Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 68
68
( 2025 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
Haleon’s health equity mission resonates with staff
W
orking for a health
care company
always appealed to
Preet Makkar – she
loved the idea of “contributing to
something bigger than myself.”
It’s what has kept her at Haleon
Canada ULC and its predecessor
company for 23 years.
"It’s incredibly motivating to
know that you’re making a positive
impact on someone’s health,” says
Makkar, head of human resources
at the Canadian division of
global consumer health company Haleon. The organization,
which produces medicines like
Advil, Buckley’s and Voltaren,
was formed in 2022 following a
de-merger from GSK plc. “We
have a team of people who are
passionate about our mission,
work diligently every day, and find
joy in our collective successes,”
she says.
Haleon Canada has put a focus
on health equity in the past year.
In May 2024, it invested $100,000
in a mobile wellness trailer run
by health non-profit GlobalMedic
that provides medicine and health
care services to marginalized
communities, including refugees
and newcomers to Canada. To
date, the Haleon Health Trailer
has engaged with almost 1,500
people.
In the fall, the company donated
more than 280,000 bottles of
Children's Advil to two health
non-profits for distribution
nationally and internationally
during cold and cough season.
“It's very special to see how personal it is for our team to support
communities, and it comes from
the culture that Haleon has
fostered,” says Jamie Black, commercial sales lead at the company.
Black, who has worked with
Haleon and GSK for a total of nine
years, says the company’s Near
and Dear program struck a chord
with him. Every year, the company
asks employees to nominate the
health-related charitable organizations they’re passionate about, and
donates $5,000 toward each, to an
annual maximum of $40,000.
Last year, Black nominated
Ronald McDonald House
Charities, an organization that’s
especially close to his heart. When
his youngest daughter was born
prematurely, he and his family
stayed at a Ronald McDonald
House for six months until she
was ready to come home. Haleon
included the charity among its
donations that year. “It gives
you that feeling that people are
listening,” Black says.
Since Haleon’s spin-off, Makkar
says, the company’s focus has
been connecting its purpose of
delivering “health with humanity”
– to its corporate culture through
initiatives that support employees’
mental health and well-being and
encourage them to bring their
authentic selves to work.
“We want to make sure
everybody feels truly
included every single day,
and we see that sense of
belonging as being tied to
our purpose.”
— Preet Makkar
Head of Human Resources
Haleon Canada employees donate a mobile wellness trailer to GlobalMedic, a non-profit providing medicine
and health care to marginalized communities.
It upped its mental health
coverage to $2,000 per year for
employees and their families,
rolled out a global maternity
and parental leave program of 26
weeks fully paid, launched four
employee resource groups (ERGs)
focused on ethnicity, gender,
LGBTQ+ and disabilities, and
has hosted a series of sessions on
topics such as handling impostor
syndrome, thinking positively and
building resilience.
“We want to make sure everybody feels truly included every
single day, and we see that sense
of belonging as being tied to our
purpose,” Makkar says. She notes
the company’s engagement survey
results indicate those initiatives
have been successful. Haleon
Canada employees have some of
