Our approach to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation
We’re working hard to become a more inclusive company in the way we do business, both through our clinical trials and the external companies we choose to work with. Internally, we want GSK to be a workplace where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and thrive. We’ve made good progress – delivering new inclusion training on an annual basis including how to recognise and take action on discriminatory behaviours, launching a development programme for ethnically diverse employees, and reviewing our recruitment and selection processes.
We're continually building on our approach to inclusion and diversity for our people, in the way we do business and in the communities in which we operate.
We want GSK to be a workplace where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and can thrive. Being a diverse organisation at all levels also brings greater opportunity to create better health outcomes for the patients who rely on us.
We’re committed to being more proactive at all levels so that our workforce reflects the communities we work and hire in, and that our GSK leadership reflects our GSK workforce. In Belgium, we have more than 80 nationalities among our staff.
Our annual “Global Inclusion Week” celebrates what makes us unique and strengthens our commitment. It is a chance to step away from our desks and reflect as a company on how we drive equality and support our employees in bringing their full authentic selves to work each day.
As part of our Modern Employer Agenda, our #beyou campaign was launched to enable us to recognise and manage unconscious biases towards gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity or religion of any kind.
GSK also designed workshops to build awareness and development of people managers across the organization and to enable employees to create a workplace free from discrimination.
Our commitments to ethnic and cultural diversity
We have reviewed our recruitment processes and have worked with an external partner to ensure we're implementing best practices. This includes enhanced training for recruiting managers before the selection process starts, and a review of job postings and channels to make sure we’re reaching and attracting diverse candidates.
We promote a culture of openness and inclusion in which we accept each other's identities. To this end, the Spectrum staff network provides a space for reflection and action with the aim of strengthening an inclusive work culture.
The network currently has over 550 employees in Belgium who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies.
In 2022, the Stonewall organisation ranked GSK among the Top Global Employers, awarding us a Gold award.
We are addressing gender equality at all levels within our organisation. With support from our Global Gender Council and our Women's Leadership Initiative (WLI) employee resource group, we are making great headway toward our aspiration of at least 45% female representation in senior roles by 2025. At the end of 2021, we reported strong growth in the diversity of our leadership and were on track overall to achieve our aspirations. 40% of senior roles were held by women (up from 38% in 2020); we are also proud that 50% of manager roles are held by women.
In 2013 we introduced targeted individual and group coaching and sponsorship for emerging talent. In 2014, we invited employees to take part in sessions to discuss hidden barriers that could hinder gender diversity. In 2018, an employee led community (Women Leadership Initiative Employee Resource Group) was set up within GSK Belgium to create a more inclusive work environment.
With support from our Global Disability Council and our employee resource group, the Disability Confidence Network, we are working hard to create an inclusive workplace.
Since 2020, GSK has been an active member of the Valuable 500 pledge, a collection of 500 global companies all committed to placing disability inclusion on the leadership agenda. We are delivering on its objectives through our disability confidence plan.
We continue to invest in an accessible workplace, and our award-winning Workplace Adjustment Service is now available to over 50% of our people.
We educate our people on disability confidence as part of our long-term, measurable, strategic disability confidence plan.
We are committed to ensure that people with disabilities have career opportunities at GSK bringing valuable talent and expertise to the business.
We have several partnerships with lead associations supporting people with disabilities including Aviq, Fédération Francophone des Sourds de Belgique, Diversicom.
This year again GSK is taking part into the ‘DuoDays’ in May in collaboration with Aviq; several persons with disabilities will intern with GSK for 1 to 15 days working along side a GSK buddy. This is an opportunity for them to discover the sector, to start a new learning path or to progress in their professional career or job search.
We also make every effort to retain and support employees who become disabled while working at GSK.
In 2021, GSK was awarded the CAP 48 "Entreprise citoyenne de l'année" Award, recognising all the efforts made by the company and its employees to embrace inclusion on a daily basis.
We conduct country-based reviews and ensure all markets have clear guidance, tools and support to ensure pay equity. If unexplainable differences are detected, these are addressed through our compensation processes.
Leading through action
Diseases and medicines can affect people differently depending on their race, ethnicity, sex or age, so it is vital that we represent the real-world disease population in our clinical trials to advance our understanding of new vaccines and medicines. We’re doing this by building demographic planning into our clinical trials, so they reflect the real-world population that’s affected by the disease we’re studying.
We have set targets for at least 75% of our Phase 3 trials in 2022 to include a demographics plan in their design.
We support communities around the world through our global health partnerships, local community investment, response to humanitarian emergencies and STEM education programmes for under-represented groups.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, GSK Belgium took action by donating equipment to hospitals and supporting the Belgian testing platform.
Through our supplier diversity programme, we seek to provide opportunities to under-represented groups, including women, ethnic minorities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities and military veterans.
These partnerships can also provide an economic boost to the wider community. So as well as measuring how much we're spending with diverse-owned suppliers, we’re also looking holistically at the positive economic benefit that GSK and our partner suppliers will bring to the communities that we all live and work in.
GSK is a company where everyone can be themselves, and where diversity is embraced and celebrated. We each hold ourselves accountable for ensuring that respect and inclusivity are at the very heart of our culture as a company.
Employees driving change
Our Employee Resource Groups
Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) run events, workshops and initiatives where everyone is welcome to learn, contribute and feel connected. The lead volunteers meet regularly with our Global Diversity Councils and GSK Leadership Team members to share ideas, priorities and perspectives.
Our ERGs include: Women's Leadership Initiative (WLI), Spectrum (LGBTQIA+) and the Disability Confidence Netwok (CDN). We also put in place ERGs that are specific to ethnicity: EMBRACE, Mosaic, Asia EMBRACE et Crece.
GSK’s Global Diversity Councils
We're supported by the great work our Gender, LGBTQIA+, Global Ethnicity and Disability Councils provide. Each council is chaired by members of the GSK Leadership Team and includes senior leaders from across the company as well as representatives from our Employee Resource Groups.
