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For nearly three years, Ibnsina Pharma’s leadership had been searching for a way to answer a simple question: How are our people really doing?
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Ibnsina Pharma is the market leader in pharmaceutical distribution in Egypt, widely recognized for its scale, operational excellence, and nationwide impact. According to Forbes Middle East, the company ranks among Egypt’s Top 50 publicly traded companies and is also one of the 30 largest companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

This leadership is fueled by Ibnsina Pharma’s commitment to sustainable market growth, digital transformation, and a diversified business model that spans pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical distribution, medical promotion services, advanced logistics, and digital solutions. Ibnsina’s headcount is 10,000 employees across diverse business units and geographical areas from Upper Egypt to the Canal region.

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As one of Egypt’s largest pharmaceutical distributors, Ibnsina serves over 52,000 customers and partners with 350+ manufacturers. Its 10,000 employees work across 70+ sites from Cairo and Alexandria, to the Delta, Canal region, and Upper Egypt.

The business was growing. But with thousands of employees spread across different regions and functions, leadership needed a reliable way to understand where their employees were struggling, and how to provide them with the best support to achieve their growth.
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That mindset marked the beginning of a more deliberate approach; one where engagement could be measured, understood, and improved with confidence.

Ibnsina Pharma’s leadership wanted to strengthen engagement through a structured approach that could be measured, benchmarked, and acted upon with precision. With thousands of employees across different regions and functions, each facing their own operational realities, anecdotal feedback wouldn’t be enough.
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If they were going to act, they needed to trust what they were acting on. That meant adopting a validated framework to assess engagement scientifically, highlight strengths, identify development areas, and design practical action plans backed by data.
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In a company built on operational excellence and people-first growth, understanding how employees really felt couldn't rely on assumptions. Leaders wanted robust data that could pinpoint what drives engagement, target where improvement is needed, and guide decisions that would lift both employee performance and business results.

After exploring multiple local and international providers, Ibnsina Pharma selected Engagesoft for its scientific foundation and analytical depth.
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What set it apart was visibility. The platform’s Org Chart and Heatmap tools gave leaders a complete view of engagement across departments and regions, something essential for a large and distributed organization. They could see exactly which teams needed attention, in what capacity, and act accordingly.

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That level of visibility set the foundation for everything that followed. Managers could act on clear data, and leadership could track progress with precision.

Before any actions could begin, Ibnsina Pharma needed a clear picture of where engagement actually stood. The 2023 baseline survey marked their first full cycle using Engagesoft’s validated model.
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The Human Resource team worked closely with Engagesoft to explain the science behind the model to directors and managers, showing how engagement would be measured and why it mattered. That transparency was critical. Employees needed to trust their voices would be heard and their data handled seriously.

When the results came in, leaders could see the full picture for the first time: engagement scores segmented by region, department, and function. The gaps between teams were clearer than expected.
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That visibility sparked action. Human Resources, managers, and leadership started having real conversations about what needed to change and who would own it.

With the baseline in place, Ibnsina Pharma focused on two key areas that would define the next two years.
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Initiative 1: Enabling Managers to Drive Engagement

Once the baseline was established, the next priority was turning insight into action. That began with managers.
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HR positioned managers as the bridge between data and day-to-day culture. They began with one-to-one meetings for directors and managers to walk through results and the scientific model behind them, then cascaded these discussions across departments.

The HR team developed a comprehensive action plan addressing all identified priority areas, ensuring alignment with Ibnsina Pharma’s strategic objectives and organizational values. Each manager received a tailored plan, with progress tracked through weekly follow-ups on agreed actions, reinforcing accountability and consistent execution across the organization.

Initiative 2: Recognition and Communication in Practice

Ibnsina Pharma implemented a series of strategic initiatives to strengthen recognition and communication across the organization, reinforcing the company’s values in daily practice. Key initiatives included enhancing company-wide communication channels to ensure timely, transparent, and inclusive information flow across all regions and functions.
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Leadership introduced the “Breakfast with the CEO” program, creating structured opportunities for employees from different branches to engage directly with senior leaders. This initiative served as a platform for recognition and fostered open dialogue, enabling employees to share ideas, provide feedback, and feel seen and heard by leadership.
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Complementing these efforts, HR launched behavioral awareness workshops, including the “Tell Them How to Treat You” sessions, which empowered managers and employees to clarify expectations, reinforce positive behaviors, and translate appreciation into everyday interactions – whether through messages, check-ins, or public acknowledgment.
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By the end of the 18-month cycle, these initiatives created a sustained cultural shift. Employees experienced improved communication with leaders, a stronger sense of recognition, and an enhanced connection to their teams. By embedding these practices into everyday operations, Ibnsina Pharma translated engagement insights into tangible improvements across the organization that aligned with strategic objectives and reinforced the company’s people-first culture.

Following the first baseline, Ibnsina Pharma maintained a steady rhythm of listening and measurement, using each cycle to validate progress and guide the next stage of action. 

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2024: Pulse Survey Checkpoint

To test whether initiatives were working, the HR team ran a Pulse survey covering both head-office and regional teams. Despite expanding participation to include more on-site and operational employees, response rates stayed strong. Each region was tracked daily through Engagesoft's dashboard until they reached 95% participation – proof that engagement had become a company-wide habit. 

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2025: Measuring Progress & Refining Action

The next full engagement survey confirmed the upward trend. The overall engagement score rose from 7.2 to 8.1 out of 10, with notable gains in recognition, communication, and leadership visibility. The biggest validation was that departments that had previously shown early areas of concern recorded the strongest improvements, a reflection of the consistent manager engagement and HR guidance throughout the year.

What started as a baseline survey had evolved into standard practice. Managers were checking in regularly, adjusting based on feedback from teams.

Across three survey cycles, Ibnsina Pharma recorded steady, data-backed progress:

Improvements were seen across departments, including significant jumps in areas that had required early attention.
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Beyond the numbers, leaders noticed other changes like more recognition and faster manager follow-up. The link between action and outcome became clearer with each survey cycle.

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By 2025, engagement had become a leading indicator of performance measured consistently and discussed openly across teams.

By 2025, employee engagement had become part of how Ibnsina Pharma operates daily . Every manager now owned their team’s data, discussed it openly, and followed up on action plans as part of routine performance conversations.
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The leadership team used the results to keep focus areas visible across the organization: recognition, communication, and values in daily practice. The data gave leaders a common language for understanding engagement and acting on it.

Every organization’s culture is different, but the need for clarity, listening, and data-driven action is universal.

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If you’re ready to build a consistent system for understanding and improving engagement, talk to our team about how Engagesoft can help. Book a demo to see how