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Members in Focus: Abbott
Members in Focus
Craig Skelton, General Manager for Abbott in Ireland discusses how Abbott Ireland ensure their company values are lived and integrated, how they are minimising their impact on the environment, why they are involved with the Schools' Business Partnership and other science education initiatives, how they nurture an inclusive work environment and the business benefits to Abbott in being dedicated to corporate responsibility.
In what ways does Abbott Ireland ensure that your company values are lived each day and integrated into your business operations?
The Abbott Promise for Life is a statement that describes - for our customers, our communities, our shareholders and all of our stakeholders - what Abbott believes in, what we value, and what we strive to deliver in our day-to-day work. Caring is central to the work Abbott carries out, and is reflected in the core values of our company and integral to our business operations. Good citizenship is a business discipline applied throughout our operations - including how we develop, manufacture and market innovative products, support our employees and customers, protect the environment and invest in building healthier communities.
Last year Abbott Ireland launched two programmes, Abbott Family Science and Operation Discovery, to promote science education amongst primary and post primary students. Can you tell us more about how they are progressing and what the benefits are to Abbott Ireland of developing these programmes?
As a global health care company and one of the largest health care companies in Ireland, Abbott is committed to promoting science and engineering. Our two science programmes, Abbott Family Science and Operation Discovery, provide hands-on experiences for students to help stimulate children's interest in science and inspire the next generation of science innovators. Since November 2009, 80 Abbott volunteers have reached more than 1,100 students, parents and teachers in 14 schools across Ireland.
Abbott Family Science brings together primary school students, parents, teachers and Abbott volunteers for a hands-on evening focused on basic science skills and building confidence as science learners. The programme is changing participants' attitudes towards science: before participating in Family Science, only 30 percent of parents were likely to do hands-on science learning activities in the home, increasing to 73 percent after the evening. The teachers who volunteer for the events are also benefitting: 11 percent said they felt comfortable discussing science and engineering careers with families before the event, increasing to 78 percent after the event. With this success, we've expanded the programme from three Abbott Ireland sites to six, and are exploring partnership opportunities to bring Abbott Family Science to more students, parents and teachers.
Operation Discovery brings secondary students and their teachers to Abbott sites to work hands-on with Abbott scientists, who serve as role models and facilitate authentic, hands-on activities that introduce students to tools and procedures Abbott employees use everyday. The volunteers' impact is sizable: twice as many students said they would enjoy studying science after completing Operation Discovery (80 percent as compared with 41 percent prior to the event). Two Abbott Ireland sites will annually invite seven local schools to participate during Science Week.
The benefits from these programmes are threefold: first, tapping the scientific knowledge of our 3,800 employees is inspiring students to pursue studies and careers in science, ultimately helping build the knowledge economy; second, the programmes are helping build stronger partnerships in our communities; and third, Abbott employees are enjoying volunteering as part of a national programme, with one employee saying, “I'm looking forward to doing Operation Discovery again because it's sharing my talents and it's great to see kids so interested.”
In 2009, Abbott Ireland was awarded with Outstanding Achievement in Corporate Social Responsibility from the Chambers Ireland President's Awards for CSR. What did winning this award mean to you and would you advise other companies to get involved in the awards?
We were thrilled to receive this award as it is a tribute to Abbott employees across all sites who ensure that corporate social responsibility is part of our everyday working life and aligned to our business objectives. Winning the award affirmed our strategy of investing in innovative CSR initiatives. I strongly encourage all companies to participate in the Chambers Ireland CSR Awards as it's an opportunity to review, measure and communicate your CSR initiatives. With the Awards growing each year, the high calibre of short-listed companies provides inspiration to keep innovating and improving.
How is Abbott Ireland engaging in the climate change debate and minimizing your impact on the environment?
Abbott aims to continuously improve the environmental efficiency and sustainability of business activities and products. Abbott's public Climate Responsible Energy Policy provides goals on global energy use while our website discloses our global performance against goals. Abbott in 2009 established a series of new targets to further minimize our environmental impacts. By 2015, we seek to reduce:
- absolute CO2 emissions (from direct emissions or sources we own or control and from electricity we purchase) by 15 percent.
- total water intake by 50 percent (adjusted for growth).
- total waste by 50 percent (adjusted for growth), including the objective to achieve at least five zero waste to landfill plants by 2015.
The manufacturing sites and commercial operations in Ireland are contributing to these global goals. For example, all Ireland sites have implemented a bin-less office system to reduce waste, which is helping us achieve recycling rates of up to 97 percent for non-hazardous waste. Our plant in Cootehill recycles 100 percent of water used at the facility (both water used and water evaporated from process). We were the first company in Ireland to be ISO14001 certified in 1997. Abbott also participated in Business in the Community Ireland's CEO Forum on Climate Change and the subsequent report to help promote discussion on the issue.
What are the benefits to Abbott Ireland in being a member of Business in the Community Ireland and receiving one to one advice and guidance on Corporate Responsibility?
BITC Ireland was a strategic partner and provided insight as we developed the Abbott Ireland CSR strategy last year. They keep us informed of CSR trends, innovative programmes, and best practices in Ireland. Networking with the 60 other member companies to learn from each other's successes and challenges is a great benefit of membership as well.
Abbott Ireland has been involved with the Schools' Business Partnership programme, a Business in the Community Ireland initiative, since December 2003. Could you tell us more about your involvement and why you have decided to get a number of your locations nationwide involved?
The Schools' Business Partnership is a valuable programme that facilitates a strong link between our sites and local schools. It's a skills-based volunteer opportunity, with Abbott employees sharing their HR expertise with secondary students through workshops on CV writing and interview skills meant to encourage students to stay at school. The workshops also provide an opportunity for employees to develop presentation skills used at work.
The Abbott Citywest office, which has participated for many years, expanded our relationship with the partner school to hire work experience students from that school. The Abbott diagnostic facility in Sligo joined the programme last year and we anticipate two or three more Abbott sites participating in 2010. I'd recommend the programme to other companies as a skills-based volunteer opportunity that strengthens connections to the local community.
For the past seven years Abbott Ireland has been named in the Top 40 Best Workplaces in Ireland, why is it important for your company to remain an employer of choice? Would you like to tell us more about the initiatives Abbott has in place to support being a great place to work?
Abbott has had operations in Ireland since 1946 and Ireland constitutes the largest manufacturing site outside the U.S. for the company. Abbott's approach is to be a leading employer in Ireland and in every country where we operate, helping us to realise the full potential of our employees to discover new ways to improve the health of people in Ireland and around the world. It is important that we guide and enable the 3,800 employees of Abbott in Ireland to build meaningful careers. Positive workplace practises support this commitment including hiring, training and leadership initiatives, diversity and disability strategies, health and wellness programmes, and work-life policies.
The Great Place to Work Institute awarded the Abbott Citywest site the top Wellbeing Award for consistent commitment to employee engagement and work-life programme, called Life Navigation. Life Navigation directly supports Abbott Ireland's goal to be the employer of choice in Ireland by attracting and retaining top talent. The programme is a commitment from Abbott management to empower employees to set life goals and balance their work within those goals. It has resulted in a culture change, by enabling each individual to choose the time and environment right for them to work. Employees are more motivated, energised and productive which leads to better business.
Abbott's commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace recently was recognized by the O2 Ability Awards, and Abbott is named in the top 10 of DiversityInc magazine's ‘Top 50 Companies for Diversity.' How does Abbott Ireland nurture an inclusive work environment and what are the benefits of doing so?
As a global health care company focused on improving lives, Abbott has a great awareness of the challenges faced by people with diverse needs. The Abbott team in Clonmel, in particular, has worked to identify and implement strategic diversity and disability awareness programmes throughout the organisation. Every employee participates in a diversity training programme that fosters a greater understanding of people with diverse needs and an appreciation for the talents and contributions they make.
The opportunity to work with employees with diverse needs has had a positive learning impact on all employees, building on the company's extensive development programs. We're also focused on ensuring our approach to diversity and inclusion is reflected in our recruitment and selection practices. Our transparent recruitment process drives fairness and identifies key talent for our organization, which is an impact resulting from inclusive recruitment and selection practices. We've strengthened ties with external organisations that serve people with disabilities, such as partnering with the Willing and Able Mentoring (WAM) Partnership to focus our Graduate Recruitment Programme on providing people with disabilities. Abbott has been able to cultivate an inclusive environment where all employees feel that they are engaged and valued members of a team.
In addition to the O2 Ability Award, Abbott recently received an award for Best Graduate Training and Development and the AHEAD Award for Employing Graduates With Disabilities from GradIreland Graduate Recruitment Awards.
What are the business benefits to Abbott in being a leading company dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility? What challenges do you encounter and how have these been overcome?
Abbott in Ireland has a long history of supporting communities. In 2008 , we looked to formalise these activities across all our sites and increase focus on CSR for three reasons: first, it makes good business sense; second, we have a responsibility to our employees, communities, customers and the environment; and third, it supports our plan to build our reputation in Ireland.
Our CSR activities are delivering on these goals. In a recent internal survey, 84 percent of employees said Abbott's reputation in Ireland is good or excellent, an increase of 5 percent over the prior year. At the pharmaceutical site in Sligo, the number of employees agreeing that “I feel good about the ways we contribute to the community,” jumped from 70 percent to 89 percent in one year. Reducing energy use at our manufacturing sites is generating substantial cost savings, while last year employees organised more than 100 volunteering and fundraising projects across Ireland.
Like other companies, we are challenged to continuously innovate and provide CSR programmes that meet changing needs in our communities. For example, the worrying decline in students' interest in science as a career led us to launch Abbott Family Science and Operation Discovery. By fostering discovery and invention, Abbott hopes to help encourage students who may go on to find the cures and treatments for the world's health care challenges. We are challenged to maintain our high environmental metrics and to further reduce energy and water consumption and waste generation. Relying on internal and external networks to share best practices and identify trends helps us meet these challenges and continue delivering strong results with our CSR programmes.
For more information, visit www.abbott.ie
