Roche in Malaysia organized the 3rd installation of a Life Talk Series held in conjunction with its celebration of 125 years anniversary. The life talk event is a platform to inspire and share knowledge with external audiences. Held in the format of a panel discussion, the life talk series began with Women’s Health, Personalized Healthcare, followed by the latest edition themed Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) in the Workplace, a catalyst for talent engagement and Innovation. 

The Life Talk session, moderated by Freda Liu, Author, and Producer featured the following panelists: Swiss Ambassador to Malaysia, Her Excellency, Ms Andrea Reichlin, YBhg Dato’ Sri Dr. Azman Aziz, CEO of SOCSO (PERKESO), Arno Kamm, General Manager, Roche Services & Solutions APAC, Deepti Saraf, General Manager, Roche (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Chai Yin Heng, General Manager, Roche Diagnostics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. 

The panel addressed that Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is an important topic, especially in light of changing demographics, globalization, and the competition for talents. The discussions confirmed that organisations embracing diversity not only widen their access to the best talents, but by doing so, deliver greater performance across all its aspects and are more creative and innovative. 

Despite the workplace upheaval that most organizations have experienced over the last 2 years, several positive long-term trends are taking root, such as hybrid work culture, which combines a blend of remote and office working culture. At the same time, more organizations continue to prioritize employees' mental health and well-being and remain open to offering flexibility to teams working from home. The panelist also agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic has opened opportunities to pause, reset, and rethink how we can do better to further foster and sustain an inclusive culture by advocating, and sharing best practices. 

“In Malaysia, Roche continues to collaborate with SOCSO (PERKESO) in its effort to increase disability awareness amongst our recruiters and employees as we hire differently abled candidates. At the same time gender diversity continues to be important to us in leadership as well as our overall population”, said Arno Kamm, General Manager, Roche Services & Solutions APAC. 

“Malaysia's strength as a multi-skilled workforce has witnessed impressive advances in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), and in 2022 we expect to see more companies advance their understanding of how D&I can benefit their organization. We are committed to driving our Return To Work programme (RTW) which implements a coordinated approach in managing compensation, medical and vocational rehabilitation for returning an injured worker to gainful employment. 

Today, there are an estimated 267,500 people of working age living with disabilities in Malaysia, but cannot enter the labour market. As such, if companies embrace diversity and inclusion factoring disability inclusion, they will gain access to a new talent pool. Through industry events collaborations like this, we are eager to work alongside companies like Roche to further the Diversity & Inclusion awareness in Malaysia”, said Gayathri Vadivel, Head of Employment Services, SOCSO. 

Deepti Saraf, General Manager, Roche (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, said, “At Roche, we view diversity and inclusion as an engine of innovation and a key to our success. We are also taking diversity and inclusion beyond our company borders and examining how we can integrate this into our patients' interactions”. 

Roche believes that improving health outcomes for all patients is core to our mission. In the increasingly diverse world around us, the time is now for research and clinical development to ensure greater inclusion of patients across racial and ethnic groups in support of optimizing health outcomes for all patients worldwide. 

“As we strive to deliver more patient benefit, we are passionately partnering with healthcare systems in order to deliver personalized healthcare solutions for all patients, where each patient is treated differently based on their personal data / genetic profile where every patient has the best possible solution, the best possible care while building a sustainable healthcare system based on meaningful data ”, added Deepti.” 

HE Ms Andrea Reichlin, Swiss Ambassador to Malaysia said that “In the future, working part-time may take center stage. During the pandemic, awareness of more flexible work models has increased in Switzerland and part-time work continues to have great potential. For instance, family models in which both parents reduce the workload are still the exception in Europe. 

She further added that “In regards to Swiss companies in Malaysia, a lot of progress has been made to drive Diversity & Inclusion in the workspace. In addition to a merit-based corporate culture, this plays an essential role in the companies’ attractiveness as an employer. In recognition of this, Swiss companies here have repeatedly been awarded Industry recognition. However, to make change possible, the prevailing legal, political and social conditions must be right. The 2030 Agenda serves as an international guideline to mainstream efforts; its centrality is recognized by both state and corporate actors. Corporate D&I programs are one tool to achieve these Sustainable Development Goals - be it for example gender equality.” 

Chai Yin, Heng: General Manager Roche Diagnostics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd said “ As a science-driven company, we are constantly looking for a diverse pool of talents to drive the next wave of healthcare breakthroughs. Our people are the collective source of our innovation and the most critical factor in our ability to serve patients. As such diversity and inclusion is a top priority for us, and our success in creating a truly diverse and inclusive workplace is evident. Roche in Malaysia is represented by over 20 nationalities. 

Globally, women represent 49.3% of the total workforce at Roche. In management 43.6% are women. As part of our commitment to being a great place to work and to driving innovation, we promote equal opportunities and measure how many women reach leadership positions, which is a key step towards equality(1). 

Fueling that ambition are global Diversity and Inclusion goals, programmes and governance as well as local action plans in more than 70 countries around the world added Chai Yin Heng, General Manager, Roche Diagnostics. 

Corporate social responsibility, ethical conduct and diversity in business, respect for human rights, sustainable access and a commitment to protecting the environment have been top priorities at Roche for many years(2). For the twelfth consecutive time, Roche has been recognised as one of the most sustainable companies in the Healthcare Industry by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. 

In 2021 and 2022, Roche celebrates where it has been, what it’s doing and where it’s going. What it’s really celebrating is life. Life - in its beauty and its complexity, as moments to be experienced, shared and remembered. Life - improved by science from despair to hope. 

To celebrate its historical milestone, Roche is launching a number of local and global activities to honour the many moments that make up life, whether that’s creating new memories that resonate for years or pausing to reflect on the small precious moments of our past.

(1)Diversity & Inclusion. Available at https://careers.roche.com/global/en/diversity-and-inclusion. Last accessed 22 February 2022. 

(2)Sustainable Development Goals. Available at https://www.roche.com/sustainability/un-sdgs.htm. Last accessed 15 February 2022.

This content is provided by Roche Malaysia.

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