Our 19 material topics
Access to healthcare
Why is the topic material to Roche
Scientific advancements and technological capabilities are enabling more meaningful treatment options, but healthcare systems are facing budgetary constraints that could restrict the use of new therapies. In order to be able to deliver benefits to patients, our products must be within reach of those who need them.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Stakeholders consider that everyone has a right to health, regardless of socioeconomic status, and that the majority of individuals cannot access new, and sometimes even basic, health innovation because of affordability issues. Pharmaceuticals companies should be proactive in finding ways to re-work their pricing models and work with external stakeholders and potential partners to accommodate this need. More specifically, by making healthcare more affordable through innovation and value-based pricing, stakeholders believe that Roche will benefit in the long run in terms of reputational and financial rewards.
What we are doing about it
We are developing a number of innovative pricing approaches to tailor prices to the needs of patients and healthcare providers across countries, and within population segments, based on their ability to pay. This includes International Differential Pricing (IDP) to address varying country affordability, especially in emerging markets; Personalised Reimbursement Models (PRM) that support multiple indication and combination pricing; Flexible Pricing Solutions to address payer needs for evidence on the clinical effectiveness of a medicine and the potential budget impact at time of launch; Patient Journey Based Comprehensive Patient Support Programmes (PSPs), designed to support individual patients or groups of patients who are experiencing access difficulties due to lack of reimbursement or other access constraints; support development of health insurance coverage for cancer.
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Stakeholder average importance score*
Why is the topic material to Roche
Whilst governments have primary responsibility for establishing and maintaining healthcare systems, the healthcare industry plays an important role in improving health. As a global healthcare company, Roche shares a responsibility to tackle the challenges of improving health outcomes.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Stakeholders consider that when Roche offers its healthcare solutions, discrepancies between health systems across regions and socio-economic groups should be considered. Many point out that contributing to building sustainable healthcare systems (for example infrastructure, health education and tailored access models) not only addresses the issue of access to healthcare but is also key to maintaining the company’s business.
What we are doing about it
We are working together with healthcare systems in order to deliver rapid, broad, sustainable patient access to our novel products.
As healthcare systems operate at the country level and each have different access challenges, we have developed a systematic and comprehensive approach at the country level to identify what barriers are preventing patients from benefiting from our products and the steps that need to be taken in order to facilitate better access. Based on this analysis, we develop partnerships for tailored solutions country-by-country.
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Stakeholder average importance score*
Why is the topic material to Roche
Our aim is for every person who needs our products to be able to access and benefit from them. Finding equitable and sustainable solutions to the global barriers to healthcare can only be achieved through persistent commitment and joint action by multiple stakeholders. It requires many players—public authorities, healthcare providers, patient organisations, non-governmental stakeholders, local communities and the healthcare industry—to work closely together.
As a global healthcare company, Roche shares a responsibility to tackle the challenges of improving access by overcoming barriers.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Closely related to the issue of Affordability of Healthcare and Sustainable Healthcare Systems, making healthcare more available to as many as possible is another crucial material issue to Roche. Tackling Availability of Healthcare is viewed as key to Roche’s purpose as a pharmaceutical company. Furthermore, making healthcare available to wider geographies and communities is perceived as a way of strengthening the company’s business model. This implies that excelling in this field can make the company more attractive to the stakeholder categories that highly value the profitability of the company.
What we are doing about it
We pursue sustainable and comprehensive solutions that are tailored to local healthcare needs. To be effective, programmes should be tailored to the individual context. We consider that four key factors need to be in place to successfully treat a patient and structure our programmes and efforts around them:
Awareness of disease and symptoms for screening and early detection; Diagnosis for the correct treatment choices; Healthcare capacity with trained teams working together with the right equipment; Funding for investment in healthcare and reimbursement of medicines and tests, to protect patients from financial burden.
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Digitalisation
Why is the topic material to Roche
We are at a pivotal moment in healthcare history. An unprecedented convergence of medical knowledge, technology and data science is revolutionising patient care. Roche is spearheading the next generation of healthcare with partners around the globe. We are bringing together a unique understanding of human biology with new ways to analyse health data. Our vision is to ensure that the screening, diagnosis, treatment and even prevention of diseases will more quickly and effectively transform the lives of people everywhere - ensuring the right treatment for the right patient at the right time.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Stakeholders consider personalised care as a game-changing trend that will shape the future of healthcare. Both internal and external stakeholders believe that Roche is performing well in personalised healthcare, but they still question how Roche will be able to take advantage of this trend in the future. Stakeholders recommend Roche to make new changes; equipping the workforce with new skills such as data management and re-inventing the existing mass production based model of R&D whilst also keeping costs down.
What we are doing about it
We are working to ensure personalised medicine becomes the norm across mainstream, everyday healthcare. We’re partnering with leaders in health and technology, with governments and regulatory bodies, as well as physicians and advocates, to realise that vision. Our unique constellation of capabilities under one roof means we can follow where the science, the technology and the data take us. But we know we can’t do it alone; we will only achieve this goal through partnerships. This is a time of remarkable collaborations across industries and companies. Our purpose continues to be doing now what patients need next – making sure everyone gets access to the personalised healthcare they need.
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Stakeholder average importance score*
Why is the topic material to Roche
Real-world data denotes data relating to patient health which is collected as part of routine healthcare practice instead of data generated through conventional clinical trials in dedicated research settings. Real-world data are seen as a potentially rich and underutilised source to generate insight as to how approved diagnostics systems and medicines affect outcomes for patients under real-world conditions. Roche views real-world data as a credible source of scientific information and evidence, provided that the data is of high, fit-for-purpose quality and the analysis is subjected to scientifically rigorous study design and analytical methodologies.
What stakeholders have shared with us
The benefits that can be gained from the use of real-world data are extensive for both Roche and healthcare systems more generally. As such, real-world data is viewed as fundamental to the future of healthcare. There is concern, however, around the difficulty of identifying the useful data from the noise and there is much uncertainty around the use and limitations of data.
What we are doing about it
We believe insights generated from real-world data can improve R&D productivity and enable personalized patient care and access. Increasingly, it is recognized that major efforts and investments are required to generate relevant, high-quality real-world data datasets. By way of illustration, here are some of our initiatives: to complement our own capabilities (e.g. developing the Navify® decision support solution to integrate real-world data for tumour boards, or the Floodlight Open app to create a more holistic view of multiple sclerosis.), we have acquired (or formed partnerships with) a number of companies with novel approaches to real-world data . These include for example Foundation Medicine (specializing in genetic profiling), Flatiron Health (curating electronic medical records and providing high-quality data suitable for regulatory use) and mySugr (offering a patient-centric digital health services platform in diabetes care). We are now working to integrate/evolve such know-how for the benefit of patients around the world.
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Why is the topic material to Roche
In an era where cybersecurity threats are constantly on the rise, we are committed to security enhancements and personal privacy protection. We recognize that cyber security is a shared responsibility. It is critical that users understand not only on how to protect the organization’s information, but why it is important to protect that information. Security and Privacy awareness programs educate users on their responsibility to help protect the confidentiality, availability and integrity of Roche’s information and information assets.
What stakeholders have shared with us
The need for increased cybersecurity, as a result of an increased use of and reliance on digital technology, is viewed as both an opportunity and a threat. Roche risks financial and reputational damage if cybersecurity is not adequately addressed. In order to capture the opportunities and avoid the threats of cybersecurity, Roche is recommended to boost its internal cybersecurity processes and keep up with changing digital regulations. Transparent and clear communication with stakeholders about how their data is being used and secured is also required to maintain trust.
What we are doing about it
Roche is committed to maintaining a robust and effective cyber security program. We protect business critical and personal information and are continually reviewing and enhancing cyber security. We operate internal security and privacy organizations, and leverage external experts and partners to enhance those capabilities. For example we initiated the Bug Bounty programme where we partner with the global hacker community to identify the most relevant security issues before they are exploited by non-authorised external users. In addition, the data privacy aspect is included in our Roche Supplier Code of Conduct to ensure proper use of confidential information by third parties.
Stakeholder average importance score*
Why is the topic material to Roche
The right to privacy is a fundamental human right.
The protection and responsible use of personal data is reflected in our daily operations. We see data as a valuable element for developing innovative treatments and diagnostic solutions for patients, and as a driver for business excellence. As such, we strive to be a respected and preferred partner to all who may provide such data. We are committed to collecting and using data in a lawful, fair, legitimate and ethical way, and will always respect the privacy of individuals in order to earn and deserve their trust.
What stakeholders have shared with us
The increased use and reliance on digital technology and big data is viewed as a double-edged sword due to the potential risks to data privacy. Damage to Roche’s reputation is one such risk. There is a clear need for companies to put in place a strategy for managing stakeholder data: stakeholders want to be reassured about how their data is being used through accurate and consistent communications.
What we are doing about it
We assume accountability for the compliant processing of personal data by ourself or by our trusted service and cooperation partners.
Any information related to an identified or identifiable person must be collected and processed in compliance with applicable data privacy laws (e.g. Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, EU General Data Protection Regulation and the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Roche employees with access to such personal data are expected to apply the privacy principles of lawful, fair and transparent data processing, respecting any purpose limitations, as well as the principles of data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality.
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Science and innovation
Why is the topic material to Roche
Roche is convinced that an open dialogue and transparent exchange of information with patient and patient groups is vital.
Roche sees an enormous value in collaborating with patients and patient groups, since Roche can build on their unique experience, expertise and perspectives. In particular, the collaboration with patients and patient groups enables us to understand how best we can incorporate the patient perspective while developing our medicines and diagnostics. We are increasingly partnering with patients and patient groups across therapeutic areas, from clinical trial design and endpoints, drug development to market access.
What stakeholders have shared with us
In light of trends towards the personalisation of healthcare and the increasing pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to showcase its innovative capacity, it is essential to position patient needs at the forefront of any strategy. It is deemed vital to better understand real, unmet patient needs. The voice of the patient should be used to guide all decision-making. Internal stakeholders, in particular, consider patient centricity as being key to the long-term success of Roche.
What we are doing about it
Integrating the patient voice into drug development and care delivery is not only part our responsibility to do right by patients and society, but it brings a more personalised approach to healthcare.
To achieve this, we are developing holistic patient-partnering strategies that encourage listening to patient needs before embarking on the development and project journey.
Patient engagement strategies are quickly being implemented into integral business practices to strengthen the efficiency of our medicines, and meet the needs of empowered patients. One example is the patient-centric information platform called
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Why is the topic material to Roche
The success rate of pharmaceutical products in R&D is still very low, while the timelines and cost to develop a new drug has increased in the past years - which means R&D efficiency is a topic of major importance for the pharma industry as a whole. To address unmet medical needs and bring differentiated medicines to patients at a faster pace, a more efficient R&D model plays a key role. Emerging technology, real-world data and advances in analytics and science more broadly provide opportunities for the industry to tackle R&D efficiency and bring higher value to patients and society as a whole.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Stakeholders consider R&D efficiency as key to improve affordability (price) and availability (time to market) and is fundamental for Roche to deliver on its purpose. Stakeholders acknowledge that there is pressure to prioritise development in areas of the greatest profit potential but this creates an innovation gap where smaller or more complicated diseases and populations with lower revenue potential can be side-lined. Striking this balance is what is expected from Roche in the near future.
What we are doing about it
We are constantly looking for innovative approaches in R&D and expedited review procedures to make new medicines available for patients earlier. For example by replacing harnessing the potential of real-world data (RWD) to make clinical trials leaner and more efficient. RWD can be used to create an ‘external’ control arm that replaces the regular standard-of-care arm in conventional trials or when it is not possible to do a control arm, such as for rare disease, and when recruitment takes much longer due to the low prevalence of the disease. As a result, this enables more trial participants to receive the experimental medicine, which speeds up the recruitment process, lowers trial costs and enables all of the participants to be treated with a potentially more effective medicine than the historical standard. In 2019, we used electronic health records from Flatiron to generate an external control arm in the submission of Rozlytrek to the FDA. This led to increased trial efficiency, reducing delays, lowering costs and speeding this life-saving therapy to the market.
Stakeholder average importance score*
Why is the topic material to Roche
Ageing populations is an important trend, driven by declining fertility and decrease of middle- and old-age mortality. This demographic evolution will increase the burden on healthcare systems in coming decades, and require the pharmaceutical industry to come up with new approaches to tackle aged-related diseases such as neurodegenerative conditions (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease).
What stakeholders have shared with us
Both internal and external stakeholders see ageing population as an important trend, that offers both challenges and opportunities. While on the one hand there is likely to be substantial strain on healthcare systems, and subsequent pressure on pharmaceutical companies to deliver affordable solutions, there is definite scope to take advantage of this new demographic by offering tailored, innovative drugs and health models. Roche is recommended to predict and plan for new healthcare model requirements.
What we are doing about it
With one the strongest neuroscience pipelines in the industry, Roche is developing medicines for a range of neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease, which represent a major and increasing global health challenge, with 40–50 million people currently living with dementia.
Our ambition here is bold: to help solve one of the biggest public health problems of our time. But we know that science alone won’t be the solution. Many changes need to occur including how society funds research, how governments assess the value of innovative treatments and how we care for people with dementia.
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Product quality and safety
Why is the topic material to Roche
Keeping our products safe for the people who need them is at the core of our remit. Absolute safety is something we may be aiming at continually, but which can never be fully and completely attained. This particularly applies to pharmaceuticals and medicines. Doing everything in our power to safeguard patient safety, along the entire lifecycle of a medicine, is of paramount importance to us.
What stakeholders have shared with us
The safety of products is of shared importance to external and internal stakeholders. Maintaining safety standards in all products and processes is a prerequisite to ensuring business success and building trusted relationships with stakeholders. Maintaining safety also includes effective supply chain management to ensure that all sites and suppliers are up to standard. Due to the role of safety in Roche’s reputation, stakeholders believe that this topic cannot be overlooked in favour of profit. Internal stakeholders note that safety protocols should be updated following the development of new healthcare solutions.
What we are doing about it
To ensure that every Roche product is both effective and safe, we have established a systematic process designed to optimise patient safety throughout the lifecycle of a medicine.
Biological targets and compounds are assessed with a broad panel of tests to identify and solve potential safety concerns as early as possible. Drug safety aspects are monitored along the entire value chain from discovery to entry-into-human to market support, striving to guarantee the best possible safety/efficacy ratio for potential new medicines, and comply with international guidelines and national laws regarding pharmaceutical products.
Patient safety and timely reporting of any adverse events and product complaints is of the utmost importance. Roche employees are trained to, upon awareness, immediately report any adverse event to their local safety unit and any product complaints to the local regulatory and quality function.
We have a highly professional pharmacovigilance system in place which closely monitors all the suspected side effects, or adverse events, which have been reported in conjunction with our medicines, initiating all the necessary steps to address and remediate situations which may pose a health risk to the people taking our medicines.
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Why is the topic material to Roche
Adhering to quality standards and good practices is a precondition to get and sustain our licence to operate. Maintaining high-quality standards is essential for our business from ensuring new product approvals to maintaining our reputation with patients and health authorities. Quality is every patient’s right and every employee’s responsibility.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Product quality is understood as a fundamental requirement as well as extremely important for Roche by both internal and external stakeholders. Quality standards must be assured within all business processes and throughout the value chain. This includes quality assurance around the digital solutions that Roche utilises and for all suppliers. Product quality is closely related to value-based pricing: the prices that patients pay are expected to reflect the value created in terms of health. Stakeholders, therefore, recommend Roche to uphold quality standards at all costs but ensure that they set, and communicate the justification for, suitable prices.
What we are doing about it
Quality is engrained in everything we do, from concept through continuous improvement. Roche is committed to complying with legal and regulatory requirements, internationally acknowledged good practices, e.g. Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Good Pharmacovigilance Practice (GVP), Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), and to meeting the high expectations of its stakeholders regarding the quality, safety and efficacy of its products and services.
Roche has established a quality system including sets of quality standards and procedures that employees must follow. In addition, employees must report any deviations from our standards to their Line Management or the quality function.
Roche expects that its business partners also adhere to its high-quality standards.
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Ethics and compliance
Why is the topic material to Roche
We support and respect human rights. We have implemented the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights building on the ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework developed by Harvard Professor John Ruggie. We are equally committed to the 10 UN Global Compact Principles, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Fundamental Labour Rights stipulated by the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Human rights is embedded within issues of the affordability and accessibility of healthcare. Many stakeholders stress that healthcare is a fundamental human right. The role of pharmaceutical companies is perceived to be to ensure that their healthcare is reaching as many individuals as possible so as to allow them to live with dignity. As a result, companies need to keep human rights in mind across all levels of their strategy.
What we are doing about it
We strive to embed human rights in existing operations by multiple means: assess the risks, increase awareness, foster due diligence, strengthen the legal framework, collaborate in collective actions, and transparent reporting. For example:
All Roche employees are trained in the basic principles of human rights by way of a global mandatory eLearning course.
In 2018, we implemented a risk management programme designed to systematically identify, assess, mitigate and adequately manage the risk of human rights violations. This programme does not only apply to our operations, but also our value chain and business-related activities.
We see it as our duty to engage in careful due diligence on actual and potential business partners and ask them to do the same with their own business partners in order to create transparency. Human Rights aspects are an integral part of our due diligence.
We expect from our suppliers that they protect human rights, as well, and that they work with their own suppliers to protect human rights.
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Why is the topic material to Roche
As one of the world’s largest healthcare companies, Roche takes its obligation to meet the highest standards of business ethics and integrity very seriously. Meeting those standards is the responsibility of every employee.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Ethics and transparency should be the core principle in communicating effectively with stakeholders. In order to increase trust, stakeholders expect the pharmaceutical industry to better demonstrate the importance of ethics and transparency, particularly in regard to product pricing, digital security and corporate social responsibility.
What we are doing about it
Business integrity means first and foremost that we adhere to all applicable laws and regulations as well as to the high integrity standards set forth by Roche. Complying with these standards is a prerequisite for Roche’s sustainable success.
Our standards of business integrity are set forth in our Code of Conduct, which include the Corporate Principles. To further promote and support a shared understanding, Roche has implemented a number of policies, directives, position statements and guidelines that apply across the Group.
We are committed to transparent reporting and we endeavor to drive our economic, social and environmental performance with the same diligence as our financial performance.
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Why is the topic material to Roche
We do business in a highly regulated industry; compliance with legal and regulatory requirements is a prerequisite for our licence to operate. Compliance means our behaviour is in adherence with applicable laws, regulations, industry codes and Roche’s integrity standards.
Roche’s reputation is one of its most valuable assets. Our stakeholders expect us to do the right thing. Each and every employee has a responsibility to foster and protect Roche’s reputation.
We make every effort to build a culture of mutual trust that encourages the free exchange of views and opinions. A liberal working environment is critical to our success. By fostering a culture of empowerment and a compliant mindset, where everybody feels free to express his or her opinion, we create an attractive workplace.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Compliance is essential for reputation management as it ensures the credibility and trustworthiness of a company. Internal stakeholders focus on the fact that future healthcare developments will demand adherence to new and more complex, compliance requirements. External stakeholders on the other hand, stress that compliance is fundamental to patient health and safety. They also believe that it is not enough to follow base-line requirements: organisations are perceived to have a responsibility to hold themselves to account and go above and beyond in compliance, even if they are not legally required to do so.
What we are doing about it
Roche has established a comprehensive Compliance Management System (cCMS), which we are committed to implement and enforce. The cCMS focuses on preventing, detecting and responding to non-compliance behaviour by comprehensively involving people, purpose, principles, policies and processes.
Roche believes that the sense of responsibility of each and every employee is the basis of compliance. Thus we must constantly and adequately identify, assess and manage the compliance risks that fall within the sphere of our business responsibilities. Performance is not only measured by the results achieved, but also how these results were achieved and which impact they created.
The Roche Group Code of Conduct states the expectations Roche has as an employer towards employees and sets forth the standards for business behaviour that apply throughout the Roche Group. All employees and all others acting on behalf of Roche must comply and make judgments in accordance with the Roche Group Code of Conduct, regardless of their location and the nature of their work.
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Employee engagement
Why is the topic material to Roche
Our talent strategy is to pursue recruitment excellence by attracting the best highly skilled, motivated people for the job. We seek a continuous supply of internal and external diverse talent in science, medicine and business. We want employees who can help us innovate and deliver on our business objectives and leaders who lead people in ways that reflect our values and leadership commitments.
We aim to provide a work environment where our employees are encouraged to build their careers and pursue their passions. By providing everyone with the opportunity for career development, we ensure the growth of our single largest investment – our employees – and, in turn, the success of our organisation.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Upcoming generations of talent are likely to value purpose, fulfilment and social responsibility more highly than ever before. In order to attract and retain the talent required, companies must work to improve how they position themselves on these aspects and how they communicate this to potential talent pools. Internal training programmes may be required to equip new and existing talent with the new skills demanded by current and future work environments, for example digital skills. A particular emphasis should be given to valuing existing talent to incentivise these individuals to remain at Roche.
What we are doing about it
Internally, we work continuously to identify and develop our pipeline of employee candidates for top positions. In 2019, 80% of our key leadership positions were filled internally. Today 49.3% of our employees are women and worldwide, our employees represent more than 140 different nationalities.
We encourage employees to continuously improve and further develop their skill sets. Our performance management process encourages timely fact-based feedback and promotes regular opportunities to discuss development. We provide on-going training and development opportunities through formal programs, coaching, mentoring and on the job experiences.
Employee engagement and feedback provide strong indicators of how a company culture is being lived in reality. Roche has conducted periodic Global Employee Opinion Surveys (GEOS) since 2011. In 2019, we introduced a new engagement tool in partnership with Glint. 86% of all Roche employees participated, and the results below refer to all employees who took the survey. We asked employees a fundamental question: “How happy are you working at Roche?” 83% of employees responded that they were happy. Moreover, 89% of employees believe that the work they accomplish at Roche has a positive impact on society.
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Why is the topic material to Roche
The changes in business and political environments require us not only to look at how individuals can work together in different ways, but also at how we can become more agile as an organisation. Roche has defined this agility as an ideal balance between speed, stability and flexibility. Speed enables us to seize opportunities when they arise, from the analysis of real-world data, for example. Flexibility helps us adjust our approaches to suit new situations. And stability provides a clear and important foundation for employees, through our Strategic Framework, Leadership Commitments, Code of Conduct, and commitment to sustainability, as examples.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Pharmaceutical organisations are typically perceived by most as slow-moving, traditional and prone to the liabilities of organisational inertia. On the other hand, organisational agility is also viewed as essential to ensure profitability and sustainability in an increasingly complicated and unpredictable global environment. Internal stakeholders hold this topic in greater importance than external stakeholders.
What we are doing about it
In May 2017, we introduced Kinesis, a leadership development programme designed to shift mindsets and introduce tangible approaches that will help transform Roche to a more agile organization. Kinesis consists of two parts. The first part is a programme designed to offer leaders deep insights into their own behavioural patterns. 780 senior leaders, including general managers, functional heads, and scientific and technical leaders, have participated since 2017. The second part encourages leaders to apply the insights from the first part more profoundly in their area of the company, supported by an internal, self-organised Agility Working Group. More than 8,000 employees, nominated by the senior leaders, have taken part in at least one of these programmes. In 2019, 145 senior leaders participated in the next level of Kinesis, called Synergy, which focuses on sustaining Roche’s transformation and operating in a highly networked, dynamic setting.
Stakeholder average importance score*
Why is the topic material to Roche
Ageing populations is an important trend, driven by declining fertility and decrease of middle- and old-age mortality. changes in employment demographics and shifting working environments challenge companies to re-think and adapt their operating and business model to fit respective societal expectations and needs.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Both internal and external stakeholders see ageing population as an important trend, that offers both challenges and opportunities. Internal culture changes in regard to retirement plans and employee needs should be addressed.
What we are doing about it
Our greatest asset is our people, and we focus on creating a work environment where all employees across all generations can thrive, develop and contribute to the best of their abilities. Engagement across all 5 generations is key to our success at Roche.
We have several initiatives in place that aim at addressing the needs of senior generations in the workplace, for example:
We have initiated a taskforce to look at options for flexible retirement and address feedback we received from our employees to provide increased education on retirement planning. Ensuring that are employees are prepared to enjoy life after Roche is important to us because it is important to them.
Working beyond 65: employees can continue to work until 70 if this is their wish.
Flex Pool: regular retired /early-retired employees can come back to Roche on a temporary basis so we can continue to benefit from their amazing knowledge and expertise.
Reverse mentoring programs, building bridges and enabling knowledge exchange between generations in the workforce.
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Energy efficiency
Why is the topic material to Roche
For Roche, energy consumption is a material issue. As part of our commitment to a sustainable development and the responsible use of resources, we continuously endeavour to cut energy consumption while increasing the proportion of sustainable energy. Our strategy is to reduce our use first, then look for ways to substitute fossil fuels with sustainable energy.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Stakeholders have mixed views about the role of pharma in addressing energy efficiency. Both internal and external stakeholders share the opinion that the overarching issue of climate change is likely to impact all sectors so it is everyone’s responsibility to tackle it. Equally, both can see the benefit that additional measures in energy efficiency can bring in regard to positive consumer response and environmental impact.
What we are doing about it
We seek to improve energy efficiency throughout our global operations. This, in turn, will reduce the environmental impact, the strain on the energy supply chain and costs. Our systematic approach to energy management includes:
constructing energy-efficient buildings
retrofitting heating, cooling and air conditioning installations
adjusting the range of acceptable temperatures in offices and other workplaces
purchasing energy-efficient equipment, including hybrid and diesel-efficient cars
changing work processes
reviewing employees’ travel needs
With these measures and with energy-saving action plans throughout the company, we improve energy efficiency and conservation significantly. Since 2004 Roche has reduced energy intensity by approximately 40%.
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Long-term mindset
Why is the topic material to Roche
For over 125 years Roche has been committed to improving lives. The long-term thinking of our founders and the stable majority ownership allows us to stay true to this vision and shapes the way we make a difference to the lives of millions of patients around the world. Our greatest contribution to society is lasting innovation. Roche has a successful legacy in this area: Over 30 Roche drugs are listed as essential medicines by the World Health Organization (WHO). When acting sustainably, we also aim to provide a rewarding workplace, be a trustworthy partner and engage in the communities we work in and with.
What stakeholders have shared with us
Stakeholders see a long-term mind set as vital to the success of any pharmaceutical company. Due to the lengthy process of drug development, it is crucial that companies keep up-to-date with future health needs in order to meet patient needs and to sustain a competitive advantage. A truly long-term mind set also involves taking a broader perspective to include addressing social challenges that will impact health systems in the future.
What we are doing about it
Sustainability is an integral part of our business and forms the foundation of our business strategy. As a global healthcare company, we are committed to supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with our business strategy; in particular SDG 3, which aims at ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all.
Our commitment to long-term thinking is further embedded in our Five-Year Corporate Goals which serve as a bonus-relevant yardstick and against which progress is monitored annually.
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* On a 1 to 10 scale
Engaging with our stakeholders is essential to build trust and understanding of their expectations. By embedding their feedback into our strategy and our daily business, we are able to jointly address our common issues and develop long-term solutions.
In order to identify the topics that are particularly relevant to Roche, its stakeholders and society at large to deliver lasting shared value, we conducted an in-depth materiality assessment at the corporate level in 2018/2019 among our key stakeholders. This built on the first materiality analysis that was conducted in 2014 and added an external perspective, gaining critical insights into what is important to our stakeholders, and what they consider as emerging trends and topics.
Our approach
Our approach to materiality assessment is integrated - building on our Group Risk Management Process - and inclusive, being designed collaboratively with colleagues across multiple functions (Risk Advisory, Human Resources, Investor Relations, Compliance, Finance, Safety, Security, Health and Environmental Protection as well as Communications).
We took the outcomes of our Group Risk Management Process as a starting point to identify those key emerging trends of relevance to the Roche Group. We then conducted qualitative interviews with more than 30 experts (across broad stakeholders categories, including patient organisations, global institutions, peers, suppliers, contract research organisations, universities and investors) and collected over 600 external and internal stakeholder views via an online survey to identify the most important and pressing issues that Roche should address in the next 3 to 5 years.
In a final step, we analyzed those various insights and identified 19 materials topics that stood out as highly relevant to us and to our key stakeholders. To properly address those topics, we have then aligned them with our current goals and are measuring performance through our defined set of indicators.
In addition, the materiality assessment has been shared internally with the functions in charge of managing respective topics . It has also informed discussion to define our new corporate goals, subsequent sustainability objectives and communications priorities that will be rolled out in 2020. Finally, the outcomes of the materiality assessment will be feeding back into our 2020 Group Risk Management Process.
The process and the results of our materiality analysis have been endorsed by the Roche Corporate Sustainability Committee.