Advancing Talent and Growing Economies – The Role of Global Companies

Last week, I had the pleasure of representing Johnson & Johnson (J&J) as part of the official U.S. delegation to the 2019 Women and the Economy Forum (WEF). The WEF is part of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) – an economic organization committed to sustainable economic growth around the Pacific Rim – which includes economies in Asia, North America and Latin America. During WEF, I had the opportunity to share the J&J diversity and inclusion (D&I) approach at a panel titled Increasing the Number of Women in Leadership Positions and at the Harnessing the Power of Women to Drive the Global Economy lunch, hosted by J&J.

There was a general recognition that achieving women’s full participation in the economies of the region was a key element for growth and prosperity. The key role that global companies can play, particularly in terms of innovations and actions to help support women, was also evident. 

Accelerating women’s participation in the workforce and their advancement, was a common theme amongst participants. There was willingness to share best practices and learn from each other. During the WEF, I had the opportunity to share our data-based D&I strategy and the actions J&J is taking to drive outcomes.

APEC audiences were very interested in how J&J used evidence to develop our D&I strategy, and our efforts to understand issues affecting women in the workplace and in their communities. The concept of unconscious bias also resonated with the delegates, especially how it impacts everyone’s thinking and actions. Attendees appreciated learning how we embed mitigation strategies on unconscious bias throughout our organization.

Our Johnson & Johnson D&I strategy is based on internal and external research. We connected with more than 7,000 employees around the world via surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews. We complemented this with a large external scan to understand best practices from other companies and industries. These insights led to our enterprise-wide strategy and helped us focus on areas that would accelerate D&I.

The J&J strategy outlines three main focus areas – Advance our Culture of Inclusion and Innovation, Build a Diverse Workforce for the Future, and Enhance Business Performance and Reputation – and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made. Here are a few highlights. To learn more about our progress, read our inaugural You Belong: D&I Impact Review.

Advance our Culture of Inclusion and Innovation

Inclusion enables all our people to feel like they belong at Johnson & Johnson. We are implementing programs, policies and practices to enhance our inclusive culture.

• Mitigating Unconscious Bias: We raised awareness of unconscious bias and trained our people on how to mitigate it. We’ve trained more than 120,000 employees around the world.
• Leadership Imperatives Refresh: Our Leadership Imperatives embody the behavioral expectations we have of all J&J employees. We refreshed these Leadership Imperatives, and embedded inclusive leadership concepts within them.

Build a Diverse Workforce for the Future

Our outcomes-focused approach enabled us to pinpoint talent systems and processes to evolve or enhance.

• Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Job Descriptions: We leveraged pioneering artificial intelligence to provide real-time guidance to remove bias from job descriptions. Results from the pilot showed increases in both qualified female applicants and hires.
• Sponsorship Program for Diverse Talent: Research shows diverse talent needs additional support to build sponsorship relationships. We created the Enterprise Sponsorship Program to help diverse talent build the relationship capital that is critical to advancement. Of the pilot cohort we had 100% retention, 80% transitioned to new roles, and nearly 50% received a promotion within two years. We’ve now expanded the program more broadly.
• Revamped Leadership Development Programs: Our ASCEND program focuses on accelerating mid-level high-performing female talent into our leadership pipeline. RISE is a similar program for racially and ethnically diverse talent, who have upward potential for more senior roles.
• Employee Resource Groups: Women’s Leadership & Inclusion, our employee resource group focused on women, connects and engages women across the company. It provides numerous opportunities for women to develop and lead.
• WISTEM2D: This external initiative increases interest in STEM-related careers, among young girls and women.

Enhance Business Performance and Reputation

Research shows that D&I drives business results. Understanding and serving the needs of diverse patients, consumers and customers is simply the way we must all operate to drive innovation and growth.

• Multicultural Marketing: Understanding diverse patient and consumer needs is important, which is why we are building multicultural marketing competencies. Successes include, a 5% sales lift when we improved brand perception and purchase intent for Band-Aid and Neosporin among African-American shoppers at U.S. Target stores.
• Diversity in Clinical Trials: We are fostering a clinical trial environment that drives appropriate and representative enrollment of diverse patient groups.

You can read more about our progress in advancing D&I in our inaugural You Belong: D&I Impact Review.

My time at WEF reinforced the impact that global companies can have in helping everyone to participate fully in the economy. At Johnson & Johnson, we know this enables us to have the best talent, the best ideas and the newest innovations to solve some of the world’s most challenging health care issues.