Hi all!


Day 4 of my first week at GSK Montrose and I'm struggling to decide where to begin.


I suppose I should start by saying my first impression of Montrose is exactly the opposite of what I expected. Worried that I wouldn't be able to compete with the exotic adventures of those in far off lands, I have found Montrose so vastly different from the city that I may as well be in another country.

For those who, like me, know Montrose only as "some wee town up near Aberdeen" it's absolutely beautiful here! The streets are wide and the buildings old and grand (not least of all the Limes guesthouse in which I am staying in - the kind of house you dream of owning when you picture winning the lottery) and everything within a brief walk of the beach.

Thankfully the weather has held and I've been able to walk along the dunes after work each evening. And every morning on the way to site I'm greeted by the screech of seagulls and the smell of the seaside - it's hard to imagine a better place to work.

And it has to be said that the people here seem happier: there's a real sense of community. You can't walk down the street without being wished "good morning" by every local you pass.


This totally extends to every element of day to day life here: from how approachable and friendly everyone is on site, to how much I'm mollycoddled by Marlene who owns the B&B I'm staying in. Altogether I feel very welcomed and well-looked after. It's like being adopted by a big family.


Much of this probably stems from the fact that GSK is so prominent in the community. GSK has always been the biggest employer in Montrose and I am told by locals that there was a time not so long ago when absolutely everyone living here knew someone who worked there. To some extent this has been reduced ( the company recently went through a period of downsizing, also commuting is more available to most people obviously, so it's no longer necessary to live nearby) but even now the company takes an active role in community development projects and is highly regarded by everyone I've spoken to so far. Another aspect directly resulting from the aforementioned downsizing is that the team is very small. Even if many of the employees today are not local to Montrose you get to know people on site pretty quickly (although I'm still finding it quite overwhelming). There's still this real family vibe about the site - they all know each other: they're all in it together.


Which brings me to a brief discussion of my project. Since my purpose here is to firstly observe the "operational excellence" practices at both sites (scotland and singapore) and then evaluate which is more effective, it will be interesting to see how culture influences this. I expect (in my infinite wisdom fuelled by 3 days experience!) that certain elements, especially with regard to loyalty and comradeship amongst employees, will be unique to Montrose. How much the same processes can be implemented in Singapore - which as far as I know is the polar opposite - remains to be seen. I expect a big outcome of this project will be to learn two very different ways of approaching and maintaining "team spirit" amongst employees. I'm lucky to be in the position to experience both sites, whilst still coming from a fresh perspective with no experience or opinion of how the sites were run in the past. It's absolutely fascinating. I'm hooked.


Moreover Dale, my manager, has given me a huge amount of freedom with this project. His attitude is very much "What is it YOU want to get out of this? Great. Let's do it!" That's not to say I've been left on my own - he's been hugely supportive. From day one he's helped me scope out exactly what I want to achieve and how to go about it, getting me involved in meetings in different departments every day, showing me round site, making sure I get the opportunity to meet as many people as can be fitted into a day! All this whilst still trying to ensure I get through an absolute mother load of prerequisite training and safety awareness.

Already I've been able to go ahead and begin talking to staff at all levels to get an idea of the general culture working here before I can develop a quantitative way of assessing this.


Ok I can feel your eyes starting to glaze over! I've done some fun stuff too! To begin with I was lucky enough to bump into some of the other people staying in the B&B who have never been to Montrose and was able to explore the town with some company. On the first night we walked along the beach and stumbled across a circus which was incredibly exciting for me because I've never been to a circus before! I have pictures but sadly I'm having trouble uploading them at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of the site as well (and of me in my hazzard gear visiting the labs - truly stylish - as this would provide some light relief from the punishing detail I intend to disclose about my time there). However this may prove difficult as they're a wee bit funny about you taking your camera on site.

Whatever the outcome, I'll keep you updated.


Until next time,

Cally