CoverStory
At BeOne Medicines, continuous learning is not just encouraged — it is a core part of who we are. That is why our Global Talent Development Team launched Development Week in 2023, an awareness campaign designed to highlight the importance of ongoing growth and self-investment.
Since its start, Development Week has become a highly anticipated event across the company. Different groups come together to host both virtual and in-person sessions, offering colleagues opportunities to learn, lead and leverage their knowledge in new ways. Previous year’s agendas spanned personal, professional and technical growth, with dedicated tracks on leading self and leading the business.
What began as a campaign to spark awareness has grown into an initiative that empowers employees to own their development journey. This year’s focus encouraged colleagues to join sessions that supported their growth in their current role while also opening pathways to explore future career opportunities.
The approach reflected BeOne’s core values — investing in people, cultivating curiosity and building long-term growth opportunities. By empowering colleagues to choose sessions that mattered most to them, Development Week embodied the company’s commitment to creating an environment where learning is personalized, relevant and impactful.
Orchestrating a company-wide week of learning across multiple regions is no small feat. Spearheaded by Judith Davis and Ada Jiang, the Global Talent Development Team set to work meeting with leaders and stakeholders around the world. Their goal: To identify volunteers who could share meaningful content that would resonate with colleagues across all functions.
To make participation seamless, sessions were housed and scheduled through BeOne’s learning management system (LMS). This allowed colleagues to easily register, track and attend the events most relevant to their goals, while also ensuring consistent access to session details and resources.
Sessions were carefully coordinated so that every region — the Americas, Europe, Japan, Asian Pacific and China — had access to the same learning opportunities. This commitment to inclusivity meant that employees, no matter where they lived, could benefit equally. In total, the week featured 20 developmental topics across 80 individual sessions, led by 80 speakers. Behind the scenes, producers supported each event, ensuring the coordination ran smoothly so participants could stay focused on learning.
This year’s program was structured around three daily themes — Learning Day, Leading Day and Thriving Day — each designed to connect individual growth with organizational priorities. Across these tracks, participants explored a wide range of topics, from company strategy and global fluency to the future of work with AI.
Sessions also emphasized leadership development, communication and innovation, helping participants strengthen both the “leading self” and “leading the business” dimensions of growth.
Key sessions included activating leadership potential, driving change, feedback that moves us forward and discover your personal brand in action. Together, these courses offered a balance of technical upskilling, personal development and wellness practices, equipping participants with actionable tools to thrive in their roles while advancing BeOne’s broader mission.
Development Week also played a pivotal role in the company’s launch of Degreed, our new learning experience platform. In the weeks leading up to the event, colleagues were encouraged to create their Degreed profiles, select focus skills and create individual development plans so they could make the most of the upcoming content.
During Development Week itself, orientation sessions were offered to help employees get comfortable with the platform, making it easier to discover learning opportunities, track progress and connect with curated resources long after the week ended.
Development Week was intentionally designed with global accessibility in mind. Sessions were scheduled to accommodate multiple time zones across regions, ensuring no team was left with inconvenient hours. In China, all sessions were held in Mandarin, and where possible, employees gathered for in-person learning — particularly in our China offices.
This thoughtful approach not only removed barriers but also reinforced the idea that learning is for everyone, regardless of location or language.
Development Week 2025 drew more than 15,000 attendances from more than 5,000 unique participants, totaling 11,455 hours of learning worldwide. With an average satisfaction score of 4.8 and a Net Promoter Score of 88 (World Class), the program delivered both scale and quality.
Feedback showed participants left with clearer alignment to company strategy, fresh tools for growth and renewed energy for their development journeys.
A few important lessons emerged in planning and delivering Development Week. First, it is essential to allow more coordination time than originally anticipated, ensuring smoother execution across teams and regions. Second, gathering survey input as close to the program launch as possible provides fresher insights and helps align offerings with colleagues’ most current needs. Finally, the importance of leveraging the full team throughout the process cannot be overstated — consistent collaboration distributed the workload and enabled a stronger overall experience.
Looking ahead, these lessons will shape future programs by streamlining planning, sharpening relevance and fostering even greater teamwork to deliver lasting impact.
Development Week has quickly become more than a week of programming — it’s a reflection of BeOne’s culture of growth. By giving employees the tools, time and encouragement to invest in themselves, we are not only supporting their current success but also paving the way for the leaders and innovators of tomorrow.
Megan Valentino is senior manager, global talent development learning operations, for BeOne Medicines USA (formerly BeiGene USA). Email her at megan.valentino@beonemed.com or connect through www.linkedin.com/in/megan-valentino-b970a014a.
Judith T. Davis is senior manager, global talent development, for BeOne Medicines USA. Email her at judith.davis@beonemed.com or connect through https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-davis/.
