Lek receives award for its innovative practice of preventing brain drain
- At the HR&M conference, organised by Planet GV, Lek received an award for the Bio Career Breakfast project as having the best human resource practice among large companies.
- The Bio Career Breakfast project is aimed at the top Slovenian experts working abroad to entice them to return to their home environment.
- With this project, Lek has been actively tackling the modern migration trend among Slovenia’s highly educated workforce, recruiting 15 associates who would otherwise migrate abroad to work.
Pharmaceutical Company Lek is the recipient for the best human resource practice award. This honour was bestowed at the HR&M conference in Slovenia that focuses on the importance of connections and active cooperation between top management and HR professionals to achieve optimal development of the company and employers. Lek was awarded for its innovative Bio Career Breakfast project, with which they actively tackle the brain drain trend.
The Bio Career Breakfast is aimed at the top Slovenian natural science experts working or studying abroad in order to entice them to return to their home environment. The Bio Career Breakfast has been organised twice at Lek. The first breakfast in 2016 was attended by more than 90 experts, and in which a total of 15 experts have been recruited so far who would otherwise migrate abroad to find suitable work opportunities. “The success of the project simply lies in the fact that we consciously addressed the problem of brain drain and decided to organise an event exclusively for Slovenians abroad. At the Bio Career Breakfast, we present a number of options that we offer, and hold initial interviews with them. It is a great pleasure for us to be able to offer top experts stimulating work opportunities in their home environment, so that they are happy to return home,” said Špela Bernhard, the mastermind of the project. Lek organises the Bio Career Breakfast in collaboration with the Slovene Human Resources and Scholarship Fund, and the Association of Slovenes Educated Abroad (VTIS).
Samo Roš, Head of Human Resources and Member of the Lek Board of Management, stressed at the conference, that brain drain can be prevented. However, innovative practices have to be developed which will persuade these people to try working in their home environment. “Experts who are either still studying or already working abroad, usually decide to return to their home environment when they find out that they will also be able to pursue their professional ambitions there. The challenges and stimulation that we are presented with in a high technology pharmaceutical company are often a key factor leading to such a decision,” he added.
Awards for good HR practices also went to the Infinum Akademija at Infinum software design agency, and Komunala Brežice with measurable linking of organisational culture, commitment, and employee innovation.
Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of the key pillars of the second-largest generic pharmaceutical company globally. Its role within Sandoz is to act as: a leading global development center for technologically demanding products and technologies; a key global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines; a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products; a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biosimilar active ingredients and products; a supply center for the markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), South East Europe (SEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and is responsible for marketing and sales of Sandoz products on the Slovenian market. For further information, please visit www.lek.si.
Sandoz is a global leader in generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals. As a division of the Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people’s lives. We contribute to society’s ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2016 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2016, our products reached more than 500 million patients and we aspire to reach one billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area.
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Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 121,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.
This press release contains statements and conclusions based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.
For additional information contact:
Katarina Klemenc
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d. d.
Phone: +386 1 580 22 43
Fax: +386 1 580 24 32
katarina.klemenc@sandoz.com
