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Mentoring & mini-fairs are part of GSK’s supplier diversity approach
“Our programs are opening doors for suppliers who have never worked for a large pharmaceutical company,” says the global supplier diversity director
 GSK is a worldwide pharmaceutical company with corporate HQ in the UK and extensive operations in the U.S. and other countries around the world. In all it employs 100,000 people, 15,000 of them on research teams involved in the GSK mission of improving the quality of human life.
GSK has had a supplier diversity program since
1986, but the current formal program was launched in 2001. “At the time of the
Glaxo and Smith-Kline merger, we took the opportunity to re-launch our program to be in line with the new company’s objectives,” says Denise James Gatling, director of global supplier diversity and business development at GSK.
“We have several components to our supplier diversity initiative,” she notes.
Mentoring is important
“Particularly in areas where we’ve never had a diverse supplier before, we feel that mentoring is important to get appropriate businesses up to speed with our needs,” says Gatling. So when they considered a mentoring program they decided to involve potential suppliers, existing suppliers and their own GSK people, not only those in supplier diversity but also the firm’s senior leaders.
They called in a consultant to develop a “tool kit” for mentors. “We might have a sourcing group manager or a buying pro who really doesn’t know how to go about mentoring a diverse candidate,” Gatling explains. “When that happens we give the manager or buyer specific tools from the kit. That may be exact specs for initial discussions, or tips on how to begin a relationship and how to establish a working relationship.”
The mentoring process has been going on for some five years now. “Of course within our supplier diversity team we make sure the mentors understand their roles,” Gatling says. “We also meet with the mentees and tell them what we hope their roles will be, because we want this to be a successful interaction.”
In fact, she explains, “We even do business assessments to make sure the mentees identify all possible areas of opportunity. We have them sit down with us to talk about where they can be of value to our company and beyond. Then we work on the items that seem most critical to their success; we even help subsidize activities to help them improve.”
Year-long focus
“We try to rotate at least five diverse suppliers in and out of the mentoring initiative each time,” Gatling notes. “We start each program out with five or six supplier mentees. It’s a year-long focus, and after that it’s up to our mentor and the mentee to see if they want to continue the relationship.”
Further down the line, sponsorships to the Kellogg or Tuck schools of management may be available. “Once you’re in the program we continue to help identify opportunities for you to grow and advance your business,” Gatling says.
Arbill: a prime mentee
Arbill (Philadelphia, PA) is a premier provider of workplace safety products and compliance services in North America. The company considers itself a leading architect of the workplace safety culture that helps its corporate clients reduce costs and protect their people.
“Our clients know that keeping their employees safe every day is key to retention and productivity,” says CEO Julie Copeland. “Our mission is to provide a standard of excellence so our clients send their employees home safe every day.”
Arbill, Copeland explains, has been through the GSK mentoring program. In fact, “We just completed the process,” she says.
It started about two years ago. “An expert came in and did a business assessment of Arbill. We already had a really great base for North America, but GSK thought we had potential to grow with them into the European markets. They wanted to see how they could help us extend our business to eventually support them with safety work in Europe.”
At GSK’s request, Copeland and her company have been working for the past year to standardize certain operating procedures. For example, Arbill was able to deploy the same training procedures across various locations. GSK suggested an organization to help, and even funded part of the program. “The idea was that there were to be standard operating procedures for opening up each new distribution center and that those could be mirrored in another country,” says Copeland.
Expanding with GSK
With the mentoring year over, “We’re continuing to expand with GSK,” Copeland says happily. “We started off in their consumer goods section and now we’re getting an opportunity to work with them in the pharmaceutical section. They think we can move into R&D next.
“We’re having a wonderful relationship together and we expect to continue to grow with them.”
The global link
Mentoring is, of course, only part of GSK’s supplier diversity program. As Gatling explains, “We also found the need to ensure that our suppliers understand operating in a global market.” The answer here was GSK’s participation in NMSDC’s Global-Link initiative for certified MBEs and the large member companies that employ them. GSK actively supports the initiative.
“We identify suppliers that we think could partner successfully with suppliers in other countries,” Gatling says. The Global-Link committee has visited China, South Africa, Brazil, Australia and Canada, where various organizations have contacted NMSDC to help them implement supplier diversity.
“As experts, we go out and work with them to understand the climate within their countries,” Gatling says. “We also give that international exposure to some of our U.S.-based suppliers.”
NMSDC has been working on the Global-Link initiative for several years, and “It’s getting a lot more traction,” Gatling says. “A number of other corporations like us are committed to the initiative because we see the value as a good business strategy for ourselves. As we move into emerging markets, it’s critical for us to understand their culture and support diverse suppliers there.
GSK is also active with WBENC. “We participate in their conference and do one-on-one matchmaking through them,” Gatling says. Arbill, too, has benefited from association with WBENC. In 2008 Copeland was named a WBE star at WBENC’s annual black-tie salute to WBEs in Washington, DC. She has received other honors, too, like the 2006 Women of Distinction Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
Meeting at WBENC
WBENC, in fact, helped launch the GSK/Arbill connection. “We met some people from the GSK group at a WBENC event, and they put us in touch with a contact for their safety area,” Copeland recalls.
“Soon we were on the phone with them talking through all the processes. They were considering quite a few suppliers and it was important that we matched up.
“They appreciated that we could offer every element they were looking for: all kinds of safety products, plus sophisticated training in compliance. When they asked if we would consider being in their mentoring program we were extremely excited!” GSK now calls on Arbill for both products and compliance training across several areas and many locations.
Developing Arbill
Arbill president and CEO Julie Copeland began her career with a degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY) and a graduate degree from Temple’s business school. She started out by running a startup electronic publishing business. “Then I sold that and came into Arbill, which is my family business.”
When Copeland’s grandfather started the business, safety products were much simpler. Much of his stock came from the Illinois Glove Co. The company’s name of Arbill comes from “RB” for Robert, the grandfather’s name, plus “ill” from Illinois, the major supplier. The initial “A” “was simply to get to the front of the phone book,” Copeland explains with a laugh.
She worked in the Arbill business for several years as VP of sales and marketing director. Four years ago she moved into the presidency. She expanded the company’s scope beyond manufacturing and distribution of industrial safety products to include a strategic approach to safety across a client’s organization. “We do an assessment of a workplace to be sure the client is using the best products for a safe work environment and has whatever training or services they need. Going national and focusing on safety were my two initiatives when I took over the business.”
“It’s a different company today,” Copeland declares. Today’s Arbill employs about eighty-five, including technical people on staff and on contract. “We have employees and contract workers strategically located across North America. We are growing and evolving and able to provide new job opportunities,” Copeland says with pride.
Copeland has also given Arbill its own supplier diversity program. “We track our spending, and it has grown exponentially,” she says.
Certified by WBENC
Copeland connected with WBENC after she won her first national contract, with Tyco. Tyco asked her to get Arbill certified as a WBE, and made the introduction to WBENC. “I went through the process and easily got certified,” she says. And once it happened, “I was able to meet wonderful companies like GSK,” Copeland reflects. “WBENC certification puts me in front of the people I need to speak with to tell my story.”
Opening more doors
Another segment of GSK’s supplier diversity initiative is its work with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. GSK gave the foundation a grant to study barriers created by government caps on the net worth of small, disadvantaged businesses. “If the policy keeps the net worth down, it’s going to be difficult for these companies to reach the capacity they need to service major corporations,” Gatling notes.
GSK sponsorship launched the work late in 2005 and it’s still going on. “There have been a number of hearings on Capitol Hill about this issue,” Gatling says. “We should be seeing even more movement soon on policies that are limiting the advancement of diverse suppliers.”
Internal fairs and forums
About four times a year GSK holds its own internal trade fairs. “We do networking seminars and forums within GSK. We get our sourcing professionals there and bring in likely suppliers so they can talk with the right GSK people and understand our requirements better.
“We also take the opportunity for some introductory training, just to make sure the new suppliers know how to do business with us.”
The mini-fairs are held by invitation at GSK locations in Philadelphia, PA and Research Triangle Park, NC. The selection process begins with the company’s customized diverse supplier database, designed to pre-qualify the supplier.
“We find these programs terrific,” Copeland comments. “We were able to connect with even more areas within GSK; it really was a fantastic opportunity for us.”
Evolving organization
“When we are asked to visit a new site at GSK, we always do a personal protective equipment analysis,” Copeland adds. “It’s part of our safety blueprint, and it becomes a welcome cyclical process because you always want the organization to evolve.”
As Gatling sees it, “The programs we put in place are opening doors for suppliers who traditionally have not had the opportunity to work for a large pharmaceutical company. That’s really why we do it: to open up those opportunities.”
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