Our employees are our most prominent and valuable ambassadors, serving as an important interface with our customers — patients, health care professionals, health care organizations and regulatory agencies — as well as other external stakeholders. To support them in this role, we work to ensure that all communications to employees about breaking news are distributed as quickly as possible and through the most appropriate means. Employees are generally notified within minutes of most major external announcements. We also use a wide variety of communications vehicles to ensure that we reach employees at their job location. Our tools range from our online news site for employees — The Daily — which is frequently updated with Merck and industry information, to video and e-mails from senior management.

We recognize that employee communications are only relevant if their value is confirmed through feedback. In 2009, we added feedback mechanisms to our online news site for employees, including the ability to rate an article or comment directly on it. We also routinely check our employees' "pulse" by attaching brief, three-to-five-question surveys and open comment forms to key communications. Soliciting employee feedback about the subject of the communication in real-time gives us the information we need to develop subsequent communications that close knowledge gaps and address employees' concerns. The most notable change we have made as a direct result of employee feedback has been the addition of "meet-and-greet" sessions hosted by our CEO and our Executive Committee. These sessions give employees greater access to senior leadership to share information in a more personal setting.

We also organize quarterly and year-end Employee Business Briefings with our CEO and members of our Executive Committee to update employees on Company performance, discuss recent news or developments and provide progress reports on strategic goals and objectives. Each event is webcast and translated live into French, Spanish, and Japanese so employees worldwide can participate.

Employee Surveys

As part of our mission to maintain a satisfying and productive work environment, Merck routinely surveys all employees to gain their perspectives on the business and how we are responding to the needs of our workforce. Merck conducts an annual Culture Assessment that measures Merck’s progress toward becoming a high-performance organization, including questions on such areas as teamwork, capability development, customer focus, ability to create change, strategic direction and intent. In 2008 and again in 2009, we surveyed a random sample of employees mid-year to keep a pulse on employee perspectives about our culture.

The assessment helps Merck leaders and managers understand employees’ perspectives about the Company’s culture and its effect on Merck's ability to meet our business objectives. We communicate highlights of the survey results through meetings with our employees, in our employee publications, on our Intranet and through e-mailed summaries.

In addition to the Culture Assessment, Merck conducts a Plan to Win survey to measure employee engagement, the drivers of engagement and employees’ understanding of, and commitment to, our Plan to Win  — the Company’s five-year strategy to achieve industry leadership. The survey has been offered in eight languages historically and will begin to be administered in 20 languages in the fall of 2009.

Our 2009 results showed that employee confidence in the Plan to Win strategy and our senior leaders remains strong. In addition, we are maintaining employee engagement during a time of rapid change within the company. Consistent with 2008, 51 percent of our employees are considered "fully engaged" or "engaged." Employee feedback suggests that we can maintain or improve engagement through focused actions in a few key areas, including senior leader accessibility and consideration of employee input when making decisions as well as through providing fulfilling work and developmental opportunities.

Executive Committee members and leaders of the Company's strategic change initiatives are using the results from the 2007 and 2008 surveys as part of their strategic planning on an ongoing basis.

Other Resources for Employee Feedback

In addition to the employee surveys, our Ombudsmen within Merck's Office of Ethics listen to employee concerns in confidence and, where necessary, take action. Our anonymous helpline, which operates in accordance with applicable legal standards for employee-based hotlines, is available 24/7 to listen and provide advice to employees worldwide. For more information, click here.