Case Study: Interrupting Unconscious Bias

About the Organization

For over 135 years, this trusted pharmaceutical giant has helped keep people well at every age and every stage in life. It is one of the world’s largest and most broadly based healthcare company, working to create inclusive, respectful healthcare environments in over 60 countries. The client believes that progress is best made through the power of belonging, and the company’s DEI efforts have garnered recognition from organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, Military Friendly, and the Disability Equality Index.

Goals

The client’s credo promises to “provide an inclusive work environment where each person must be considered as an individual” and respected for their “diversity and dignity.” Since 2017, LCW has partnered with the firm to foster inclusion competency across world regions, businesses, and functions.

Results at a glance

of employees completed unconscious bias trainings

0 %

of employees agreed that senior leaders respect the dignity and diversity of all employees

0 %

of women in LATAM and EMEA achieved gender parity

0 %

Services Provided

Three Phases Toward Inclusion Competency

With LCW’s guidance, the client launched a three-phase plan to create a sustainable culture of belonging throughout the organization: Phase 1 focusing on Awareness, Phase 2 on Conscious Inclusion Behavior Building, and Phase 3 on Belonging.

From 2017 to 2019, Phase 1 sought to raise awareness about unconscious bias and how its unintended consequences impact inclusiveness. LCW began by translating Introduction to Managing Unconscious Bias into 14 different languages and created a strategy to roll out this eLearning module globally. Shortly after, we delivered the Introduction to Managing Unconscious Bias (IMUB) Toolkit in 14 languages for leaders to facilitate discussions with their teams and also developed microlearnings specifically for plant environments.

Now in Phase 2, the firm is working to drive employee behavioral and cultural change by focusing on conscious inclusion. Together, we further targeted mitigating unconscious bias in particular areas of talent management and people decisions through programs such as our Hiring and Promoting Top Talent e-learning and the priming videos Managing Bias in Hiring, Managing Bias in Talent Review, and Managing Bias in Performance Review. LCW continues to advise the client’s partners on best-in-class DEI strategy setting, cultural competence for senior leaders, curriculum development and deployment, and focus groups related to qualitative data collection and analysis.

What comes next?

LCW continues working with the client to further embed its vision for DEI into the ways employees work every day. Most recently, we’ve incorporated the microlearning Everyday Inclusion Tips for line managers across the globe—practical tips that keep inclusion front-of-mind for busy people managers everywhere. By the end of Phase 2, the client seeks to achieve 100% enterprise-wide participation in their inclusion activities, which will push them into the final stages of their initial DEI strategic vision to foster a culture of belonging.

In Phase 3, LCW will partner with the client to establish a psychologically safe culture where employees are encouraged to be themselves and share their perspectives. To measure their success, the client has set a trackable goal to achieve 85% in their inclusion index, which also will be reflected by an uptick in courageous conversations that leverage a diversity of innovation across the organization.