Novartis in Canada certified as a Great Place to Work® for a second consecutive year

• An independent analysis and survey with Canadian employees contributed to the certification
• Positive employee perception and the strength of people related management practices support the positive evaluation

DORVAL, QC, July 16, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Novartis in Canada has been certified as a Great Place to Work^® for a second time following the company's first submission and certification in 2019, after a thorough and independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work^® Institute Canada.

Through the direct feedback from associates across the Novartis businesses in Canada, (Novartis Innovative Medicines Division and Sandoz Canada), Novartis in Canada achieved an overwhelmingly positive assessment on a number of organizational aspects. The opinions shared by Novartis associates contributed to a positive Trust Index^® resulting in the Great Place to Work certification for a second consecutive year. 

As part of the survey, associates expressed gratitude to Novartis to making them feel physically and emotionally safe at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. An important initiative by the company to help promote wellness and healthy habits is free access for associates and their family members to the pocket performance coach app, TignumX and other wellbeing applications, as well as virtual gym classes. Other initiatives include establishing meeting-free times to help associates achieve balance between work and personal needs, as well as caregiving leave for employees who needed time off to manage the challenges of working from home with families.

"Novartis continually aims to unleash the power of our people by nurturing talent to its full potential, allowing us to be the very best in what we do in Canada and the world.  During the last few challenging months, we put additional focus on making sure employees felt safe first, and then empowered to embrace innovation. We are on a transformational journey that leverages our inspired, curious and unbossed culture and our employees' feedback confirms that we have made great progress towards this goal," said Christian Macher, Country President, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

Novartis is also committed to being an ethical and responsible corporate citizen in Canada through its employment practices, as well as through its research programs and commercial activities and by always showing respect for the environment.

Great Place to Work^® is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services, and certification programs, it recognizes the Best Workplacestm across the world in a series of national lists published in leading newspapers and magazines. Great Place to Work research represents more than 12 million employees from thousands of organizations of various sizes, industries, maturity and structures in over 50 countries.

About Novartis in Canada
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., a leader in the healthcare field, is committed to the discovery, development and marketing of innovative products to improve the well-being of all Canadians. In 2019, the company invested $51.8 million in research and development in Canada. Located in Dorval, Quebec, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. employs approximately 1,500 people in Canada and is an affiliate of Novartis AG, which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. For further information, please consult www.novartis.ca.    

About Sandoz in Canada
Sandoz Canada Inc. is part of Sandoz International GmbH, a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars and a pioneer in the emerging field of prescription digital therapeutics, and a division of Swiss multinational Novartis AG. A leader in its field, Sandoz in Canada, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad line of generic, biosimilar and specialty products. For more information, visit www.sandoz.ca.
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandoz-canada/

About Novartis globally
Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach more than 750 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at www.novartis.com. 

SOURCE Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.