Reimagining how we work at Novartis

2020 has seen a seismic shift in the way we work. While the global pandemic has brought many challenges, it has also accelerated a journey we began at Novartis in 2018 to strengthen our culture and become more inspired, curious and unbossed. At the time, we asked our associates what they needed to be more effective and impactful. One of the things they told us was that they wanted more flexibility to choose how, where and when they work.

Today we are at a point where we can offer this greater flexibility to our associates and I’d like to share five things that have helped us move in this direction.

1. We’re on a journey to unboss our workplace

Over the past few months, we’ve been able to lean into our inspired, curious and unbossed culture to rise to the challenges of the pandemic together, and it’s given us a unique opportunity to examine old assumptions, test new ideas, and explore working models that offer greater flexibility for our people.

As an innovative healthcare company, we want to unleash the power of our people to reimagine medicine; to create an environment where everyone is supported and encouraged to be the best they can be, professionally and personally. The next step on this journey is to answer our people’s request for greater freedom in deciding how, where and when they work to have the greatest impact in their role*. I believe this is how we can further unboss the workplace and enable our people to fulfill their true potential.

2. We’re listening to our people

As for other companies when the pandemic began, the worldwide restrictions that came into force demanded we increase our home-working provision in a matter of days – from rapidly upscaling our digital collaboration tools, to helping associates create workspaces at home. As we brought forward many of the measures we had in the pipeline for the future, it proved to be an invaluable way of testing new ways of working. It also showed us again that our people are at their most creative and productive when they are “unbossed” – empowered and enabled to take accountability for their work and their choices. 

Passionate about curiosity, the question became: “What can we do to support our people?”

So we asked them. The vast majority who responded to our survey preferred a hybrid model with freedom to work remotely, but also space to connect and collaborate with colleagues. In July, we subsequently launched a program we call ‘Choice with Responsibility’ to scope, design and implement a future-fit flexible working model, which moves from “manager approved” to “manager informed”. In the short term, it supports our associates to navigate the demands of their responsibilities and choose their pattern of work, while taking personal responsibility to inform their managers and align with teammates for effective collaboration. We summarize it as “associate led, team aligned, manager enabled”.  

The journey has only just begun. Long term, our aim is to identify and create sustainable solutions that support a future-ready workforce, and we don’t yet know where the initiative will lead us. We’re taking the time to learn as much as we can about our peoples’ experiences, and conducting experiments to test our hypotheses and gain data-driven insights to fuel our discovery. We have a great diversity of roles across our organization, and they don’t all allow for the same degree of flexibility, but we’re committed to exploring how we can offer practical, impactful solutions to the widest possible spectrum of associates.

3. We’re using data to shape our future workplace 

As a data science-led company, we want to apply the same curiosity and scientific rigor to the design of our future workplace. As well as conducting regular pulse-check surveys to gather direct feedback from our associates, we’re also collecting aggregated and anonymized data to identify, study and understand patterns in how our associates are working. These insights, which are data privacy-compliant and discussed and consulted with local works councils, help us support our people better, and ensure we provide the right resources to optimize their impact.

We know, for example, that working remotely presents new challenges for our physical and mental well-being, and by better understanding the challenges our people are facing, the more responsive we can be in addressing them. That’s why we continue to collaborate with our external partners to expand our Mind and Body resources such as the Tignum X app and our mental health support.

4. We’re developing self-aware leaders who serve their teams

The role of our managers is also changing. In a remote working environment, it’s particularly important that all team members feel included, supported and have equal opportunity to be visible and contribute. We continue to invest in developing self-aware servant leaders who role model inclusive behaviors and create space for their teams to design, implement and own the solutions that will help us adapt to the shifting sands of the world we now work in. We’re also increasing focus on connectivity, ongoing feedback, coaching and frequent check-ins as part of our journey to reimagine performance management, whilst removing numerical ratings.

5. We’re embracing the new normal as a springboard for positive change

Embracing this change is not easy and it’s tempting to hold on to the past. However, I see many reasons to be hopeful. We have an unprecedented opportunity to re-evaluate what’s important to our people in the way we work, and we’re making changes to reflect what they want and need in these extraordinary times – and beyond. I’m excited that this journey has our people at its heart and, by coming together to problem-solve and support each other, we’re living our culture and building a sustainable, future-fit workplace for everyone. 

*Within their country of employment or wherever internal borders may carry tax or regulatory implications, such as US state borders.