Aventis (Commercial Operations)

Good ideas pay off at Aventis — when someone comes up with an innovative suggestion, the firm rewards them with an extra month's salary.
Staff at the global pharmaceutical company feel good about themselves and the firm's work in helping to make their customers' lives better — with products ranging from Allegra, the hay fever treatment, to the breast cancer drug Taxotere.

More than three-quarters of the 600 employees in the UK think that the firm makes a positive difference to the world, the 12th-highest result. The company also provides challenging jobs, and more than two-thirds of staff say they feel stretched and stimulated at work.

Aventis spends £900,000 a year on fun for the commercial division alone (manufacturing staff were not included in the survey) — a total of £1,400 a head, for netball tournaments, Christmas concerts and thank-you dinners.

Training is good, and new entrants to the firm are allotted a “buddy” to help them out, while medical representatives have a six-week induction programme, and 77% of staff praise their managers for helping them to learn new skills.

Pierre Chancel, the chief executive, regularly breaks bread with staff (or, rather, croissants, this being a French-owned company) at feedback breakfasts at the head office in West Malling, Kent.