Focused on what matters —   Johnson & Johnson and Covid-19

The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies employs more than 5,000 highly skilled and motivated people across ten sites in Ireland, including four main manufacturing facilities – DePuy Synthes, Janssen Sciences, Janssen Pharmaceuticals (all in Cork) and Vision (Limerick).

These employees support the company’s pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer health business through engineering, manufacturing, quality, research and development, sales, marketing, commercial and IT roles.

COVID-19 response

Central to Johnson & Johnson’s approach to maintaining operations during COVID-19 has been a heightened focus on the use of internal communications, according to Gary Hartnett, General Manager of Janssen Sciences in Ringaskiddy.

“Without a doubt the most important thing for us this year has been a strong and effective approach to our communications. With so many of our colleagues moving to remote working for the first time, we had to ensure we maintained open lines of communication to ensure everyone was kept up to date in a meaningful, authentic and relatable way.

“We implemented remote working for any employees that were able to do so. For those in manufacturing roles, we have made our workplaces as safe as possible – introducing handwashing, social distancing and taking on board the national public health measures. We have looked at introducing flexible working arrangements to ensure that our employees can cater with the ongoing demands outside of work. COVID-19 has created an additional burden in all of our lives. We are acutely aware of this and our job has been to try and mitigate that burden for our employees as much as we can.”

Johnson & Johnson will continue to take a cautious approach in the coming months, prioritising employee health and wellbeing. “We will be very conservative because our core responsibility is to protect our employees and keep our business moving, so that we can continue to supply our patients with the key products and medicines that they need,” said Gary Hartnett.

We are delivering critical support for communities and health workers on the frontlines around the globe. The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation committed $50M to support and supply frontline health workers. Our contributions are delivering essential training and education; supporting mental health and well-being; fostering advocacy; helping strengthen leadership and management skills; and ensuring frontline health workers are connected to each other, to communities and to health systems.

The Future of Work

Innovation through collaboration is part of the DNA at Johnson & Johnson. COVID-19 has necessitated a move towards remote working. But as is often the case, out of adversity can come unexpected triumph. That is according to Linda Hayes, Johnson & Johnson’s HR director for Ireland.

“This pandemic has given an opportunity to experiment with flexible work practices. Our employees have responded to this upheaval by showing versatility and adaptability throughout the year, all whilst working together virtually.”

Of course, with this move towards remote working comes an increased focus on ensuring the lines between home life and work life do not become blurred. Linda Hayes quickly realised that employees working remotely were facing challenges in switching off.

“Whilst we have always had a strong focus on employee wellbeing, we had to adapt to ensure we were providing enough support virtually. We set out to empower our employees to keep well through benefits such as our Global Exercise Reimbursement programme, which was broadened during the pandemic to include supports for home gym equipment and subscriptions to online exercise classes. We wanted to give our employees every opportunity to remain physically active in the comfort and safety of their own home.”

Linda Hayes is under no illusion as to the role remote working will play into the future for Johnson & Johnson. “Rapid change has occurred in our ways of working. There is no doubt that employees will want aspects of this to continue so that they can better balance the scales of their working lives. Johnson & Johnson is currently working on what the future of work will look like, and we look forward to embracing this new world.”

Sustainability

As the world’s largest, most broadly based healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson understands that human health and environmental health are inextricably linked and this is laid out in our Health for Humanity Goals. Some may believe that the last 12 months could be seen as a setback to the company’s bold ambition of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. The reality is that the pandemic has only served to inspire Johnson & Johnson to propel its climate action further and faster. Leisha Daly, Senior Director Government Affairs, Supply Chain EMEA & J&J Ireland, believes that COVID-19 should act as a catalyst for a global response to climate change.

“This past year has shown us our capacity for bravery and shared action in response to an existential threat to the health of humanity.

“At Johnson & Johnson, we have seen that bravery first-hand; in frontline healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, caregivers and emergency personnel. We have seen it at our manufacturing sites where our colleagues have worked to ensure the continued delivery of products and breakthrough interventions. Inspired by these efforts across the world, Johnson & Johnson is accelerating our climate action response. We will commit to a new set of ambitious targets to ensure that we are stepping up to the challenge of shaping a more resilient future.”

Diversity & Inclusion

Johnson & Johnson embraces the importance of diversity and inclusion, as evidenced by the litany of programmes which it engages in. When done right, diversity and inclusion are vital parts of a healthy company culture. Patrizio Fatale, the campus sponsor for Johnson & Johnson’s diversity council in Ireland, and Noelette Ensko, the HR lead for the council work to drive change for the company’s 5,000 colleagues at 10 sites across Ireland.

Patrizio Fatale believes that providing an environment which embraces diverse backgrounds is crucial to Johnson & Johnson’s success. “If we are going to attract the best talent, we need to excel in this field and create a great place to work. I really think we have an obligation and a moral duty to enable each and every one of our colleagues to bring their true self at work.”

Noelette Ensko said: “Diversity at Johnson & Johnson is about your unique perspective. It’s about you, your colleagues and the world we care for – all backgrounds, beliefs and the entire range of human experiences coming together. It’s about creating a deep sense of belonging where you are valued, your ideas are heard and you help advance this culture for everyone.”

The Women in STEM awards programme (WiSTEM2D) was an initiative launched in 2015 which seeks to support women in science, technology, engineering, maths, manufacturing and design. The main goal of the initiative was to create a more diverse scientific community, according to Anna Rafferty, WiSTEM2D University Lead and Director of Strategy, Johnson & Johnson Ireland. “At J&J, we recognise the importance of supporting women early in their careers, so that we can help develop a talent pipeline of future female STEM leaders.” COVID-19 presented significant challenges when it came to connecting with school children and college students, necessitating a much more deliberate approach in communication.

“This year we are working doubly hard to support students as they adapt to remote learning and continue their pursuit of STEM2D careers. Our Johnson & Johnson colleagues are committed to delivering this high intensity programme through virtual mentoring, virtual site visits and ensuring that these promising young women don’t miss out on any opportunities despite the challenges of the pandemic.”

Research, Development and Innovation

With two of its Irish manufacturing sites designated as members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Lighthouse Network, Johnson & Johnson is embracing industry 4.0 technology in a bid to digitally simplify the complex supply chain and manufacturing processes which underpin its operations. AI technology and machine learning algorithms are allowing informed decisions to be made faster, something which Kieran McSherry, Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Johnson & Johnson Vision believes to be a gamechanger. “Embedding these technologies in our business will help us enhance our global scale and reach, meet our customers’ needs for customisation and flexibility, and further enable new services and products to market. When an automated machine can self-learn through algorithms, it will allow certain processes to optimise themselves. This will maximise high-quality output, representing a major step forward for manufacturing.” The spirit of innovation, collaboration and perseverance which is at the heart of Johnson & Johnson’s success is celebrated each year with a global awards programme. The Johnson Medals is an internal R&D award which aims to inspire employees from across the company’s global operations to advance transformational innovations to meet the unmet healthcare needs of patients across the world. Among those honoured in the 2020 awards, was a group from Galway-based research and development centre Cerenovus. Their work led to the development of an innovative stent retriever that allows physicians to capture and remove life-threatening blood clots from the brain.

COVID-19 has challenged Johnson & Johnson to rethink, respond and redouble its efforts across all facets of its operations. However, the values that guide its decision-making are spelled out in the company’s Credo, which dates back to 1943.

The fundamentals of putting the needs and wellbeing of the people the company serves at the forefront of the decision-making process, means that it has continued to thrive whilst supporting employees throughout.

Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies in Ireland