AbbVie marks 13 consecutive years as a Great Place to Work

AbbVie Australia has secured Great Place to Work certification for the 13th consecutive year, reinforcing its long-standing reputation for workplace excellence and employee engagement.

The latest recognition reflects strong employee sentiment, with 85% of AbbVie employees describing the company as a great place to work, compared with 60% of employees at a typical Australian organisation.

The certification builds on another significant milestone for the pharmaceutical company, which earlier this year was named among Australia’s Best Workplaces for Women in the 2026 rankings.

Nat McNeil, Vice President and General Manager, AbbVie Australia and New Zealand, said the sustained recognition reflected years of deliberate investment in culture.

“Since AbbVie’s inception 13 years ago, we have been rewarded a Great Place to Work, a truly remarkable achievement,” said McNeil. “This is not by accident, and it is not an easy feat. It takes considered effort and real intentionality. Our people keep rising, despite the continuous challenges and constant change, with clarity and courage, because our patients are always front of mind. We relentlessly reinvent ourselves and renew our approach, and our culture gets stronger. 13 consecutive years. Just remarkable. I couldn’t be more proud.”

A key component of AbbVie’s workplace strategy is a repeatable framework that transforms employee insights into measurable action, ensuring ideas move from feedback to implementation with clarity, speed and accountability.

Through its Innovation Program, every employee has a structured pathway to propose improvements spanning patient programs and internal operations. Each submission is reviewed, resourced where viable and publicly recognised when implemented. One medical science liaison’s (MSL) proposal for new clinician educational materials progressed from submission to rollout within six months, with the originator remaining actively involved throughout the process.

Employee feedback also directly informs organisational priorities through the company’s Many Voices culture survey. When survey data identified friction in compliance processes affecting field teams, AbbVie established a cross-functional working group that included those employees to redesign existing workflows.

That collaboration led to the creation of the MAP (Manage, Approve, Process) platform, a tangible outcome of the company’s employee-led approach to continuous improvement. Developed through consultation rather than a top-down process, the platform simplified approvals, reduced double-handling and improved operational visibility.

The company’s emphasis on transparency underpins this approach. Employees can track the progress of ideas from submission through evaluation to final outcome. Whether proposals are implemented or declined, visibility into the decision-making process helps maintain trust in the system.

“Being a great place to work means creating space for people to grow. At AbbVie, I’ve been encouraged to learn, build confidence, and contribute my perspective, even when I don’t have all the answers,” explained Leah Howison, Head of Pipeline Strategy and Culture Ambassador at AbbVie Australia.

“I value a culture that recognises curiosity, humility, and transferable skills, because sometimes the most meaningful contribution comes from listening, adapting, and bringing a different perspective. A recent job swap reminded me that growth often starts in discomfort. You don’t need to have everything figured out to make a difference. With the right support, uncertainty can become one of the most valuable parts of learning and development,” she added.

In reimagining healthcare across the entire patient journey, Health Industry Hub^TM is the only one-stop-hub uniting the diversity of the Pharma, MedTech, Diagnostics & Biotech sectors to inspire meaningful change.

The Health Industry Hub^TM content is copyright protected. Access is available under individual user licenses. Please click here to subscribe and visit T&Cs here.