Victoria biotech company values its employees above allSeptember 25, 2006Vancouver Sun By Gillian Shaw Aspreva Pharmaceuticals promotes a culture of respect for workers At Aspreva Pharmaceuticals, they walk the talk when it comes to worklife balance and caring for their employees. It’s listed right there in their values — right between “demonstrate honest, open and compassionate communications” and “value diversity.” It reads: “Encourage a balance between life and family.” But unlike so many companies where such espousals amount to little more than words on a plaque, at the Victoria biotechnology company it’s a value lived out every day. Consider Marnie’s story. Marnie O’Neil is executive assistant to Aspreva’s chief executive officer Richard Glickman. She got the job after her husband Cam Cavaco developed multiple sclerosis at the age of 39. After a visit to the West Coast, the couple decided to sell their Toronto area home and relocate here where Cam wouldn’t be housebound by snow in the winter and humidity in the summer. O’Neil had worked for Roche, a pharmaceutical company that Aspreva partners with in its quest to take approved drugs and find new applications for them among diseases that are underserved when it comes to treatments and cures. Her credentials were perfect, but even so Glickman’s answer to her e-mail wasn’t the usual response. “I was at the point in my life when I was willing to flip burgers if I had to just to get him out here,” O’Neil said of her mission has his support for the juggling act that is her life. “Richard has said time and time again, ‘Don’t ever let Aspreva be the source of your worries,’ ” she said. to improve her husband’s quality of life. “The universe must have been smiling on me." “Richard e-mailed back and said, ‘Your timing is wonderful, you’re going to love living here.’” Undaunted at the prospect of hiring an executive assistant who clearly had onerous responsibilities at home, Glickman made it clear he wasn’t concerned about punching time clocks, but about accomplishing what had to be done. “One of the things he said to me warmed my heart,” said O’Neil. “He said, ‘Marnie, I know you have a special life and I am willing to do whatever you need to give you the time with your husband as long as you and I are organized.” The compassion doesn’t stop at the CEO’s office. A mere six months into her tenure at Aspreva, O’Neil found herself in the human resources department asking for advice on sources of funding for a new $22,000 wheelchair her husband needed. A few days later HR came back with a question: Would she mind if the company helped raise money for the wheelchair? In no time, the employees had mobilized a fundraising campaign — everything from re-gifting parties to participating in Victoria’s MS Walk — with the net result a whopping $21,500 towards the new chair. Glickman immediately matched it on behalf of the company which also convinced its extended insurance provider to help kick in some of the cost of the wheelchair. In the end, Cavaco got his new wheelchair; the local chapter of the MS Society got the one he was no longer able to use to put in its loaner program; and an endowment was established to help other MS patients in the Victoria region. All this while Aspreva staff spend their working days trying to find treatments for underserved medical needs. The company’s business model has so captured the interest of investors that it has rocketed from its start in 2001 to a market capitalization today of about $1 billion. The company has also joined a handful of biotechs worldwide that are able to claim profitability. Darcy O’Grady, vice-president of global human resources for the company is no newcomer to the driving world of technology companies, coming from first MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates and then spending 12 years at Creo before it was acquired by Kodak. But when he pitches Aspreva as a place to work, he digs to values that run deeper than a great worksite with basketball and volleyball courts, extra long holidays, a flexible work week that isn’t expected to extend past 37 1 /2 hours. It’s a culture that values people — both the people who work there and the patients they help. “Richard and the rest of the crew deeply believe in what is being done here,” said O’Grady. “There is a uniform firm commitment to helping people. “It’s not a job. It’s a commitment to driving some change within society.” For O’Neil and her husband, the culture of Aspreva has been an eye opener, particularly coming as it did after Cavaco was turfed from his job in Ontario when the company he was working for discovered he had MS. “I have great faith in humanity but this has just been that and so much more,” said O’Neil. “I still get goose bumps and tears in my eyes talking about it. “These were people I had only known for six months and they were willing to rally behind us and do whatever it took.” |
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