Pfizer: Actionable attitudes

Pfizer made history with the rapid development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. This took exceptional courage, tenacity, collaboration, and a touch of lightening speed. Pfizer’s CEO believed that if leaders continued to model the behaviors they embodied during COVID-19, they would permeate throughout Pfizer’s culture — and inspire all 88,000 colleagues to adopt them as well.

And that’s where we came in. Korn Ferry created a set of eight “Actionable Attitudes”, a term coined to define the set of measurable competencies included in a custom hiring assessment for Pfizer, underpinned by Korn Ferry traits and competency IP. We crafted the (very catchy) name “Actionable Attitudes” and gave each its own clear and accessible descriptor.

We piloted this new assessment in a handful of countries to support the identification and hiring of managers and above who displayed these qualities, coaching the most senior-level new hires to start strong based on their assessment results. By combining our success profile and hiring assessment strategy with our Change and Communications expertise, we elevated the Actionable Attitudes into a cornerstone of culture with a surround sound campaign that included:

  • “Snackable” Training videos tailored to various audiences within Pfizer featuring AI avatars

  • Detailed reference guides for different pieces of our process

  • Reflection Guides to support colleague understanding and adoption of Actionable Attitudes

  • Posters, zoom backgrounds, environmental signage, stickers and more to further support awareness and adoption

The Actionable Attitudes were introduced in a Global Town Hall through personal stories told by the leadership team (who wore custom Actionable Attitudes t-shirts).

What began as a success profile transformed into global hiring assessments and an expansive change campaign for Pfizer’s culture. Plus a lot of really cool creative work — which was critical in selling in an additional $2.9 million in scope. Not only is this work a demonstration of the partnership between Korn Ferry and Pfizer, it’s a wonderful show of the power of bringing communications and creative into a data-backed workstream, serving to amplify the incredible work and frankly, make it make sense for Pfizer colleagues.

 
 
 

(Just some of) the creative

Teaser and post-launch posters.

Quick Reference Guide for All Colleagues — we created tailored versions for various audiences.

Virtual backgrounds for Pfizer colleagues.