SEVEN employees at Abbott Laboratories, Queenborough, have each received a President's Award from the company's head office in Chicago.

It is one of the highest accolades an employee can achieve and recognises individual innovation, adaptability, leadership and initiative leading to significant improvements to the business as a whole.

The employees -- human resources manager Les Muggeridge, shift managers Donna Vessey and Scott Anderson, electrical and instrumentation manager Roy Elphick, and human resources advisers Moyra Hills, Tina Killick and Amy Henderson -- received their awards from one of Abbott's divisional vice-presidents, Mario Durante (all pictured).

They were rewarded for their work reviewing the total pay and benefits of the 380 factory-grade employees at the Queenborough site, a task they undertook in addition to their normal roles.

They formed a working party charged with recommending and implementing changes to eliminate inconsistencies within employee packages, developing a simpler more transparent structure and introducing a performance-related remuneration and reward process.

Human resources director Amanda White said: "This project was a massive undertaking and took the team 18 months to complete.

"There were many variations in working conditions and over time each department had developed its own operating procedures.

"The group effectively introduced a total culture change and to ensure its success it was essential that they communicated with employees every step of the way. This was done through focus groups, consultation and individual letters to every staff member."

Mr Durante said their work had led to a new grading structure which for the first time allowed factory operators to see clearly how they could progress through the pay bands and be directly rewarded for individual performance.