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The recent challenge, for instance, saw teams from different countries encouraging one another to stay active, while focusing on the weekly themes of 'Move', 'Fuel', 'Rest', and 'Feel'. Sarah Gideon finds out more from Jason Tan and Ruth Kuguru.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death globally, surpassing all cancers combined. In Asia, it accounts for 35% of fatalities, according to research.
While the significance of heart health is recognised by healthcare organisations, individuals often overlook the importance of prioritising their own heart health — and recognising this, global healthcare company Novartis saw an opportunity to encourage its employees to take care of their own heart health, as well as raise awareness on the importance of it with its external stakeholders.
In came its Unblocked APMA Challenge, which launched in 2023 and continued its second run in 2024. The challenge is a four-week competition aimed at promoting physical activity, healthy living, and screening for cardiovascular risks among Novartis employees in the APMA region. As part of the challenge, participants took part in various activities, including community fitness sessions and rowing competitions, collectively logging thousands of hours of exercise and covering significant distances.
Beyond the internal focus, the challenge also sought to inspire Novartis’ healthcare ecosystem partners and employees’ personal networks to prioritise heart health, Ruth Kuguru, Region Head, Cardiovascular, Renal Metabolism (CRM), Innovative Medicines, APMA, Novartis, tells Sarah Gideon. The Unblocked APMA Challenge is part of a broader initiative, the Unblocked Movement, co-created with healthcare partners "in a shared mission to 'unblock' barriers to heart health."
As Kuguru elaborates, central to this movement is the development of partnerships, both internal and external, to address challenges such as access to cholesterol tests and cultural barriers to healthier lifestyles. Many of these partnerships have extended beyond the four-week challenge, evolving into long-term collaborations with governments, health authorities, and patient organisations, all working to improve heart health on a broader scale.
How employees helped make a difference in the community
When asked for examples of how employees have made a difference in the community as part of this initiatives, and how it helped drive patient advocacy in the region, Kuguru highlights the importance of collaboration between governments and industry leaders to improve the situation.
“The Unblocked APMA Challenge and the movement efforts paved the way for employee engagement internally and externally with their stakeholders, resulting in locally relevant and impactful partnerships, but with a common goal to unblock barriers to heart health,” she explains.
She goes on to share the following market-specific initiatives:
- In South Korea, Novartis Korea partnered with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and the Korean Society of Interventional Cardiology are working in partnership on a public health education programme on dyslipidaemia prevention and management for citizens of Seoul.
- In India, the local Unblocked Ambassador programme eventually led to several patient advocates of CVD coming together with the help of medical experts to establish Heart Health India Foundation, what is said to be India's first cardiovascular patient organisation advocating to advocate for patient’s unmet needs in cardiovascular care.
- In Malaysia, Novartis collaborated with the National Heart Institute the country’s leading cardiovascular institute to establish a multi-disciplinary Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Clinic to optimise ASCVD care in Malaysia.
- Outside of Asia, in the Gulf region, Novartis UAE also partnered with other companies such as noon, a retailer in the region, and the Gulf Insurance Group. Together, they provided cholesterol testing for their employees and educational talks by healthcare professionals or cardiologists.
Fitting into the talent acquisition and retention puzzle
With the above in mind, we speak to Jason Tan, Regional People & Organisation BP Head, APMA, Novartis, to learn about the organisation's wider people strategy, and how initiatives like the Unblocked APMA Challenge fit into its wider talent acquisition and retention appraoch.
In his role driving the strategy, Tan works closely with country people & organisation (P&O) heads across the region to help business leaders identify levers to boost business performance and overall team engagement.
"Together, we develop integrated P&O strategies that support the company’s business objective. Collaborating with our talented Center of Excellence (COE) teams - including Talent & Transformation, Talent Acquisition, and Rewards – we deliver impactful P&O solutions that directly contribute to Novartis’ success and growth in the region, while ensuring alignment with global directions."
For an example, he continues, the organisation conducted an internal survey and a customer feedback exercise last year, through which it learned that as a region, there was a need to "create a more customer focused culture and to enhance customer centricity by delivering seamless and enriching experiences that are tailored to customers’ unique needs."
"Through these activities, we learned that as a region, we needed to create a more customer focused culture and to enhance our customer centricity by delivering seamless and enriching experiences that are tailored to customers’ unique needs," Tan notes.
This led to the formation of the Culture Activator Network, a taskforce made up of P&O and commercial team members with a common objective to foster a culture of strong execution and external partnerships. "From a P&O perspective, our role was to champion a customer-focused culture and to mobilise employees across all levels and markets," Tan says.
Through the network, Novartis APMA launched several initiatives centred around key pillars, namely:
- 'Customer-focused leadership',
- 'Using feedback to drive improvements', and
- 'Empowering our people', and
- 'Know your customer'.
As the leader proudly shares, the changes made through this network have had a positive impact on the organisation's business performance in the region.
Diving deeper, Tan references Novartis' culture of being 'inspired, curious, and unbossed'. "This is reflected in how we integrate employee engagement initiatives, including employee health and wellness programmes into our overall people strategy. We understand that each market has its own unique nuances, especially in a diverse region like APMA, and that it is essential to adapt our initiatives while maintaining a level of uniformity across the organisation."
The Unblocked APMA Challenge, for instance, was rolled out as a region-wide programme by the Communications team in collaboration with other functions. Employees participated in teams to earn points for their respective team in each sport or activity they undertook. They could choose from more than 40 activities to participate in, from walking, running, cycling, yoga, football, tennis, martial arts, badminton, boxing, and even surfing.
Tan shares that the "friendly but healthy competition" helped foster an environment where different markets could take part in one shared mission, adding that the Challenge "helped to build a stronger and more connected Novartis community, while driving behavioural changes to get active and prioritise our cardiovascular health."
He reflects: "I must say, it was a very competitive four weeks – much like the Paris Olympics! It was heartening to see teams from different countries encouraging one another to stay active, all the while focusing on the weekly themes of 'Move', 'Fuel', 'Rest', and 'Feel'.
"The Challenge goes beyond our employees too, as their families were also involved and inspired by the need to stay healthy. Even my younger son, who’s eight years old, participated by cycling 30km over four hours. I was incredibly impressed by how he took up the challenge."
Collaboration at the heart of it all
As both interviewees affirm, the success of the Unblocked APMA Challenge is rooted in close collaboration across various functions at Novartis. Led by the Communications & Advocacy team, the initiative involved other departments such as P&O and Commercial, along with country champions who spearheaded efforts locally.
Strong support from country presidents and regional leadership was essential, as they set an example by prioritising heart health for their teams. Driving this change from within is also key, and leaders must also recognise that that partnerships within the healthcare ecosystem are vital.
Through the broader Unblocked Movement, sustainable partnerships have been built to raise awareness and encourage behavioural changes for better heart health outcomes, addressing the fact that 80% of cardiovascular disease deaths are preventable.
Drawing on the above points, the organisation firmly believes that prioritising the wellbeing of its employees is pivotal in driving engagement, satisfaction, and ultimately, unleashing their potential to reimagining medicine to improve and extend people’s lives.
"Our goal is to create an inclusive and supportive environment where employees can flourish and impact the larger society by what they do each day.
"Employee health and wellness go hand in hand with employee engagement. When employees are unwell or struggle with health issues, it is challenging for them to stay engaged at work."
The leaders added: "At Novartis, our Wellbeing vision is to offer all our employees access to mental health and wellbeing support. One of the ways in which we do so is through a global app called ‘How Are You Feeling’ made available to every employee who joins Novartis. We believe that early intervention and ongoing support is needed to prevent or mitigate the impact of mental health challenges, wherever they are in the mental health continuum.
"By providing the necessary resources and initiatives in these areas, we create an environment where our employees can thrive."
Acknowledging that implementing wellness programmes in regions like APMA requires a flexible approach which considers local challenges, the organisation has in place Wellness Champions in each country to lead initiatives tailored to local needs. Employees in Singapore for instance, have the choice to participate in a variety of wellness and health related programmes, from lunchtime yoga to wellness talks on managing stress, to sports interest groups. In the Philippines, some employees come either very early or stay back late due to the inconvenient traffic situation in Manila. Hence, the team created a dedicated Wellness area with two massage chairs for employees’ use to ease their stress and long hours in traffic.
Looking ahead
Rounding off the interview, we ask our interviews for their thoughts on what advancements they anticipate in the realm of employee wellness and engagement within Novartis APMA. In response, they shared a belief that advancements in technology and data analytics will transform how companies conduct wellness initiatives in the future, enabling the implementation of more personalised programmes.
"This personalised approach will foster a stronger sense of individual ownership and empowerment in managing one's well-being regardless of an employee's physical location."
Additionally, employee wellness is now viewed holistically. Prioritising the importance of mental health and wellbeing, is as critical as their physical health. By anticipating a greater focus on mental wellbeing initiatives, companies can create a supportive work environment and bolster their overall talent management efforts.
All in all, it was further affirmed that a commitment to mental health will not only benefit employees, but also contribute to the overall success of the organisation in the long run. In the words of Sir Richard Branson,
"If you take care of your people, they will take care of your business."
Photos: Provided
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