Case study: GlaxoSmithKline

GSK medicines treat major diseases such as asthma, HIV/AIDS, bacterial infections, mental health, diabetes and digestive conditions. The company's Consumer Healthcare business produces many household names such as Panadol, Aquafresh, Ribena, Lucozade and Horlicks.

The company is one of the few pharmaceutical companies seeking new treatments for the World Health Organisation's three priority diseases – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In 2007, GSK's research and development budget was £3.2 billion.

Interviews

The case study below is based on interviews with Martin Swain and Jane Howard.

Martin Swain is the UK Director of Policy, Employee Relations, Diversity and Inclusion. He has three main roles:

• to ensure that all policies are legally compliant and culturally correct
• to ensure that the organisation follows its key processes in order for employees to have a positive relationship with GSK
• to create an inclusive environment where all employees are enabled to deliver their true potential

Jane Howard is the UK University Recruitment Manager. Her role involves creating best practice around graduate recruitment. She operates in a small team of three: herself, an accounts manager and an industrial placement student. They act as central support for corporate functions, which have structured graduate programmes in the UK for graduates in finance, IT, sales & marketing, pharmaceuticals, engineers, chemists, manufacturing, statisticians and biologists.

This enables the firm to meet its strategic objectives through attracting talented people to the firm, retaining them and enabling them to achieve and realise their full potential and worth at work.

The case study sets out the overall strategic objectives and recruitment process including specific initiatives and policies. The views expressed are those of the interviewees, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department.

Diversity and inclusion

The mission of diversity and inclusion at GSK is to seek value and draw on the differing knowledge, perspectives, experiences and styles resident in the global community. The fundamental principle behind GSK’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy is having an organisation with an inclusive culture and one which is as attractive as possible (and where, once having joined, people will want to stay long-term).

Diversity of employees means finding the right people for the job, regardless of colour, creed, nationality, gender, age, partner preference or physical ability. It also means having an inclusive culture and a workforce that reflects the full potential and variety of the community in which we live. The firm's long-term mission includes expansion, targeted growth, growth in the UK and overseas, but also to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.

A large part of any organisation's diversity and inclusion practices and policies are driven by national and international legislation and GSK is no different. Its HR Directors from the various departments need to translate the legislation into specific cultural initiatives, practices and policies. Martin says:

"It's very difficult to talk about ethnic minorities when you are in India because they may not understand the terms. Similarly, if you start talking about caste in the UK they wonder what you are talking about. So, diversity changes, depending upon local themes and priorities".

To help with this process of translating legal frameworks into workable local solutions; GSK consults external organisations and employees. In the UK, GSK is a gold member of the Employers’ Forum on Disability and also has strong links with Opportunity Now, Employers’ Forum on Age, Stonewall and Race for Opportunity. As GSK points out, these organisations provide invaluable advice and guidance on their own specific areas, and are an essential ‘port of call’ for any organisation, however far down the diversity and inclusion road.

Although Martin says GSK's diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives are mainly top-down, employees can and do contribute to the process through the UK Information and Consultation Forum Architecture, "which spans all the businesses, and therefore we've got employee representatives within every business. They quite often suggest changes to policy".

Employee networks

Employee networks also play an important part in gaining feedback from employees. Some of the employee networks which exist globally within GSK are a ‘primetime partners’ network (age), early careers networks, Asian employee's network, gay lesbian bisexual & transgender network and networks covering many religions. All of the networks are employee-driven.

According to Jane, support mechanisms like these contribute to their inclusive working culture and are an essential aspect of staff retention and progression. She says people need to feel they belong, to feel valued and to have a voice. This has resulted in an increase in BME employees (up 7.3% 2007-2008). The number of women in senior positions has risen one-two per cent annually since 2003.

Flexible working

Another important key initiative in attracting and retaining key talent and enabling employees to deliver more is flexible working. Whilst GSK's historical approach to flexible working has been very traditional, they are now looking at how they can utilise a flexible approach to employment practices to engage with employees and enable them to achieve their full potential.

The approach focuses on productivity rather than presenteeism, and has been spearheaded by the company's CEO, Andrew Witty. He has said that he would like to enable GSK employees to work 24/7 but on their own terms.

Focuses on disability

With recent success with the recruitment, retention and progression of women and BME employees, GSK has in the last couple of years focused on disability. As Martin points out, the drive behind this initiative is that "we should focus more on disability, because we are a healthcare organisation". Consequently, GSK is now part of the ‘Two-Ticks’ scheme. However, Martin pointed out that it was difficult initially:

"We thought we were already compliant. I think that's the danger of organisations getting too complacent with the way they work".

GSK consulted the Employers Forum on Disability to make sure that what it was achieving was correct. Once it was given the ‘Two-Ticks’ award, it found that applications from disabled people "showed a marked increase", possibly because GSK was now seen as a ‘disabled-friendly’ organisation and had gained access to a larger pool of talented people.

GSK has risked public criticism. Pharmaceutical companies are not always trusted, says Martin. Much of the media take a very cynical approach around any philanthropic activities undertaken by pharmaceutical companies.

Recruitment process

GSK is proactive, however, and this transfers into its recruitment process. It recruits about 30-40 and around 250 industrial placement students each year. These graduates come from a multiplicity of backgrounds such as business management, engineering, IT and science-based disciplines. GSK also recruits from a variety of universities, and some graduate programmes have a minimum 2:2 degree grade requirement.

Jane and Martin said that lowering the entry level and accepting graduates from all universities has given these programmes a much greater and diverse pool of applicants.

GSK disseminates its graduate information via its website, graduate brochures and career fairs. Jane says that it is always reviewing and updating the recruitment process and has now, through the ‘Two-Ticks’ accreditation, made it more accessible for disabled students, who are now guaranteed an interview should they meet the minimum criteria required for the position.

However, Jane says that these changes to recruitment practice do make the presumption that all applicants have the same moral and ethical code as GSK and are open and honest within their application.

Conclusion

According to Martin, GSK’s recruitment practices make the company a leader in its field, although he notes there are always better ways to do things. Importantly, Martin and Jane feel their drivers and values are held by all people who have a vested interest in the company and this seems to be an increasingly important factor in pushing diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives through.

However, one point they made was that caution and reserve should be used with all policies or initiatives, in order to avoid mistakes and to promote them positively.

Reflecting on the interview with GSK, two interesting themes emerged. Aside from the business case that deploys diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives for the purpose of attracting the best talent, it is important to attempt to link these drives to morals and ethics. Disability was a logical area to embrace and develop since GSK's mission is to promote the health and well-being of all humans. This had positive business effects, as more applications were received because of GSK’s disability-friendly image.

Lastly, GSK is moving away from fixed hours, or the usual nine-to-five day, because it recognises that it is not necessarily the best way to have the most productive workforce. According to CEO Andrew Whitty, "If we can adapt our working patterns to suit us, we'll work harder. But it's not about being in the office all the time. It's about achieving a real balance".

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