Employee Spotlight • Meet: Kacy

Takeda is a place where, if they have a need, and you have the knowledge and the drive, they will give you the opportunity. My leaders allowed me to transition into the role of my dreams, where I’d be working on well-being every day, and they were open to that because Takeda is committed to creating an exceptional experience for its people.

We’ve covered a lot of ground as a society in terms of the way we think of and practice well-being. When I first became interested in the field, the focus was on healthy eating, exercise, and maybe a little emotional well-being in the mix. All of that was separate from your work, though. We were all simply encouraged to take care of ourselves and to aim for “work-life balance.”

A better word than “balance,” though, is “alignment,” and better than “work-life” is “life-work,” because life comes first. On any given day, some parts of your life may need more attention than others. Some days you may work late to hit a deadline, and others you may take time for yourself in the middle of the day to exercise or be with your family. Life-work alignment means prioritizing the things in your life and work that are most important.

My job, as the Head of Global Well-Being, is to empower employees to understand their priorities and set boundaries in both their work and personal lives. We have optional learning programs, apps, and internal challenges that promote and champion well-being. We work with Takeda’s leaders on ways they can show their team that it’s safe, for instance, to go fully offline while on vacation. We want our people to feel empowered to step into a meeting with their leader and say, “Here are my priorities in my personal life and at work. I am being asked to take on this additional project. Help me understand, if this project is a priority and if so, what can I deprioritize? Help me understand how to do this.”