Medicines company Novartis employs nearly 80,000 people around the world who are driven by a shared purpose – to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives. This takes highly talented people across R&D, operations, commercial & sales, as well as in a range of global functions like legal, finance, and corporate affairs. To attract, retain, and inspire the right talent, Novartis needed an EVP and employer brand that captured the reality of working for the organisation and emphasised why it is different.

The company carried out extensive research into the needs, motivations and perspectives of current and potential employees, alongside a detailed audit of other employer brands in the sector. Internally, it surveyed hundreds of employees and held focus groups with more than 150 staff. It interviewed senior stakeholders and recruiters in the company as well as external candidates and students in relevant areas. Existing talent said Novartis has a distinctly collaborative atmosphere where people could be their authentic selves. External talent had been impressed by people they had met who worked there and the level of research the company undertook. The research unveiled four emotional drivers: collective impact; personal experience; inspiring growth and empowering purpose.

It helped the company carve out a distinct EVP from its new corporate brand incorporating new visual elements and photography that would show collaboration, community and belonging. To help embed the EVP internally, Novartis created a digital guide on how to use it, held roadshows and company locations globally, and encouraged senior leaders to incorporate it in their LinkedIn or social media activity. Drop-in sessions were held to introduce the resource toolkit and address any questions, and an EVP hub was set up as a one-stop resource for brand-related information. This included tools like Canva templates so employees could bring the EVP to life. Launched officially in early 2024, ‘Welcome to where we thrive together’ has had considerable impact. There have been more than 24 million impressions, more than 520,000 job applications and 62.5% new talent engagement on LinkedIn over six months. A raft of new EVP campaigns are in the pipeline including a global employer brand video, an early careers campaign and a global key talent campaign.