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Group photo of LY50 program kick-off
Editor's Note:
In July 2020, young talents from Luye Pharma passed rounds of interviews and were selected to join LY50 program, a 2-year talents cultivation program targeting young employees to meet the Group’s demands at the key stage of strategic transformation. Trainees of LY50 have participated various kinds of activities and courses since the initiation of the program and gained development during the process. This month we have invited 2 representatives from the program to share their thoughts and experiences.
Liu Jia Production Engineer of Solid Preparation Workshop, Manufacturing Department, Shandong Luye Pharma
Xin Peng, Production Engineer of Stock Solution Workshop, Shandong Boan
Q: Hi, Liu Jia and Xin Peng, thank you for accepting our interview, to start with, please give a brief introduction of yourself.
Xin: My name is Xin Peng. I joined Luye in April of 2016 and worked at the injection workshop for 2 years. Then I joined the biologics manufacturing workshop, responsible for the construction of new workshops. I was transferred to the stock solution workshop of Boan Biotech by the end of June, responsible for the construction of the second production line of the workshop, Bevacizumab injection’s tech transfer of process version 2.0, as well as manufacturing management of the first production line of the workshop.
Liu: I'm Liu Jia. I joined the injection workshop of Lai Shan plant in July, 2016 and participated in new production line construction in 2018. I was transferred to the solid preparation workshop for Seroquel project at the beginning of this year, my responsibilities include construction of the manufacturing and documentation systems, Seroquel product transfer, process establishment and optimization during the transfer, as well as drafting of SOP files.
Q: The main topic of this interview is about learning and growth, what do you think is the most important significance of continuous learning after entering the workplace?
Xin: It has been 5 years since I joined Luye. When I first came here, I can feel Luye is a big platform with lots of learning opportunities and projects. I started from scratch when I joined the projects and got the chance to learn different knowledge.
A Production Engineer needs to understand knowledge of multiple areas, aside from process, we also need to learn regulations, process manufacturing, especially when it comes to new line construction which has even higher requirements on us. I can always feel there is a force pushing me to go forward. If I stop learning, I might not be able to catch up with the project, that’s why I choose to transform pressure into motivation. During the process of tech transfer, I got to understand the importance of project management to the whole project, so currently I’m planning to obtain PMP certificate to enhance my competitiveness.
Liu: I agree with Xin Peng. We learned theoretical knowledge at school and gradually realized the importance of professional knowledge at work. It is quite impossible to learn mechanism of process equipment, deviation change and validation at school. I don’t even know what is culture medium simulation filling, luckily my colleagues and supervisors are willing to teach me which allows me to achieve faster growth. And also regulations of the pharmaceutical industry are always changing, which motivates us to keep learning so that we can better understand our work.
After joining LY50, we got the chance to have face-to-face communication with excellent management staff and learn management courses to broaden our knowledge scope. The ultimate pursuit of product quality can only be achieved when we continuously learn to improve our own capabilities. I believe this represents Luye’s core value—pursuit of excellence.
Q: As we know, you all have to pass several rounds of tests to be enrolled in this program, what is your feeling and expectation when you receive the admission notice?
Screening process of LY50 program
Xin: I was not that confident when I saw the application notice, however my supervisor encouraged me to give it a go, so I signed up for the tests. I remember everything vividly, Vice President of IP Department and Manager of HR Department interviewed me. It was my first time to participate in a competitive and challenging group topic discussion. I felt quite good about myself after the interview. I am looking forward to know more excellent colleagues through this program to understand their point of view and learn from their strengths, and also gain more experience and knowledge through case sharing.
Liu: Candidates of this program requires to have maximum of 5-year experience, and it was my fifth year. My supervisor strongly suggested me to sign up for the selection. I hope to step out my comfort zone and let more people to know me. Unlike Xin Peng, I was not that confident after the interview, since communication is my weak link, and the post-interview feedback actually helps me to know my improvement areas, I want to achieve self-improvement and breakthrough through this project.
Q: Can you share with us which activity impressed you the most in this project?
Xin: This first thing came into my mind is the long-distance hiking, we started from the birthplace of Luye—Shengli Oil Field Nursing Home to Yangma Island with a total distance of 40 kilometers. I feel that the willpower to keep going despite reaching the limits of physical function is still very strong. Teamwork is also very important, especially when you are in difficulties, you would want others to support, understand and comfort you. It is very important for the team to support each other when we face the pressure of work, which also contributes to the stability of the team.
LY50 long-distance hiking
Liu: Since the start of this program, we have participated various activities, including talent portrait, hiking, LY50 forum, club events, practice of management courses, New Chapter New Journey annual meeting and reading club. The one impressed me the most is the annual meeting, we received the notice to organize the annual meeting within 10 days, considering intensive meeting arrangements at the year end, it was truly a challenge to us. As the culture and sports secretary of the program. I immediately informed club leaders and other secretaries, and we were managed to deliver a plan within 3 days. During the process, we had a brainstorming session where everyone expressed their opinions. Eventually the annual meeting was held online due to the pandemic, it was the work of the whole team. After the annual meeting, we prepared a cup of warm milk tea for all trainees to bring our heart together.
Q: Liu Jia, you just mentioned about the reading club, and I heard recently you volunteered to organized the first reading club activity, can you share with some details about that?
Liu: Yes, as I said, LY50 offered all sorts of activities and reading club was one of them. When Hu Fengfeng from Organizational Development Department asked which team would like to be the first to do reading club, as the leader of group 6, I volunteered to sign up. The book we read is called “Growth Mindset” which is about the cultivation of leadership thinking. I did a lot of thinking after read the book, especially when it reminds me of the Seroquel project that I’m working on at the moment. We need to copy AZ’s process, however to simply copy it can only achieve temporary success. We are two different companies with totally different systems, which means we need to produce our own product in the end. Also, based on my own experience and by observing others, I can always get some experience to enhance my skills. I need to maintain passion with my work, therefore I can get continuous development and breakthrough. I want to give my sincere appreciation to my team members as they were all busy with their work, but when I asked for their support with the reading club, they all make time to get involved in the preparation.
Q: Besides reading club, both of you have attended the mentorship workshop recently, can you talk about your experience with it?
Xin: LY50 assigned mentors to each group, and my mentor is Cynthia Huang, Director of Supply Chain Management Department. She just finished the Q1 group workshop with us recently. During the meeting, we chatted over pizza, which immediately broke the formality between supervisors and subordinates. The workshop focused on how to improve communication, Cynthia used her experience as a volunteer in Shanghai to illustrate the what is effective and ineffective communication. Group members also shared some examples helping us to have an in-depth understanding of communication.
Q1 group mentorship workshop (Cynthia Huang and Xin Peng’s group)
What I felt the most is, effective communication takes steps. First, you need to accurately deliver your message, then confirm whether others can precisely get your point and take actions accordingly. This also echoes with the PMP course, which is interactive communication. Communication is not simply a one-way information transmission, but mutual understanding.
Thanks to Cynthia, she gave us a wonderful 3-hour sharing. Aside from this, we also got the chance to have one-on-one coach session with her, which is very helpful to me.
Liu: Jen Liu, the HR Director of Boan is our mentor. She talked about her professional background during the kick-off meeting, her sharing also include some real cases. In summary, there will always be wind and rain in our life, and we need to keep learning during this process. When supervisor gives you a chance, you need to seize it and accomplish your task no matter what. During the one-on-one session, Jen answered some problems we met at work. I kept communication with her during the preparation of the reading club and she offered some very good suggestions.
Q: What have you improved since the start of this program and what area needs to be further improved in the future?
Xin: I get to know my weakness and gap by participating this program, and this puts certain pressure on me. I’m aware the importance of clear self-positioning at all times. I need to prioritize my objectives and achieve them step by step. I am also aware of my lack of ability in certain areas, therefore my first target is to obtain the PMP certificate.
Hopefully we can get more opportunities to learn from more experts through this program. Biopharmaceutical is a fast-developing industry, which requires us to constantly improve our professional capabilities. I believe all of us can achieve better development through hard study.
Liu: My language expression and communication capabilities got improved. Because of participating in this program, I have to take more responsibilities and thus strengthened my competencies. Growth is a long-term process, I remember a management course during the training, we were asked to make proposals. Trainees came up with some very creative proposals, however over half of them were terminated in the half way. Even if we can have 1-2 proposals to be approved, that would be a tremendous improvement to the team and ourselves.
I want to further enhance my professional capabilities in the future. I never stopped learning since I joined the Seroquel project. First of all, I need to build up my confidence, because only when you have some achievement in your professional career, then you can have a say in it. Second, I need to improve teamwork ability, because I found cooperation is as important as communication when I work with other departments. Also, I have to build up my capability to break down problems. As you go deeper into the project, you will find more problems, such as the unexpected problems encountered in the production transfer process of Seroquel. For the Group's current action of cost reduction and consumption reduction, we need to break down existing resources from all aspects to achieve cost reduction and achieve the desired results.
Q: Last but not least, please share with us your expectations on future career development.
Xin: I enjoy researching and working in technical fields, so I want to be able to share my knowledge, experience and skills to other colleagues who need them once I reach to a certain level in my professional field, so I need to keep improving my professional skills at the moment. The second is to enrich my experience and determine the direction of development. Although I am still in the process of continuous experimentation and exploration, this does not prevent me from gradually defining my exact goal.
Liu: LY50 program is a great platform, and as I continue to grow, I have discovered shortcomings that I need to fill. In the recent 3-5 years, my focus will remain on the Seroquel project, and hopefully I can share what I have learned in the program with the rest of the team, which will be helpful to everyone.