What were your first impressions about Pfizer?

My impressions were that "I've come home!" The office is located in close proximity to where I grew up, but I also felt that way from having researched how the organization is dedicated to people, both internally and externally—not only its patients and colleagues but also its shareholders and consumers, even those in other parts of the world. For example, Pfizer has been actively involved in outreach programs on the African continent and other regions of the world. It's those types of initiatives that make me feel like I'm contributing to people "close to home."

What was it that made you decide to target Pfizer as an employer?

Pfizer's corporate values and behaviors really resonate with me—leadership, for instance. Anybody can lead; you don't necessarily have to be the leader, but we all have leadership potential. Pfizer really affords everybody in the organization, regardless of level, the opportunity to exemplify leadership.

What do you do for the company?

I lead the diversity recruitment initiatives for Pfizer. I benefit from being an individual within this demographic where I can help with stepping up our diversity initiatives and our networking groups. I have the opportunity to shape the organization and build on how we implement diversity and inclusion. We're expanding our networking groups to different locations within the U.S. so that we're being inclusive of all the different groups in this country that represent diversity.

One of the things that I'm doing is working diligently to keep connected to the pulse of different organizations and committees that will better help my understanding of what's out there, so that I can make strategic connections to where there are needs in our organization. In terms of stepping up our diversity recruitment efforts, we are also working on expanding our partnerships with some of the HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges & Universities]; we are really beginning to identify internship opportunities and programs dedicated to HBCUs as well as making strategic "feeder" connections to full-time opportunities in the organization. At some schools where we've had long-standing internship programs, we're working to expand the types of internship opportunities.

Has the recession had a big impact on Pfizer's recruitment programs?

No, the recession has not really impacted our efforts. We've maintained a consistent level of commitment to our diversity initiative, and in fact, we've stepped up our efforts with regards to various initiatives, including print advertising and engaging in different types of diversity recruitment programs with organizations that are new for us.

Is diversity a peculiarly American issue for Pfizer?

Pfizer defines diversity as the many unique and varied characteristics, perspectives, and experiences that define each of us as individuals. So at Pfizer, we see diversity as broader than the traditional categories of race and gender than what we typically think of in the U.S.—we look at diversity from a global perspective.

What's the difference between "inclusion" and "diversity"?

As I mentioned before, Pfizer defines diversity as something that makes us all different and unique. Inclusion is an action—taking all of those differences and bringing them together to create an environment where we are able to leverage those differences in thoughts, ideas, and perspectives to the benefit of Pfizer in the communities where we live and operate. 

W hat are Pfizer's objectives regarding diversity?

Pfizer is focused on the issue of productivity—if we have people in our workforce who are different, and they aren't experiencing the workplace in terms of being able to deliver their full potential, then we have a problem. Diversity in our workforce brings more to the table in terms of the kind of business that we're in and the kinds of products that we deliver. The kind of company that we want to be embraces different thoughts and the kinds of people who bring those thoughts.

Breakdowns of the survey data show that Pfizer is a particularly popular employer among African Americans (#6). Why is this?

When it comes to recruiting, Pfizer has programs particularly designed to ensure that we have a stream of African-American students in our workforce because we want to continue to attract and build that stream. When we looked at our organization out in the field, we realized that we weren't necessarily attracting people of color in the way that we would normally recruit, so we now have recruiting efforts specifically targeting this group. For example, Pfizer makes special efforts to think about how to attract people of color and women in particular. We also source through the various diversity conferences and career expositions; we have target media with which we're advertising; we have initiatives with college relationships and professional association partnerships, HBCU intern feeder programs, and other networking groups that are used to ensure that Pfizer is active, engaged, and thought about as a place at which to work.

But I think the story is more about what Pfizer is like as an employer. I can say this as an African-American woman and as an executive woman: I've worked for a number of companies, but it is like being in Wonderland working here at Pfizer! We have great benefits. We are focused on programs around our colleagues' health, with fitness centers at most of our locations. We want our people to be healthy, because after all we're the number one drug company in the world, so they should be healthy. And the people are just nice here. They're comfort-able; they're engaged. The culture at Pfizer is a caring, benevolent culture, and I've come to learn that in the time I've been here. It's the bedrock of our business. That this kind of caring still exists in the new millennium, given all the things that are going on in this country and in corporate America—it's just a great place to work. This is the message that I would hope comes across to students. They are the things people hear about and know about.

Then of course the most important thing aside from the culture is that over the last few years Pfizer has become one of the largest and most valued companies in the world, in terms of business cap, what we do in the community, our philanthropy—in 2002, Pfizer gave $598 million in cash and product donations to people and organizations who need us most. Some of that, for example, is through our AIDS initiatives in Africa, the United Way, our employee volunteer programs, and through the Pfizer for Living Share Card, which enables eligible Medicare recipients to buy a 30-day Pfizer prescription for $15 a month. For African Americans this culture is particularly significant because it fits the natural roots of many African-American cultural traditions.

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