization, we have the ambition, entrepreneurial spirit, and opportunity to go further and faster than before. We’re proud of our culture and have made sure it:

·       is diverse and inclusive, where people know they are valued and free to be who they are

·       has psychological safety, allowing you to take risks and fail in an open and safe environment

·       is collaborative and allows colleagues to bring maximum value in a way that is authentic to them

Above all, Sandoz cultivates an environment that unites individuals towards one common goal – collaborating to help millions of people gain access to high-quality medicines.

As we move forward as a standalone company, we’re looking for like-minded individuals aligned with this passion and mindset and would be delighted to hear from you. Visit our careers page at Sandoz.com/careers to find out more.

[i] Jobsite. Recruiter Nation Survey 2018. Available at: https://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-Recruiter-Nation-Study.pdf

[ii] Kotter, J. P., and J. L. Heskett. Corporate Culture and Performance. New York: Free Press, 1992. Available at: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=139