Roche Employee Association Interview with Loredana Dattilo

I meet Loredana in the cafeteria of Building 2. We want to get to know each other better, exchange ideas and are interested in what our first experiences have been like since we were elected to the AVR Site Representative Board. We start our exchange with a delicious coffee on site.

Hello Loredana, how are you today?
Thank you for asking, I'm doing very well. I was in Ticino for the weekend, visiting my parents. They have been living there for several years. Trips to the "sunniest part of Switzerland" always give the feeling of having taken a short vacation.

How long have you been working at Roche and what exactly do you do in the company? What is your professional background?
Smiles - I started back in March 2010, so quite a few years now. I have been in different roles since then and have worked a lot in Learning & Development. Right now, I am a Business Operations Partner and Coach. I've always had a lot to do with people and that contact has always been very important to me. Four years ago, I started coaching to be able to better support my colleagues and people in general. Today, among other things, I also offer short- and long-term coaching at the Roche Career Center. Learning is important to me, which is why I am currently supplementing my degree in business administration with a Master's in Change and Organizational Dynamics at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland.

Why did you decide to work at AVR?
I appreciate the change from our day job and the variety of activities. There is an insanely steep learning curve. AVR's diversity is unique, just as each case is unique. Through my work as a coach, I saw good opportunities to bring skills from my day job at AVR to bear on behalf of the employees.

You joined the AVR last year. What are your first impressions?
There is an insane amount of knowledge within the group. I'm very motivated and ambitious to learn from my colleagues and to acquire just as much knowledge so that I can support the employees in the best possible way. A big challenge is certainly always finding the right information. Furthermore, the AVR is much bigger than I thought and there are significantly more activities than I was aware of. There is a very good and functioning network and I find it amazing to see what we are involved in everywhere. - I was gobsmacked in a positive sense.

What would you like to achieve, what motivates you at the AVR?
As I mentioned, the AVR is very diverse and broad-based. This diversity means we can provide each other with great support. The biggest common denominator is representing the workforce, which is very important to me and I simply want to do my best. In my opinion, employees are and will remain the most important asset of a company.

I thank Loredana for the pleasant meeting and I am very much looking forward to continue working together and learning from each other.

Interview conducted by Michael Hofmann, Site Representative for Basel