Human Resources — Ursula Straub
Living Our Values in Leadership
Embedding Curiosity, Responsibility and Appreciation in Leadership
The Swiss Cancer Institute’s staff are the foundation of our effectiveness as a centre of excellence. With a total of 60.8 full-time equivalent positions, we bring together a wide range of professional backgrounds, perspectives and expertise. To fully leverage this diversity, we deliberately focus on a shared culture of values and the continuous development of collaboration.
At the centre of this approach are our three newly developed shared values: curiosity, responsibility and appreciation. They provide guidance in everyday work and serve as a unifying element across teams and functions. The aim is to foster a working culture that encourages openness to new ideas, supports employees in taking responsibility and promotes respectful interaction.
Leadership, Collaboration and a Shared Language
Leadership programmes specifically designed to promote sustainable leadership practices formed a key component of this development. In workshops and coaching sessions, managers reflected on their leadership behaviour, clarified their roles and strengthened trust within their teams. In addition, regular all-staff updates ensured transparency, orientation and open dialogue between employees and leadership.
To support a shared language and a better understanding of different working and communication styles, we introduced Insights Discovery. The insights gained encouraged greater self-reflection and provided a valuable foundation for collaboration in interdisciplinary teams. The use of Insights Discovery will continue to be developed gradually and selectively integrated into leadership development and teamwork initiatives.
Feedback, Learning and Development
Feedback and learning formed another key focus. Multi-perspective feedback provided the basis for continuous improvement. The employee review process was deliberately designed with a development focus. Rather than a traditional appraisal, the emphasis is on shared reflection on strengths, areas for development and concrete opportunities for growth.
These discussions support structured dialogue on performance, development and collaboration. Our core values are gradually being integrated into objectives and development agreements.
Impact and Outlook
The impact of these initiatives is already visible in day-to-day work in the form of more open and efficient collaboration, as well as in sustainable academic and institutional partnerships. The initiatives support employees in their daily work and help them pursue shared goals more effectively.
Through this holistic approach, HR aims to foster a culture that enables learning, promotes responsibility and makes appreciation tangible — forming the foundation for sustainable success and a strong shared identity.
Human Resources: Ursula Straub, Chief Human Resources Officer