Diversity In Action

Pfizer turns around its diversity & inclusion initiatives

The company is working toward a more inclusive culture, where colleagues feel they have the opportunity to do and be their very best

A little over a year ago Pfizer launched a “turn-around” effort on its diversity and inclusion initiatives. Today, the global biopharmaceutical company has a focus on diversity and inclusion that “goes beyond doing the right thing to understanding that the right approach can have an enormous effect on business growth,” says Karen Boykin-Towns, head of global diversity.

The effort is already having results. In September 2009 Pfizer was again named to Working Mother magazine’s 100 best companies list for its pioneering programs and family-friendly benefits.

“Pfizer is undergoing a transformation,” enthuses Boykin-Towns. “We have recognized that while we’ve been very successful, there’s a need for us to look deeper and identify what will be necessary to continue to be successful.”

“We want to be an employer of choice, and to do that we‘ve had to make some changes. We believe we’re on the right track and certainly, this is one of the great places to build a career!”

As to future hiring, that’s uncertain right now, says Michael McAlhaney, who works in the strategic staffing group in New York. Pfizer recently acquired Wyeth, increasing its employee count by roughly half, to nearly 130,000 people. Once the integration is complete, the company will evaluate which positions still need to be filled.

“We need to do all we can to retain the best talent in both companies, but even so, there are select opportunities for skilled people in many of our technical fields.” McAlhaney says.

Pfizer uses IT pros as business analysts, program managers, database admins and network engineers. “Cisco router, Hyperion and SharePoint experience is common. We tend to hire people with masters and doctorates in information science,” McAlhaney adds.

At least five years of experience is preferable; there are very few new college hires in IT. “We’re lean, so you have to hit the ground running. We need people who understand the tasks at hand.”

Pfizer also employs technology pros and scientists in its animal health, global manufacturing, worldwide pharmaceutical ops, global R&D, and medical safety and regulatory affairs groups.

To tap a diverse pool of candidates for technical jobs, Pfizer relies on its colleague resource groups, McAlhaney says. Recruiters work with group leaders to build diverse candidate slates for jobs. Pfizer also uses online consortiums to reach a large, diverse applicant pool. And the company has a longstanding relationship with GEM, the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering, an organization that reaches more than 5,500 alumni,
he says.

Meanwhile, the new diversity and inclusion strategy put in place in August 2008 has helped the company establish a unified culture, Boykin-Towns says. For example, Pfizer is not only relying more on its diversity and inclusion worldwide leadership council, a group of senior execs from various parts of the organization, but also building an infrastructure of “ambassadors” throughout the company.

There are now forty colleague resource groups around the world, and that roster is growing, Boykin-Towns points out. They are not all new, but it wasn’t until this past year that Pfizer “looked at them as sustainable, high-value, high-impact organizations,” she says. The groups focus on women, LGBT, people with disabilities, Latino/Hispanics, Asian Pacific Islanders, U.S. Caribbeans and African Americans. “Our focus in 2010 is to increase all of these globally, and do more work in the disabilities area and in what we call ‘freshface,’ the Generation Y group,” Boykin-Towns says.

“We believe we can apply these groups’ ideas to bottom-line results so they can be key drivers in years ahead. We’re in the healthcare marketplace, and women make most of the world’s healthcare-related decisions,” she notes.

Almost all the groups help their members make mentoring connections, Boykin-Towns adds.

There’s plenty of volunteerism among employees. One example is the global health Fellows program: Pfizer employees volunteer to go overseas for six-month stints to work on the front lines of healthcare in developing nations.

Pfizer’s work-life balance programs are among the best in the nation, Boykin-Towns asserts, offering benefits, programs and resources like flexible work arrangements, tuition reimbursement, adoption assistance, scholarships for children of employees, backup childcare, health improvement, mentoring, career management, and manager and leadership training. There are on-site lactation facilities for new moms and telecommuting for many employees. “We noted the need to have a more inclusive culture,” Boykin-Towns says, “where people feel that they are valued, their ideas are heard, and they have the opportunity to do and be their very best. That’s something we’ve taken to heart!”

D/C