Maybe it’s the half-day Fridays or the paid week of vacation between Christmas and New Year’s. Perhaps it’s the on-site day care. Or maybe it’s the free fitness center with masseuses and personal trainers.
Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Administration Laurene Giagnorio said it’s probably a little bit of all of that.
Employing some 1,400 workers at its North American headquarters in Deerfield, Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. ranked No. 21 among large employers on the Tribune’s Top Workplaces list, as surveyed by WorkplaceDynamics, an Exton, Pa.-based consultancy. The drug company, which focuses on products to treat metabolic and heart diseases, as well as cancer and autoimmune disorders, is a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical of Japan. Takeda employs more than 5,000 workers in the States.
Every year, Takeda surveys employees to gauge what matters most to them, Giagnorio said.
“While compensation needs to be competitive, when it comes down to a little more money or a little more flexibility, people tend to go toward the flexibility,” Giagnorio said.
That’s why, in 2011, the company decided to make it an option to work four nine-hour days and a half-day on Fridays. About 80 to 90 percent of employees take advantage of it, Giagnorio said.
Another big benefit is on-site day care, said Helen Pring, vice president of finance at Takeda and mother to 4-year-old Caleb. When Pring gets to work in the morning, she drops her little boy off at the on-site Bright Horizons day care center.
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“The fact that we have a day care that keeps Takeda days and Takeda hours and I know that he’s right there in a safe and amazing facility really does enable me to do what I do,” Pring said.
With her family overseas in South Wales, United Kingdom, Pring said quality day care is a priority. She said she’s glad Caleb will be able to attend the day care at Takeda through kindergarten.
“I’m lobbying for a high school,” she said.
But perhaps the favorite perk employees and executives cited was the “summer Fridays” schedule that became a year-round benefit.
“They’re not just programs you read about on an employee brochure,” Pring said. “They really are alive and well. … A lot of these benefits become part of your life. I just feel so proud that Takeda really, really stands behind them.”
Giagnorio said that with the improving job market, the company is aware that employees have the option to work somewhere else.
“That’s why we recruit the very best people and put a lot of effort into making Takeda a great place to work,” Giagnorio said. “We pride ourselves on investing in programs and benefits that recognize employees’ significant contributions.”
She said what she likes most about hearing from new hires is why they chose Takeda.
“The thing I love to hear is … ‘It’s really the culture … It had a nice vibe,'” Giagnorio said. “I think overall, that is a big factor in why people join Takeda. Speaking after 15 years with Takeda, it’s why I stayed. You can do good work in a lot of different places. What makes the difference is how (you) spend every day.”
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