Meet Mate | Roche

With five year's extensive work experience under my belt, I continue to receive new and rewarding challenges. It's very motivating to be on this career journey.

My name is Máté, and I joined Roche in 2015. In my first role as an HR Specialist, I provided support with employee lifecycle activities in the EMEA region. In 2017, I transferred to the People Rewards & Recognition Team where I received a promotion. Later, I became a Subject Matter Expert and first point of contact for compensation-related matters. Since the beginning of 2020, I've been working as a Reward Analyst.

The scope of our team is twofold. On the one hand, we provide system support spanning configuration-related tasks. On the other hand, we act in an advisory role and organize calls with business partners to explain tasks & timelines and answer their compensation-related questions. The well-established partnership between our Center of Excellence (CoE) in Basel and the Roche Services & Solutions in Budapest enables us to work together as equal partners. As main point of contact, I share the information learned from our CoEs with the People Support Solutions (PSS) teams.

Our impact
My work in compensation impacts the entire organization, and I maintain a strong sense of responsibility. When we transitioned from SAP to Workday in 2018, I played an integral part in the first compensation cycle using the new system. I held numerous training sessions for the PSS colleagues to prepare them for the coming changes. This time was also marked by increased levels of workload in our team. To overcome this challenge, we involved our manager and other teams in finding a solution. Together we successfully managed to reduce the high caseload.

I'm currently involved in the global grading project. We work together with 200 affiliates worldwide to create a global framework and map all employees to aligned job and grade profiles. Over the years, I've been recognized for my work in many different ways. The business partners and stakeholders regularly send me congratulatory eCards through our global recognition system. It also gives me great joy to receive words of appreciation and kind messages. I'm proud that all my hard work has been reflected accordingly in my year-end evaluations over the years.

The place to work
I'm grateful that Roche is a company which fully supports my professional growth and development. Investing in talented people doesn't stop at recruitment, and the company continuously provides learning opportunities and internal rotation programs. I personally experienced how beneficial these development opportunities are when I completed a three-month rotation program at the Budaörs affiliate earlier this year. I had the chance to experience HR from a completely different angle. I appreciate the company's drive and continued efforts to become an even better employer. They continuously renew and expand the benefits package, which shows that Roche cares about its employees on a deeper level. Home office days and flexible work arrangements create a relaxed environment for us. Work-life balance is very important and actively promoted here. Through the new 'loyalty leave' employee benefit that I also received retrospectively for my third-year work anniversary, you’re granted additional vacation days.

Our culture
The company culture can be best described in two words: flexibility and transparency. Our leadership provides regular and timely updates, so I always know of any upcoming changes. These positive characteristics are also apparent in other Roche affiliates, which I experienced in both Budaörs and Basel. Our team organizes regular team building events, which fosters a good team spirit. There is strong collaboration across the entire PSS organization, supported by regular meetings and information sharing. I feel that people are open to providing meaningful feedback, let it be between peers, or between leaders and direct reports. It can be shared in person, or through the 'Give Feedback' functionality in Workday. With my line manager, we have regular check-ins, and I often ask my colleagues to give me feedback. I'm happy to see that it also encourages them to do the same.