No. 31 NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS CORP.

No. 31

NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS CORP.

Specialty Lists: No. 10 on The Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities

Industry: Pharmaceuticals

Main Competitors: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis

U.S. Headquarters: East Hanover, N.J.

Number of U.S. Employees: 12,000

Annual Revenue: $8.7 billion

% of Operations Outside U.S.: 0

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Why It's on the Top 50: In its third year on the Top 50, Novartis gets high marks for its Corporate and Organization Communications and its Supplier Diversity.

Diversity Strengths: Novartis ties its senior executives' compensation to meeting diversity goals and makes sure the entire company understands the critical importance of diversity to its success.

The numbers show the results of this commitment and the progress the company is making. While 24 percent of its U.S. work force is Black, Latino, Asian American or Native American, 33 percent of new hires were from those racial/ethnic groups. And while 24 percent of managers are from those groups, 30 percent of management promotions went to people in those groups, ensuring the pipeline of developing leadership.

Novartis has had strong employee groups in existence for more than 10 years and has mandatory diversity training for its entire global work force, which only 26 percent of DiversityInc Top 50 companies have. This contributes to its unbiased retention in both the entire work force and its management ranks, meaning employees are retained at equal rates, regardless of race/ethnicity or gender. The employee groups are: African American Leaders (AAL); Asian American Affinity Group (AAAG); Cancer Hope Caregivers Affinity Group; Empowering Women to Impact Novartis (EWIN); Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender (GLBT); Hispanic Leadership Network (HLN); Military Affinity Group (MAG); Novartis Chinese Culture Club (NCCC); Novartis Indian Culture Exchange (NICE); Novartis People with disAbilities and Chronic Health Issues; Women In Leadership (WIL); and Working Parents Connection.

The company has excellent work/life benefits, including telecommuting, adoption assistance, floating religious holidays and lactation programs.

Novartis does an excellent job communicating its diversity efforts on its web site. The company offers financial assistance and external training to its minority- and women-owned suppliers.

Ludwig Hantson, CEO and Head of Pharma North America: "At Novartis, we want Diversity & Inclusion to be part of our DNA. We look to become an employer of choice, exceed patient and customer expectations and develop and deliver the most innovative products and services. We believe that an environment of diversity and inclusion is critical to that goal because it sparks more innovative ideas, broadens our perspective and enhances our adaptability. Harnessing the power of diversity enables us to better anticipate, understand and meet expectations of our diverse customers. As a result, our employees thrive, our business grows and we continue to improve patient lives with innovative medicines."

Marilyn Priestley, Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion: "Diversity and inclusion are important elements of our culture and our business success. They are embraced at the very top and permeate throughout the organization. We encourage an inclusive culture with Novartis' Executive Diversity and Inclusion Council that champions diversity and inclusion and cascades best practices throughout the organization; through our annual CEO Diversity and Inclusion Awards; and through our 13 employee-resource groups that help build a workplace that seeks out and values different perspectives and ensures each employee can contribute to the business and reach his/her full potential. While we take a great deal of pride in how far we've come, we recognize that we still have a long way to go, and we will continue to strive for our aspiration of becoming the most admired and respected pharmaceutical company in North America."

More DiversityInc Articles on Novartis Pharmaceuticals:
Get 4 Business Benefits by Reading This
Who REALLY Benefits From Work/Life?
Four Strategies to Engage Employees
KeyCorp's Valerie Raines & Novartis' Marilyn Priestley
On Point for the Next Generation: Meryl Zausner

Ludwig Hantson
CEO and Head of Pharma North America

Marilyn Priestley
Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion

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