Three Lessons from COVID-19 that Will Forever Change the Way We Work

2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges for both the biopharmaceutical industry and the broader business community. For Pfizer, these challenges also created a tremendous opportunity to reimagine the way we work, the way we innovate and the way we serve patients.

Partnering with BioNTech to deliver in less than a year the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use by the FDA and other regulatory authorities around the world was a tremendous accomplishment that taught us many valuable lessons. Let me touch on three.

Changing our mindset. We learned what we’re capable of as a company – and as individuals – when the words “can’t,” “won’t” and “impossible” are taken out of our dialogue. This was about more than thinking big. It was about not taking “No” for an answer and about daring to rewrite the rules, so we could rewrite history.

Moving at the speed of science. The speed with which we interact with regulators, as well as the continued acceleration of digital solutions that are enabling better population targeting, as well as easier, more seamless touch points across every part of the clinical trial process, are just some of the things we plan to bring to all of our clinical trials going forward. This will help ensure we move at the speed of science in pursuit of vaccines and treatments for other serious diseases, as well.

Changing when and where work gets done. Like so many other companies, we made the decision last March to have most of our colleagues work remotely. By harnessing the power of a variety of digital capabilities, we quickly found new ways to connect and rapidly adapt the way we work, manage our teams and deliver on our goals. We found we could be as productive – and in some cases more productive – than when we were in the office. But we also learned that remote learning had its share of pitfalls – mostly associated with the increased stress of juggling work and home life. So, we experimented with some new practices:

• We held virtual happy hours, coffee chats and team building events.
• We encouraged colleagues to incorporate “breakaway” time during their day to take a walk or spend time with family.
• And after a long, exhilarating and tiring year, we made the last two weeks in December a “Meeting Free” time to allow colleagues time to recharge and close out work in preparation for 2021. 

While we prepare for the day that we will more fully return to our sites, work as we once knew it will be different – and better. That’s because we have learned a great deal about what is possible in terms of speed, agility and flexibility. 

Building on these learnings, in October we introduced a new flexible work benefit called Log in for Your Day, which offers most of our colleagues the opportunity to work remotely two or three days a week, while still maintaining the ability to connect and collaborate regularly onsite once COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. With this new benefit, colleagues and their managers are empowered and encouraged to agree on when and where work gets done, depending on business need, with different levels of flexibility to match our locations and the work we do. Our hope is this will allow colleagues to continue to reap some of the benefits gained from working remotely during the pandemic, including getting more exercise, spending more time with the family and less time on a train or bus – all while further fueling greater productivity in our purpose-driven work. And while Log in for Your Day isn’t designed for colleagues who need to be in the labs, on manufacturing lines or in the field, we are taking steps to support better work-life balance and create vibrant and thriving workplaces for these colleague, as well.

By empowering colleagues in various roles to design their workday we can maximize productivity, enhance work-life balance, attract top-notch and diverse talent, and support a more agile way of delivering on our purpose: Breakthroughs that changes patients’ lives.