Diversity: Eli-Lilly Company

There is no doubt that diversity matters in the corporate world. Studies indicate that diversity makes business sense as companies that give preference to racial, ethnic, and gender diversity are more likely to record higher financial returns than others. Generally, companies that are dedicated to diversity are more successful as they attract top talent that is crucial in the enhancement of employee satisfaction, customer orientation, and business decision making. Therefore, companies that can attract and retain such talent due to their approach to diversity are able to attain a certain level of competitive advantage. 

Eli-Lilly Company

Lilly is an international company that endeavors to the development of medicine that assist people to improve their health and lengthen their lives. The company, which was started in 1876 out of Eli Lilly’s commitment to deliver high-quality medication and meet real medical needs, still espouses the passion to improve the lives of persons, communities, and the wide world. It strives to improve health globally through demonstrating three core values: respect, excellence, and integrity. 

Accessibility of Diversity Information

Eli-Lilly’s company website is lilly.com. Its home page is divided into four sections in which the last one is labelled “A Promise of Diversity”. It emphasizes that its workforce consists of individuals from diverse backgrounds and with different levels of experience as it would like to incorporate all good ideas regardless of who has developed them to maintain its leadership position in medical discovery. On entering the word “diversity” in the search box, about 105 results appear, which include material that target both employees and external parties. Also, the “About” dropdown on the home page has a section that is named “Diversity”. The conspicuous nature of diversity information on the company’s websites implies that it acknowledges it as a significant factor in attaining success. Since a corporate website communicates the factors that an organization perceives as important in achievement of its objectives, the integration of diversity communicates its importance to Eli Lilly. Therefore, diversity and inclusion are at the center of the organization’s processes as the numerous references imply a commitment to employees and other parties such as communities, partners, and shareholders. 

Usefulness of Diversity Information

Diversity information on Eli Lilly’s website covers various areas. Regarding the marketplace, the company states that it strives to achieve diverse representation when conducting clinical trials to ensure that the medications that the company develops are effective across the board. Also, the company collaborates with other organization to promote the dissemination of healthcare information to all multicultural groups. These actions are taken into consideration based on evidence that there are clear difference on responses to various medicines due to factors such as ethnicity, genetics, and cultural differences. Also, science has confirmed there is a disproportionate higher incidence of some diseases in minorities than others. 

The company recognizes that diversity at the workplace allows its employees to create solutions, develop solutions, and become more innovative. Therefore, it encourages the formation of resource groups, which help them to understand and relate to patients. The groups aim to achieve different objectives: promote the company’s business objectives and core values comprising of the commitment to have an inclusive workplace, promotion of networking opportunities for employees with similar cultures and interests, and the creation of learning opportunities for all employees. There are ten resource groups at Eli Lilly that cover various ethnicities, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities. Consequently, the company has received praise and recognition from various parties due to its commitment to inclusion and diversity. 

The company has adopted the Supplier Diversity Development (SDD) in which it hopes to improve diversity of its business community through ensuring that it collaborates with a broad range of small businesses, which are owned by diverse individuals. The company’s efforts aim at promoting growth of businesses thus improve the quality of life for diverse people, collaborating with niche suppliers as their innovation and flexibility provides the company with a competitive advantage, and leveraging expertise from diverse business owners to get revolutionary opportunities and fresh perspectives from the wide variety of talented suppliers. Eli Lilly supports SDD for various reasons: support for the business improves the condition of local communities, to comply with federal government requirements regarding expenditure on the different supplier categories, and to provide mentorship, education, coordination, and sponsorship for businesses through different programs. 

Photographs and Material Related to Diversity

Eli Lilly’s corporate website contains numerous photographs and videos on diversity, especially on its workplace diversity page. The different photographs accompany narratives on various initiatives corresponding to Indian culture, African American relations, women, young professionals, supporting Latinos, celebration of Middle Eastern culture, supporting the LGBT community, recognition of abilities in disabled persons, and enhancing Chinese relations. A video on the same page demonstrates a celebration of the various cultures represented in the company. Apart from the diversity page, the photographs on company employees demonstrate a sense of diversity in individuals who hold various roles in various sections.

Therefore, the illustrations on the company’s website indicate that it promotes diversity on various parameters: ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, and culture. The company encourages the different resource groups to promote the understanding of their diversity factors through various programs that target employees and other parties. Therefore, the company has been able to incorporate its employees in diversity issues and utilize their contributions in promoting it. 

Perceptions about Organizational Commitment to Diversity

The recognition that efforts that strive to attain inclusion and diversity are important predictors of an organization’s commitment implies that there should be clear understanding of diversity in a broad context. At a workplace employees and their supervisors will have different diversity characteristics such as age, gender, religion, national origin, culture, and level of education, which will affect how they relate with each other. Therefore, it is important for management to recognize how the different factors are likely to affect their workplace and manage them effectively to support business goals. 

The company communicates its dedication to ensure diversity and inclusion in its recruitment processes. It presents its strong belief that by portraying diversity in its workforce that it will be in a position to serve the company’s interests and leverage opportunities that arise in the communities that it serves as it will have the right combination of talent, perspectives, experiences, and inputs. Lilly states that it measures the success of its diversity efforts through its capacity to attract and retain excellent individuals through offering an environment that makes them feel comfortable to make individual contributions for the achievement of overall goals. The company has a solid approach in the management of employee diversity thus as a potential employee, one would feel comfortable to join the employer. 

The organization has adopted the SDD program, which encourages the engagement of businesses that are minority owned, veteran owned, LGBT owned, service-disabled veteran owned, previously underutilized businesses, and small vendors as its suppliers. The company supports the program due to its commitment to support diverse and small businesses, desire to engage communities, compliance with federal government requirements, and to meet internal business targets. Eli Lilly Company goes a step through the incorporation of tier 2 suppliers into the SDD program. Tier 2 suppliers are those that are contracted by the company’s direct suppliers. Therefore, as a potential supplier, a business owner would be assured that the company has sufficient measures to promote diversity in the engagement of suppliers regardless of their size or type. 

The company’s interactions with its “customers” in the performance of clinical trials, sharing of useful health information, and in offering medication. The organization acknowledges that the inherent differences between individuals requires it to have diverse representation in its clinical trials to ensure that it develops medicine that is useful for all people that are likely to use them. Also, there is evidence