- With the 26th place in the category of multinationals, Siemens Healthineers was honored by the global research institute Great Place to Work® for its people-oriented culture
- Evaluating the company's efforts to create great workplaces across multiple countries in the region
- The concept of development dialogues instead of conventional performance reviews as well as local wellbeing activities for employees are proof points of Siemens Healthineers workplace culture
The Best Workplaces in Asia™ 2021 List was published July 2021 to recognize the efforts of the top 100 large and multinational companies across Asia and the Middle East in providing a people centric, inclusive and healthy workplace culture to their employees. Siemens Healthineers was awarded with the 26th place among the large and multinationals, having successfully participated at this year's certification in South Korea and India, with about 5,000 employees working in these two countries.
“Today is a day to celebrate for us”, said Elisabeth Staudinger, President of Siemens Healthineers, Asia Pacific. “Our team is constantly working on improving the way we collaborate. Each and every employee can be proud of this outstanding achievement”, she emphasizes. “To be recognized by an independent, external company such as Great Place to Work shows that the seeds we have planted have grown and are now flourishing.”
One of those seeds has been the move from conventional performance reviews to development dialogues. Employees can self-nominate throughout the year and express interest in positions and development programs at Siemens Healthineers. This concept enables employees to take ownership of their career. Any lateral and vertical movements are no longer linked to the tenure but to the value individuals create.
An aspect of special importance is the wellbeing of employees and various local activities have been set up to support this. In South Korea, if an employee is getting married, Siemens Healthineers congratulates with a monetary gift, for example. Moreover, if an employee is having a baby, the child’s education is funded by Siemens Healthineers starting from kindergarten up to university. Alongside financial aid programs, the company also offers different programs and policies for employees’ healthy work and life balance. One of them is enabling working parents to shorten their working hours to be able to spend more time with their families.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, additional efforts were made to support employees’ health and safety. At Siemens Healthineers in India, the “We Care” initiative was launched including vaccination support and adapted policies like special leave options. In addition, various learning programs and workshops have been offered to address topics such as mental wellbeing and stress management. “The way we currently work and live is undergoing massive changes and a lot of our collaboration takes place virtually or with a safety distance. These are times that require an even stronger company culture to tackle the changes and challenges we face”, Staudinger stresses. To provide a modern workplace for up to 1,800 additional digital talents over the next ten years, Siemens Healthineers has also invested into an innovation hub in Bengaluru, India. The innovation hub will be housed in a new state-of-the-art campus that combines the existing R&D center and an ultra-modern medical imaging factory.
Next to the already mentioned set of criteria, companies are evaluated by Great Place to Work on how well they are creating a For AllTM workplace experience, inclusive of all employees no matter who they are or what they do. As a leader and ambassador for diversity and inclusion, Staudinger personally wants to drive change in this regard: “ I’m committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture especially here in Asia, and create a workplace where every single person can live up to their full potential.”
At Siemens Healthineers, who recently joined forces with Varian, 66.000 employees globally work for one joint purpose: Driving innovation to help humans live healthier and longer. “Especially in times of a global pandemic, you can feel how powerful and motivating this purpose is to our global team”, said Staudinger. Considering all employees who took part in the latest Great Place to Work survey, a total of 88% are proud to tell others, that they work at Siemens Healthineers and a total of 86% feel pride about what the global team accomplishes.
To be considered, companies must first be identified as outstanding in their local region by appearing on one or more of the Best Workplaces lists in Greater China (including China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), India, Japan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, or UAE during 2020 or early 2021.
Anonymous, voluntary surveys have been conducted in each country by the Great Place to Work research and consulting institute, asking thousands of local employees to give personal feedback about aspects such as leadership, appreciation, and collaboration. Secondly, culture audits took place, evaluating a company’s programs and efforts with regard to personal development and learning, work-life balance, and remuneration for example.
