Biopharmaceutical company presented with prestigious title at 2020 Best Workplaces in Ireland awards
AbbVie, the global biopharmaceutical company, has been named as Ireland’s No.1 large workplace. The award was presented at the 18th annual Great Place to Work Best Workplaces in Ireland ceremony in Dublin last week.
AbbVie has been listed among the Best Large Workplaces in Ireland for the seventh successive year and placed in the top three companies for the past five years, including previously securing the top position in 2018. It remains the highest placed company in the biopharmaceutical/pharmaceutical industry across all categories.
The Great Place to Work Institute, which organises the annual awards, also recognised AbbVie as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Women for the second year in a row.
AbbVie employs more than 700 people at five manufacturing and commercial sites across Ireland. Workers located at the company’s manufacturing sites in Sligo and Cork participated in the Great Place to Work evaluation process alongside colleagues based in Dublin.
The Great Place to Work Institute assesses the policies and practices in place in organisations under nine key areas, including employee development, hiring practices, recognition and communication. It then benchmarks these against other organisations in each country.
AbbVie’s ranking reflects a continued company focus on talent-development, equality diversity & inclusion (ED&I), health and well-being initiatives. It also reflects efforts to provide employees with meaningful opportunities to engage with their local communities through science education and volunteering projects.
AbbVie’s Country HR Director, Samantha Commons said: “Being ranked as one of Ireland’s best workplaces seven years in a row is a significant achievement for the company and reflects a long-running commitment to create and maintain a high-performing company culture. It demonstrates the ambition, drive and passion of our employees across Ireland to make an impact on patients’ lives around the world.”
She added that is was rewarding to see efforts to create a vibrant company culture validated by external recognition. “The No.1 ranking and Best Workplace for Women award are clear endorsements of the fantastic work of our people in bringing AbbVie’s unique company culture to life” Ms Commons said.
The Institute publishes three different lists: The Best Large Workplaces in Ireland (>301 employees), the Best Medium Workplaces in Ireland (101 to 300 employees), and The Best Small Workplaces in Ireland (20 to 100 employees).
Companies are ranked in order on each of these lists primarily based on the confidential input from employees. Each workplace’s score comes from the results of the ‘Trust Index’ employee survey and a thorough company-wide ‘Culture Audit’ assessment of the company’s policies and practices.
Partner at Great Place to Work Ireland, Cathal Divily highlighted the efforts of all participating companies: “Reaching the criteria to appear on the list of Best Workplaces in Ireland is a massive achievement, and has provided a great platform for these organisations to differentiate themselves both externally and internally as employers of choice. While attractive benefit packages will go some way towards employee satisfaction, the companies on this year’s list have realised that their unique and distinctive cultures are what will mark them out in a crowded market.”