Case study: Why Pfizer Malaysia's 158 employees volunteered their time

Earlier this year, Pfizer employees (Pfizerians) in Malaysia took the initiative to help improve the lives of underprivileged members of the community in the form of volunteerism.

Dr Gayatri Gunasagaran, head of Pfizer's OWNIT! Day committee last year, and the person behind the idea of the Pfizer Gives Back programme, shares the learning behind-the-scenes. 

In conjunction with the 6th OWNIT! Day celebrations themed around Accountability, Pfizer Malaysia’s leadership team inaugurated the Pfizer Gives Back programme in May 2017, encouraging Pfizer employees (Pfizerians) to reach out to less fortunate communities.

The programme ran in partnership with Malaysian charitable organisations, namely the Kechara Soup Kitchen in the Klang Valley and Penang, Pusat Jagaan Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Budimas Orion in Senawang, Fungates Soup Kitchen in Jinjang and Alor Setar, Need to Feed the Need in Kuala Lumpur, and Peace and Harmony Home in Penang.

Over six months, various activities were carried out such as contributing daily necessities to the charities; helping to prepare, pack and distribute food and other necessities at soup kitchens, cleaning and maintenance works at the charity homes, and spending time getting to know the residents, besides also performing health screening for the homeless and disadvantaged members of the community.

 

Addressing the Pfizer Gives Back programme specifically, the leadership team endorsed the programme and with that allocations for time off were given to the different teams during the designated period.

What also helped was that the value and impact of the initiative was a driving factor for the managers’ approvals. This was further encouraged by the endorsement of the leadership team. The planning process was taken seriously amongst teams and was key in ensuring that there were no disruptions to the business continuity.

Back on your feet: Results of the volunteerism

There are two ways to look at the results. When looking internally amongst Pfizerians, beyond a noble effort of giving back to society, we enhanced teamwork, communications, precise planning and execution skills. To the external world, Pfizer continues to participate and uphold our commitment to the community.

With the different initiatives we carry out to lend a hand to the needy, relationships were built and many still continue to volunteer in their own time to the communities visited. During the period of the programme, we saw a lot of cross-functional collaborations which presented opportunities for colleagues to forge stronger relationships and boost morale at work.

This definitely has improved the way the different departments work together with a stronger sense of shared responsibility and accountability. We have also seen a hike in participation in other CSR initiatives within Pfizer.

Pfizer aims to be an employer of choice in Malaysia, attracting and retaining the best talent. In today’s work culture, personal development is important for many young people, thus activities such as volunteerism programmes are a way to offer an enriching work culture to attract and retain talent.

Photos / Provided