GBC Honored As One of the Best Companies to Work For In Asia

Let’s start by pointing out that you’re never going to encounter a company that doesn’t list openness, equity, and honesty as being among its core values. It’s good marketing and bathes firms and their brands in a positive light.

However, from Amazon being characterized as a company where employees face disciplinary action if they get cancer or have a miscarriage, to Euro Disney being overrun with harassment, suicides, and 1,500 industrial accidents per year, core values are often not worth the web pages they’re printed on.

It’s all the more relevant when HR Asia—Asia’s most authoritative publication for HR professionals—lists you as one of the best companies to work for. This isn’t nicely-colored digital marketing that you’re consuming: It’s the considered opinion of a leading independent publication.

The GBC Factor

With HR Asia’s 2023 awards centered around the theme of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, 97 Taiwanese companies received the coveted award, including GBC.

The diagnostics technology company, which has been running since 1984, was built on principles set by its founder Dr. Zong Mei Lin. Central to these principles are “openness and honesty in all aspects of its operations.”

Now, that might sound like the kind of statement that many companies make, however, GBC has established an extensive reputation at home and abroad as a firm that lives by it, maintaining a decidedly ethical approach in all its dealings, whether they be with suppliers, customers, or employees.

When it comes to diversity and inclusion, the company has built a similarly positive reputation. As a firm that encourages as many new perspectives in its research as possible, varying cultures, races, and genders are key factors in gaining these perspectives.

And a successful approach it has been for them.

Ethics vs. Success

While there’s certainly a corporate culture that subscribes to the idea that to be successful, you need to be able to step on people, companies like GBC have shown quite clearly that “nice guys don’t have to finish last.”

On the contrary, the innovations that GBC has made in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals have resulted in the company becoming one of the leading medical research firms in Asia. By attracting the finest minds from across the globe, irrespective of their race, GBC has turned ethical business practices into a highly profitable way to operate.

And there you have it. With HR Asia’s award honoring companies that have shown “world-class employee engagement and workplace excellence, while displaying demonstrable empathy and care for their employees,” the nice guys at GBC may well end up finishing first.

To discover more about GBC and its career opportunities, you can contact us here.

The Role of Company Culture in Employee Engagement and Success

When it comes to company culture, perhaps the first thing to clarify is the difference between a satisfied employee and an engaged employee. While being a satisfied employee is undoubtedly a positive thing, the definition tends to imply someone who has no particular issues with their work environment and is therefore satisfied to continue.

An engaged employee, however, will feel far more involved in what a company stands for. While a satisfied employee will happily perform their job as requested, an engaged employee is much more than just a content team member—they’re an ambassador who is looking to expand the reach of a company’s message.

Engaged employees are, of course, a far more valuable resource to a company—and their presence is almost entirely dependent upon company culture.

Defining Company Culture

In much the same way as shared outlooks form communities in the wider world, the behavioral, ethical, or technological values that a company holds serve as a gravitational force that attracts like-minded employees. With a company’s culture and its employees being virtually inseparable from each other, engaged employees spur on meaningful company values and vice versa.

What’s important from a practical point of view is that a strong company culture tends to result in increased productivity and innovation, higher employee retention, and a more secure future for all concerned.

Culture at GBC

With GBC having made a name for itself developing groundbreaking diagnostic technologies, innovation is central to the firm’s culture. While plenty of companies in the medical industry are driven by more monetary values, GBC is on a specific mission: to create and implement the use of state-of-the-art diagnostic technologies that enhance the lives of people worldwide.

To this end, it encourages a culture of free thinking. Contrary to the old axiom, great minds don’t think alike, and GBC advocates new perspectives in every field of their research, from diagnostic tools to pharmaceuticals.

The Key to Success

It’s often said the road to success is paved with failures. While this may be true, overcoming failure requires an immense sense of purpose—and it’s exactly this that a strong company culture brings to the table.

When the going gets tough—and for companies in the business of creating new technologies, it most certainly will at some point—it’s a company’s culture that keeps things moving forward.

With engaged employees plugged into a shared sense of purpose, very little can hold an organization like that back.

To find out more about GBC and how our company culture is changing the diagnostic and pharmaceutical landscape, you can contact us here.

The Benefits of a Strong Company Culture In the Workplace

At its core, company culture defines how a business operates and just as importantly, why. Providing a shared corporate philosophy, it guides everything from how a company is marketed to how its employees view themselves.

A compelling corporate culture is perhaps the most fundamental contributing factor to sustaining a healthy workplace and creating a productive organization. A business can hire as many talented individuals as it likes, however, it’s the shared sense of meaning and direction that company culture brings that binds individuals together into a powerful and effective unit.

In this article, we’re going to take a quick look at some of the main benefits that company culture brings to the workplace, beginning with perhaps the most valuable advantage.

Enhanced Productivity

A company’s job may be to produce goods and services, but the efficiency with which it does this is largely dependent on how motivated its workforce is. Employees who identify with a business’ culture and company values feel more invested in its success. As a result, employees are far more likely to be proactive in their roles as opposed to simply performing their jobs as required.

Increased Innovation

This comes hand-in-hand with heightened productivity. Employees who are more invested and motivated tend to be more creative also. For companies that make it their business to be innovative—GBC is a perfect example—nurturing an environment that inspires creativity and forward-thinking is key to their success.

Improved Well-Being

A healthy company requires healthy employees, and a sense of shared company culture helps keep both in good shape. That’s not to say that company culture is a cure for all ills—merely that when employees feel connected to the values a company stands for, it heightens everything from their self-esteem to their outlook. With a healthy body largely dependent on a healthy mind, company culture helps generate a sense of positivity that has numerous beneficial downstream effects.

Sharper Focus On Goals

With employees sharing a common set of values, they also share a common set of goals. This is crucial to long-term company health as it brings clarity to the workplace—everyone knows what page they're on and where they’re headed. As a result, strategic planning, both in the long- and short-term, becomes far easier to formulate and more effective when implemented.

There are, of course, many other benefits to company culture—however, it’s clear from the few we’ve listed here how vital this culture is to the strength of a company.

At GBC, our company culture is as important as the offices and buildings we operate in—perhaps more so. The culture we’ve built our company around is sturdier and more fundamental than any physical foundation you care to name.

To find out more about GBC and how our company culture is helping to define our future, you can contact us here.