2024.08.05
Pfizer Japan Inc.
Mr. Kentaro Nishi / Ms. Yayoi Yakumo
As a global pharmaceutical company, Pfizer Inc. drives the industry by continually innovating new medicine and vaccines. Its Japanese subsidiary, Pfizer Japan Inc., celebrated 70 years of operations in 2023. As well as its development of advanced pharmaceuticals and extensive contribution to society, the company is known for its cross-divisional career building and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Already boasting a rich and varied environment and an outstanding staff retention ratio, Pfizer Japan is now looking to take its mid-career recruitment to the next level. To get more details, we spoke to Kentaro Nishi, Japan & South Korea Talent Acquisition Lead, People Experience, who supports employee career building as head of HR acquisition, and Yayoi Yakumo, who is responsible for internal PR and DEI promotion as Sr. Manager, Colleague Communication and Engagement.
The path of developing people's potential led me to HR, and experiencing the power of medicine brought me to pharmaceutical business.
Mr. Nishi, please tell us about your career history up to now.
Mr.Nishi: After graduating from university, my first job was in sales and product planning at a general trading company. Wondering why there were differences in people's growth there, I became interested in talent management and voluntarily participated in HR and organizational development. From there I moved into HR positions at a foreign-owned insurance company and a consultancy firm before becoming HR manager at a diagnostic pharmaceutical manufacturer.
That last move marked my entry into the health care industry and came at a time when someone close to me had just been diagnosed with a serious illness. Although that diagnosis later turned out to be incorrect, it made me realize the importance of medical treatments and medicine and triggered my passion for the pharmaceutical manufacturing business.
Global player pioneering change in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry
Based on your HR experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industries, what is the attraction of Pfizer and its strong points?
Mr.Nishi: Having worked in many companies, I sense our employees are of the highest quality, both as members of society and as healthcare professionals. While I'm sure there are many other companies that excel in some things, I believe that Pfizer has many outstanding people in a wide variety of areas, including ethics, human qualities, and motivation towards their work.
The healthy work-life balance is also appealing. It's part of our DNA to focus on what is important and produce higher quality more efficiently, and we are taking the initiative to shift to better ways of doing things compared to what is conventional in the Japanese industry. That's what I think Pfizer is all about.
Absorbing external influences to stay flexible
There is an impression that Pfizer has historically focused on hiring only new graduates and has largely ignored mid-career recruitment. What made you recently step up your activity towards hiring mid-career employees?
Mr.Nishi: I think you are right. Many people indeed believe that we never hired any mid-career candidates in the past, but maybe that's because they got very little information about it.
However, our recent increase in mid-career hiring was driven by a sense that we needed to bring in new blood from outside the company. Pfizer has always been a company that rarely brings in experienced people from outside. Intentionally or not, this tended to create a highly homogenous workforce and made the business less flexible. Therefore, by hiring outstanding people from outside the company -- people with different characteristics but who are still specialists -- we were able to learn and invigorate the whole company. You could call this a practical example of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Attractive job branding and an optimized interview system
When hiring, what methods do you use to find outstanding staff with a good understanding of the issues?
Mr.Nishi: Over the past few years, we have kept our pipeline full of potential candidates by targeting the medical and pharmaceutical schools at a number of universities and creating networks to increase our connection to potential mid-career hires, as well of course to new graduates. We start by informing doctors and others know that a career can be made in Pfizer and remind them about the world of pharmaceuticals.
And, in fact, many people go on to choose us over our competitors when we advertise jobs. We feel that Pfizer has now become that kind of brand. At the same time, we have also taken steps to make our interview process less stressful by approaching the hiring process from the candidate's standpoint. Superfluous interviews have been eliminated and the number and content of interview questions have been optimized to be effective. This is known worldwide in Pfizer as the "Candidate Experience."
Glocalization: Capitalizing on foreign company efficiency and Japanese culture
With the recent increase in mid-career entrants, many people may be concerned about the environment and culture in the company. What is your impression, Mr. Nishi? And perhaps Ms. Yakumo can also comment on the culture.
Mr.Nishi: While we work in an efficiency-oriented corporate climate that is a feature of foreign companies, our employees are mainly Japanese. Rooted in Japanese culture, but at the same time with a global reach, we sustain a casual and liberated working environment in a relaxed corporate climate that doesn't fit the typical image of a megacompany with its headquarters in New York.
Ms.Yakumo: We keep complicated procedures to a minimum and have an open atmosphere where supervisors and team members can communicate on the same level. And all our executives are always ready to lend a hand!
The impression is one of "glocalization," where the flexibility of foreign companies fits well with an understanding of Japanese culture and systems.
Bringing out our employees' potential for new patient treatments
Pfizer has transformed itself into a science-driven biopharmaceutical company in 2019 and recently acquired the American company Seagen for 43 billion dollars. In light of this, how do you see the future in terms of business growth and personnel development?
Mr.Nishi: Our business objective is "to create new solutions that can make big changes in patients' lives," and this is the premise for all Pfizer activities, including M&A and HR strategy.Our mid-term targets were announced in April 2023 in the "Purpose Blueprint 2.0." These included the objective of "changing 1 billion people's lives every year by 2027," together with "bringing out our employees' potential," reflecting that our HR strategy recognizes the importance of personal development.
The key lies in the formation of career paths, transcending organizational boundaries, that fit closely with every employee's desire for growth. I believe that the DEI promotion is one such measure for this.
Eliminating gender-based fixation while Japan struggles to close its gender gap
Diversity & Inclusion is currently a hot topic for many businesses, both inside and outside the pharmaceutical industry. What special activities are Pfizer Japan doing in this field?
Ms.Yakumo: What we are promoting now is actually DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion). Equity (E), which has been added to the original DI, means adjusting for individual inequalities to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities. We are adopting and instilling equity factors for various contexts, such as the participation of women, inclusion of disabled or LGBTQ people, and age-related issues.
One of our initiatives involves is to actively recruit people with disabilities. Along with measures such as ramping up our hiring from other types of industries, we are consciously promoting change to remove all barriers.
The full participation of women in business is a global issue but the gender gap here is so huge that we need special measures for Japan. We are currently striving to achieve a situation in which gender-based fixations no longer exist, through activities such as "Men as Allies", where women's participation is perceived and rethought from a male perspective.
Putting oneself forward in a world where everyone can be a leader
When creating this type of organization, what kind of people can play an active role and what mindset do they need?
Ms.Yakumo: We need people who can think on their feet and are willing to take on challenges. It is natural that these type of people will be the ones selected to participate in projects where our Executives will act as mentors and try to cultivate the talent within the company.
We will also proceed along the lines of "reducing the number of bosses and increasing the number of leaders at every level of the organization." The term "boss" might be associated with vertical relationships, but leaders have no connection with position or rank and instead stand at the forefront of their teams, projects, and other challenges. Everyone has the potential to be a leader in all sorts of ways. Not afraid to make mistakes, willing to speak up, and always up for the challenge.
Company-wide support system for cross-divisional career development
One of our core values at en world is "enabling success". What initiatives does Pfizer Japan have to ensure that employees are continuously successful?
Mr.Nishi: We have an initiative called "Growth-conversation," through which supervisors and subordinates continuously discuss and jointly think about the subordinate's career and development, after which the supervisor stands by the subordinate to help with that development. In this system, the supervisor doesn't provide answers about their subordinate's career development, but instead uses their experience to give advice from a different viewpoint, after which the two parties think together about a career that will benefit the subordinate.
And, since our internal recruitment system is well established, we encourage employees to develop a new career by changing departments if they so wish in a "zig-zag career path." If they demonstrate sufficient potential, even inexperienced employees have the opportunity to be transferred, including overseas. Applying for a transfer does not guarantee a new career, but many employees do not hesitate to try.
The internal recruitment system also includes activities such as "secondment" or "growth gigs" where employees can experience working in another department for a limited period of time. And if someone is hesitating about making a complete career change, they can use this system to try it out before making a final judgement. In this way, with various opportunities for employees to try things out, we have systems in place that activate cross-divisional careers and motivation at all levels.
In addition, each division has an "ambassador" who can explain the division's tasks and activities, to help interested employees get an idea of the type of work done there.
Ms.Yakumo: In this aspect of obtaining experience and connections across divisions and tasks, DEI activities are proving extremely popular with our employees. The active promotion of DEI is therefore helping to create an innovative environment, also from the viewpoint of employee development.
A perfect company for those wanting to shape their own career
Finally, please give a brief comment for anyone looking at this page.
Mr.Nishi: I think that making your own career by yourself is extremely important. When you think the time is right, don't hesitate to try and tackle it! When your environment changes, you will encounter new things and become aware of them. So, I believe that having forward-looking thoughts and being ambitious is definitely linked to your self-development.
I believe that Pfizer is a wonderful environment for people who want to build their own careers. It is a people-friendly company where the entire organization cares about their employees. I encourage anyone with an interest to try us out.
I will leave you with the words of the Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne.
"You cannot change others or the past. You can change yourself and the future."
Interviewers: en world Life Science Division
Principal Consultant Haruko Yamajo / Sales Senior Team Manager Takuya Iwao
Kentaro Nishi
Pfizer Japan Inc.
Japan & South Korea Talent Acquisition Lead, People Experience
After graduating, gained management experience in the HR departments of various foreign-owned companies such as AIG, PwC, and Thermo Fisher Scientific before joining Pfizer Japan in 2019. Took up his current position in 2021. Making use of his extensive knowledge of HR matters, he is currently in charge of recruitment for Japan and South Korea.
Yayoi Yakumo
Pfizer Japan Inc.
Sr. Manager, Colleague Communication and Engagement
Joined Pfizer Japan in 2022 after working at LIXIL as leader of internal communication and corporate planning. Currently involved in DEI activities to enhance employee communication and engagement.
*All information correct as of May 2024
About en world
en world Japan is Japan's biggest global recruiting firm, with over 20 years' experience and offices in three countries in the Asia-Pacific region.