PAIG co-chairs shed a light on the need to link diversity and inclusion to business performance

Pharma News: Medicine Australia’s PAIG (Pharma Australia Inclusion Group) co-chairs Fiona Sheppard, DE&I Leader at J&J Family of Companies and Lee Davelaar, Strategic Policy Manager at Pfizer joined Health Industry Hub to share their insights and perspectives on the recently released The Future of Workplace Inclusion whitepaper.

In reflecting on the complexity of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), Lee said “It’s so important that we start understanding the different complexities of our individuals that we work with and make sure that the programmes are truly in place to support them – whether they are working remotely or whether they are at the office, they are feeling that their identity is heard and that they’re feeling that they belong.”

Fiona commented on the DE&I journey that PAIG companies have undertaken. She said “We don’t exist within a vacuum. So it’s really important that we had case studies in there [whitepaper] that were outside of the industry because we also really need to test ourselves and ask ‘Are we doing the best that we can do? Can we do better and what does best practice looks like?”

Troy Roderick, a DE&I expert and Honorary Associate of the University Of Sydney Business School, challenged the pharma industry at the launch of the whitepaper.

Lee said “He told us it’s okay to link diversity and inclusion to commercial outcomes. Previously, there’s been a reluctance in talking about commercial outcomes and having DE&I linked to that. The best organisations that truly embed diversity and inclusion can understand how it works for employee retention, how it works for attracting the best talent and therefore how they’re able to perform as a result. I think that’s something we have to get more comfortable with when we look at DE&I programs across the board.”

Jennifer Jones, Head of Human Resources, Oceania at Takeda will take over as PAIG co-chair as a result of Fiona stepping down. In acknowledging their PAIG partnership, Lee said “I will truly miss working with her [Fiona] on such a regular basis. Considering we came into this role not knowing each other, and where our friendship has developed over those two years, her warmth, her sense of humour and her dedication to DE&I has been truly inspirational. I’ve certainly learned a wealth of knowledge about diversity and inclusion from working with Fi and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

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