Best Places to Work 2019 | ENTERPRISE (500-plus employees):
1. Amgen Rhode Island
WITH CAREFUL PLANNING, Amgen Rhode Island is utilizing innovation to get its new, $165 million West Greenwich plant up and running as quickly as possible.
The biotech manufacturer – with 640 Rhode Island employees – is using modular construction to streamline the building process. Segments of the structure will be shipped and assembled this summer, paving the way for increased environmental efficiencies.
The foundation is already in place.
Amgen is always on the lookout for ways to maximize the scope of its employee-recognition efforts. With several successive years of Providence Business News Best Places To Work awards, the foundation for a positive work environment is also already in place.
Now – as part of the new facility – the company will work to incorporate 150 more team members into its fold and is taking steps to ensure all are valued, heard and encouraged.
“Some will be moved internally to other roles and we will backfill other roles, bringing in new individuals to learn our culture and Amgen values,” said Tara Urban, Amgen senior manager of corporate affairs.
At the same time it’s planning to grow its team, Amgen finds new ways to engage with employees and create an even safer, leaner work experience overall.
Carolyn Crawford, an Amgen business performance senior manager and member of the company’s Quality Organization group, said that the Actively Caring program went into effect this past year.
Intended to increase observation, the model is designed to build a safety culture. It comes at a good time at Amgen, she said.
“It leads us toward an injury-free environment at a time where we have new staff, construction underway, people in new roles or new people in general,” said Crawford.
Embossed, flexible plastic wristbands are used by colleagues to recognize one another for a job well done. Employees who see a co-worker doing something safely give that person a wristband to wear. The company tracks each numbered wristband and its progress on a board in the office. Word is spread about the safe behavior that warranted each wristband on Amgen’s Yammer social network.
Not texting while walking, holding a handrail on a stairway and helping an overburdened colleague carry items are common examples, said Urban. The program is designed to increase situational awareness and help prevent injury.
“It’s working. People are passing them on,” Crawford said.
A challenge to running employee-recognition programs is that Amgen operates multiple shifts. The company actively ensures that its campaign messaging is reaching each team member, no matter what they do or when.
Engineer Joann Gonzalez is a member of the company’s Operation Excellence team. She said that it’s important to have different levels of recognition year-round, and not just from supervisor to employee but also employee to employee.
Different programs, run at different times, with different methods of communication are most effective at Amgen.
“We try to convey a message of our culture,” said Gonzalez. “Lean is a method to ensure quality and safety. We are running our campaign with that messaging on magnets, mugs and water bottles.”
Urban noted that due to the nature of their roles, some team members don’t have access to email all day, for example, to see engagement campaign announcements, so Amgen may add things such as information tables and banners. “Employees see it everywhere – even in the cafeteria and gym.”
The gym, a hub of employee fitness, is an area where Amgen has found room for improvement over the last year. With its nap area, massage space, fitness classes and personal trainers, the facility added new equipment as well, continuing to let team members know their wellness is important.
Urban does not need to look far for evidence that efforts such as safety-observation programs are working.
“Sometimes I’ll find myself stopping where I am in [my] house to text,” as opposed to walking while texting, she said. “It has a positive impact outside of work.”
Employees in R.I.: 640
Thomas Seewoester, vice president of site operations
