How a diverse workforce ignites innovation in diabetes care

Bree Winter

Technical Manager –
New Product Introduction,
Abbott Diabetes Care

Kimberly (Kym) Boucher

Associate Programmer –
Clinical Affairs,
Abbott Diabetes Care

Sam Jones

R&D Systems Engineer,
Abbott Diabetes Care

Surjeet Singh

Principal Clinical Research Associate (CRA) – Clinical Affairs, Abbott Diabetes Care

A major healthcare company specialising in diabetes care has highlighted how a diverse workforce can advance product development and lead to better solutions for patients.

Chronic health conditions can impact people in different ways. Equally, the way individuals live with their health challenges varies depending on age, outlook as well as social and ethnic background.

For companies providing therapies and devices that help to improve lives for people with conditions such as diabetes, tuning into this diversity is vital. That’s why having a diverse workforce — with diversity of thought — is so important when driving innovation and developing products to meet patient need.

Diverse teams drive innovation

Diverse teams, with individuals able to bring their true selves to work, enhance thought and innovation with the potential to take product development to a new level. At Abbott Diabetes Care — with 1,000 people at its multifunctional research, technical and manufacturing site in Witney, Oxfordshire — that ethos is immersed in the workplace culture.

Staff with wide technical experience, differing social backgrounds, ages and genders, are encouraged to express opinions and ideas while listening to the input of those around them. This diversity of thought can fuel innovation and enable organisations to deliver life changing technology to patients globally.

Inclusion as a natural state

The company works to deliver accurate glucose monitoring products to enable people with diabetes and healthcare professionals to track and analyse glucose levels. It has a core ethos of ‘driving innovation through diversity,’ which is supported by their ten employee networks, including Women in STEM and PRIDE.

To fulfil commitments to both patients and employees, diversity, equity and inclusion must be ingrained in the culture. The ultimate goal for any organisation should be to build a place where inclusiveness is an inherent quality and effortless norm. Abbott remains dedicated to this ambition as it strives to create a workplace where everyone feels truly welcomed and valued.

Company-wide experiences and opportunities

Today’s team at Abbott sees people working cohesively, listening and learning from one another and sharing their thoughts, influences and inspiration. Among them is R&D Systems Engineer Sam Jones, whose role involves software development to test and validate products.

She joined the systems engineering graduate scheme three years ago after studying physics at Cardiff University. This scheme offered the opportunity to work in different departments before moving into a permanent role. “Working with colleagues from different backgrounds helps innovation because you hear about how people think differently,” says Jones, 27.

“It also helped me personally; looking at different approaches to my work, not being narrow-minded and seeing better ways of doing things.” She also enjoys meeting colleagues via company social and sporting opportunities, such as through the netball club.

Engaging working environment

Bree Winter is a Technical Manager for New Product Introduction, leading a team of scientists across the Witney site taking new products forward from the early concept phase.

She initially joined as a temporary scientist and then travelled before returning to a permanent position in 2006.

“It is a great working environment,” says Bree. “Everybody here is so engaged and committed to what they do. “There are also plenty of opportunities for people to progress within a role in the department they are in or move to different functions.”

Flexible working and outreach

Married with children aged five and eight, Bree acknowledges how the company recognises the importance of work-life balance. “People have all sorts of commitments outside work and that is recognised, respected and supported,” she adds.

Bree works four days a week rather than five, which gives her the flexibility she needs without compromising her career or professional development. The company enables people to be their ‘true self at work,’ she adds.

“Diversity is actively sought, and opinions from all backgrounds and technical disciplines allow us to make the best products we can,” she continues. Developing the next generation of engineers and scientists is also encouraged with outreach programmes, including the Big Science Final across primary schools in Oxfordshire where Bree is active in the judging process. Work placements are also available for undergraduates as part of their degree programme.

Diversity is actively sought, and opinions from all backgrounds and technical disciplines allow us to make the best products we can.

Bree Winter, Technical Manager – New Product Introduction, Abbott Diabetes Care

Career trajectory and problem-solving

For Kym Boucher, a placement helped her determine the next steps in her career. Now an Associate Programmer supporting automation of analysis and reporting by developing software, she spent a placement at Abbott during the third year of her maths degree in a student statistician role.

“I used stats every day and really loved the problem solving aspect,” recalls Kym. “I knew from my placement that I wanted to work with programming in the healthcare industry.” On her return to university, she opted for statistics modules and later joined the company in October 2021 in a permanent entry-level programmer role.

That sees her developing apps and technology to present different metrics and status updates on clinical trials in support of the work of clinical research associates (CRA), data analysts and statisticians, plus the day-to-day R&D work.

“I can bring my programming experience to different teams and work together on what can be automated to make their tasks more efficient,” she explains. “One programme I wrote for a colleague took the time she needs for data tracking from three days down to one day.”

Networking and skills development

Advice Kym would give to someone considering a career in STEM is to do a work placement. “It gives you invaluable experience and lets you know what you do or don’t want in a job. I found out that I value being able to see a tangible, positive, impact that my work has.”

She also underlines the importance of working for an organisation that looks at individuals’ wellbeing as well as professional development. With Abbott, she has participated in activities such as yoga, badminton and netball, which have enabled her to meet people from across the company she may not otherwise have met. She has also been supported in developing her technical skills.

Personal motivation drives innovation

Some members of staff have a strong personal motivation with their roles in helping develop solutions for people with diabetes. Surjeet Singh is a Principal CRA in the Clinical Affairs Department. He and his parents have type II diabetes and his wife is type I, meaning he has a close affinity and knowledge of the challenges associated with the condition.

Following a degree in pharmaceutical medicinal chemistry and a PhD in non-viral gene therapy, he worked in the pharmaceutical, academic and clinical sectors. This included working with surgeons to develop technology to deliver better outcomes for patients.

He joined five years ago and now works closely with hospitals, experts and patients to gain insights into product use and further development. Co-located with R&D and manufacturing, he brings the patient perspective to innovation, translating clinical data into evidence for researchers, patients, clinicians, regulators and healthcare decision-makers.

How diversity drives company impact

Surjeet, is also actively involved in the company’s charity team and, as a practising Sikh, works with the Ethnic Employee Network. He emphasises the importance of networking with people across departments to share knowledge on a social and workplace level.

Surjeet also mentors new team members, assessing how people from diverse backgrounds can best work together and highlighting the value of the organisation’s learning and personal development ethos.

For Abbott, diversity within the workplace has a positive, company-wide impact: delivering benefits for personnel, product development and, ultimately, for the people who utilise the medical devices and solutions it creates.