Bayer tops the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion leader board in multibillion pharma industry

Bayer tops the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion leader board in multibillion pharma industry

• Overall education programmes and employee groups improve pharma leaders’ performance
• Bayer tops the EDI leader board with +67 sentiment score
• Astellas takes the bottom spot on +11

A new report[1] by stakeholder intelligence firm alva has revealed the leaders in the multibillion-pound pharma industry when it comes to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Post-pandemic, EDI is becoming a strategic imperative for pharma organisations. Whilst several leading global organisations lead the way with their approach to EDI, some work is still needed from other organisations to shift the focus internally to achieve global diversity aims.

Bayer leads the way

The 2022 data has been analysed using alva’s own stakeholder sentiment methodology, including millions of media content pieces across traditional and social media, NGO reports and regulatory data. The dataset is analysed using alva’s NLP sentiment scoring methodology. alva’s scores are ranked between -100 and 100.

Bayer tops the alva pharma EDI leader board, with a positive ranking of +67. Bayer secured 1st place in alva’s rankings due to its innovative initiatives, and through the wider life sciences sector. For the fifth consecutive year, Bayer U.S. receives a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index. The index, which evaluates LGBTQ+ workplace equality, praises the resource groups, interactive workshops and allyship dialogues offered by Bayer.

Successful employee focused EDI commitments and community support initiatives drive positive scoring elsewhere in the rankings, as Gilead ranks 2nd in the sector with an alva score of +65.  Gilead is also named as a Best Place to Work for LGTBQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, receiving a 100% rating for the fifth consecutive year.

Sanofi came in third place with an alva positive score of +63.  Sanofi launched a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Board to monitor progress made towards 2025 commitments and provide input towards company policy. In tandem, Sanofi launches a global employee resource group framework and five globally focused groups: Gender+, Generations+, Pride+, Ability+ and Culture and Origins+.

alva Pharma 2022 EDI league table rankings:

Source: alva data from H1 2022

At the bottom of the table, Teva Pharmaceutical, Eli Lilly and Astellas scored much lower:

Source: alva data from H1 2022

Siera Torontow, Managing Director – Healthcare and Consumer, alva, commented: “Pharmaceutical companies have begun to devote more resources to increasing diversity by supporting employee resource groups, education and promoting leadership for underrepresented groups.

“The likes of Bayer, Gilead and Sanofi are miles ahead in their EDI scorings, and whilst this is great to see them embracing their EDI responsibilities and leading the way, it is also clear that diversity makes good business sense. More diverse companies are better able to win top talent and improve their customer orientation, employee satisfaction and decision making, which leads to better financial performance. By allowing more room for different opinions, and listening to them, pharma companies can better understand the patient voice, which informs and drives creativity and innovation in the long run.”

[1] Data from alva: H1 2022

About alva

alva enables corporates, advisors and investors to make better decisions with Stakeholder Intelligence. We analyse millions of alternative data, including media, regulator, investor, government, public and NGO sources to help our clients better understand and connect with their stakeholders. alva combines AI technology with sector experts to provide a fully integrated corporate solution for ESG, risk, reputation, media and corporate board teams.