Changing the culture of employment of demobilized veterans in Ukraine: Arterium, a pharmaceutical company, has received the Veteran-Friendly award from VeteranHub
Every year, the Veteran-Friendly award is given to companies that have successfully implemented and adapted veteran-friendly work processes. Arterium has passed the inspection of the All-Ukrainian Charitable Organization and the “quest”, during which a veteran who comes for an interview evaluates the company.
Implementation of a veteran-friendly policy at Arterium
A friendly attitude towards veterans, support and understanding at work is a regulation that is important to implement in every Ukrainian business. The development and formation of a veteran-fiendly policy at Arterium was initiated back in 2015. As of today, 82 of our colleagues were mobilized, and 20 employees have already returned from military service to civilian life.
Before proceeding to development of the program, our specialists attended many trainings and thematic lectures. Based on the knowledge and experience gained, they generated their own veteran-friendly program.
The focus of the veteran-friendly policy at Arterium Corporation is directed at in-house programs and external initiatives.
“With Care for You”
The company has implemented a program “With Care for You”, which is aimed at caring for 4 groups of people: mobilized employees, their relatives, demobilized employees and employees who have relatives among the military.
For each group, a separate guide was developed with a list of offers that the company can provide.
In developing the program, we are guided by the principle: for the military, together with the military. So, for example, our guide for demobilized employees was created with the participation of Viktor Komarenko, an officer-psychologist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The guide for demobilized employees includes additional leave and a flexible schedule during the first month of work, one additional official salary upon returning to work, free psychological assistance, payment for sports classes in city sports clubs, and additional insurance.
For our mobilized colleagues, we maintain their jobs, pay their salaries, offer free psychological assistance, the opportunity to receive medicines, information support in fundraising and closing urgent needs, and congratulate them on the holidays (before Easter, our mobilized employees received parcels from the company with postcards, medicines, first aid kits, and essential items).
Relatives of mobilized employees have the opportunity to receive free psychological assistance, undergo free medical examinations and receive medicines, children of veterans can receive a grant for studying at a higher educational institution, as well as undergo an internship in the pharmaceutical field at the company.
Employees whose relatives are military personnel have the opportunity to receive free psychological assistance, medicines, information support for fundraising, and also participate in various activities (art therapy, psychological training, support groups, etc.).
The company also maintains contact with the families of our deceased colleagues, providing them with assistance as needed – medicines, medical examinations, etc.
As regards the reintegration of veterans, we have chosen an individual approach to each person, because general models will not work for everyone, everyone has their own needs, both in terms of workplace arrangement and schedule.
We change ourselves and help others change
We at Arterium believe that only the synergy of efforts of governmental authorities, local governments and businesses will yield a high-quality result in creating the right conditions for our defenders to return to civilian life. Therefore, our specialists are happy to join initiatives aimed at exchanging experience with other organizations, training programs, etc.
Arterium has signed an agreement with the Rozmova Platform, which allowed to introduce a program of free psychological support for the company's employees.
The company has joined the project for training and retraining of veterans, which is implemented by Kruk NGO. This is an online training platform where veterans meet with employers in order to retrain, master a new profession, and get a job. The company also conducts training in four production specialties. Today, we already have two veterans who are employed with us after completing these courses.
Arterium also conducts training for medical staff of UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center.
We continue to work on improving the company's veteran-friendly policy, in particular, we are developing a concept for memorializing and honoring the company's deceased employees.
Arterium Corporation is one of the leading Ukrainian pharmaceutical companies. The company distributes and markets high-quality, modern, effective and safe medicinal products, medical devices, dietary supplements, veterinary products in Ukraine and 13 other countries around the world. The number of products in the company portfolio is 174 medicines, which includes generics and original medicines.