With 175 years of history comes a crystal-clear vision of the future: a bold, innovative, and robust generation of leaders raised by Pfizer Taiwan, striving to help one billion lives globally in 2027. This wave of talent is guided by Pfizer’s four core values – Courage, Excellence, Equity, and Joy – delivering world-class growth and execution in a display of Taiwanese brilliance.
“I joined Pfizer about 10 years ago in my role as a finance director at the regional level,” says Pfizer Taiwan Country Manager Cellina Yeh. “I’ve seen many countries’ performances over the years, and Taiwan is one of the few markets that consistently exceeds its business goals. That tells us that we have an organization of highly accountable, motivated, and results-driven talent.”
The business landscape rarely sees a company with joy as an element of its values, which, in Pfizer’s case, has fostered a workforce dedicated to achieving great results.
“If we don’t have happy employees, how could they possibly best serve our customers? We make sure we build a joyful environment,” says Yeh. “We recognize each other’s contributions and feel very proud of what each person is doing.”
At Pfizer, there’s a firm belief that diversity brings innovation, says Yeh. The company’s diverse perspectives and experiences that its colleagues bring to the table foster a solid culture of creativity and advanced problem-solving. A shining example of career diversity herself, beginning in high tech and moving on to finance and then management, Yeh says hers is a success story she hopes to translate into a new type of role model.
Glowing testimonials
Pfizer’s approach to talent development is inspired. By encouraging employees to pursue what it calls a “zigzag” career path, the company ensures that colleagues are not limited by traditional hierarchical structures but instead have the opportunity to explore various roles across different departments and geographic areas. This unique method broadens employees’ skill sets and deepens their understanding of the organization, making them more effective leaders in the long run.
Pricing and Analysis Manager Phoenix Lee, one of AmCham’s NextGen leaders, who previously pursued education to become a teacher, entered the pharmaceutical industry and has remained at Pfizer for the past 14 years, not once feeling bored or stuck.
“I have had many chances to participate in project-based tasks because my supervisors encourage me to try new things,” she explains. Describing something particularly memorable, Phoenix’s colleagues recall a day that was packed with a series of meetings across departments, and she zigzagged through to attend all of them.
“I made a joke with Phoenix and said, ‘You are shadowing the country manager role today; why not join every meeting?’” says Yeh. “At Pfizer, as long as you make a contribution and do your job, there’s no reason why you can’t participate.”
This type of strong professional trust is further strengthened through what Pfizer Taiwan calls its “talent calibration” meetings, which serve to identify space for growth in teams and opportunities for further career development.
“What’s special about this calibration is that it’s held within our leadership team, which includes not only the commercial leaders but also the supporting function leaders,” says Jennifer Lee, Pfizer’s People Experience Director. These meetings pinpoint apparent gaps in teams regarding gender, age, tenure, skill set, and overall well-roundedness. Each decision is then presented either as a proposal for up-and-coming leaders to challenge themselves to climb the ladder, existing leaders to diversify their team members, or experienced leaders to switch teams, sharing their wealth of expertise.
“You learn things by actually doing them, not just through training,” says Lee. “Other than playing matchmaker, we plan for the subsequent move onto other opportunities. I call it ‘musical chairs’ – over the past few months, with full consent, support, and a commitment to improving, 52 changes have been made within our staff.” Although the adjustment introduces a bit of stress, the payoff is immeasurable, ensuring that knowledge is not siloed.
This level of forward-thinking keeps Pfizer’s talent pipeline strong. In addition, it’s been an incredible way to attract talent that’s hungry for growth and retain talent on a global scale. Taiwan has become a talent incubator for the region, including the appointment of a Taiwanese country manager in Thailand.
There was a time when Archie Huang, portfolio marketing lead for emerging markets at Pfizer Taiwan, didn’t see a future for himself at the company. “I’m not one to stay at a job for many years and hope for rewards or promotion,” he says.
Before engaging in detailed discussions with his previous managers, Huang admits he hadn’t fully articulated his aspirations, goals, and values. The pressure to pivot intensified when Covid-19 struck. Working in a marketing role in China while being away from his family and long-distance parenting his newborn daughter presented significant challenges. However, Pfizer encouraged him to accept an assignment in emerging markets, which facilitated a successful transition to a home-based regional role.
“This was something that I had never thought about before because it’s a huge undertaking,” says Huang. “I didn’t have much knowledge in emerging markets, but when thinking about Pfizer’s core value, ‘courage,’ I took on the assignment for one year and find myself in the same position today.” Changing career lanes was a challenging endeavor, but it galvanized Huang’s ability to be bold and embrace ambiguity – something he likely wouldn’t have done before.
Progress extraordinaire in DEI
When Yeh joined Pfizer Taiwan, she was one of a few women in leadership in her industry. For the past eight years, it’s no surprise, then, that exemplifying diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has been the company’s guiding compass toward becoming a more outstanding host of talent.
“We started from a gender perspective, encouraging our female colleagues to have a more aggressive and, at least, more proactive attitude in their own career,” she says.
The company’s emphasis on inclusion has since gone beyond gender representation to encompass different generations, backgrounds, and perspectives, sharpening a vibrant and innovative environment. This year, Pfizer partnered with AmCham Taiwan during its 2024 DEIA Celebration Forum to promote DEI principles across industries, raising awareness among organizations to adopt similar practices.
Pfizer’s DEI efforts also extend to patient care. The company actively promotes diversity in its clinical trials, as race, ethnicity, age, and gender all impact how people respond to treatment, making it essential that clinical trial studies reflect the diversity of the potential recipient population. The company is deeply committed to ensuring that all patients have access to the treatments they need, an integral component of Pfizer’s social responsibility.
“When we talk about product launch, we’re talking about product accessibility and new product availability in certain countries,” says Pfizer Taiwan’s Country Brand Lead Avery Chu. The first step is connecting with domestic businesses to understand what the unmet clinical needs are. “If the need is huge, then we must fight for the country to get the help, supplies, and resources needed to improve its product availability.”
In Chu’s regional role, which emphasizes a patient-centric approach to rare diseases, having tough conversations between regional and market teams has a profound impact on countless lives. “But once we align and include everyone’s voices, we become guardians of the region, and we continue to voice out from the bottom up,” he says.
Pfizer sets very clear environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities and goals aimed at contributing to long-term value creation and a sustainable, responsible, and patient-centric business model. Employees are key stakeholders whom the company seeks to develop, grow, and succeed, as Pfizer believes that everyone deserves to be seen, heard, cared for, and respected.
Pfizer’s ESG initiatives focus on six areas: product innovation, equitable access and pricing, product quality and safety, climate change, DEI, and business ethics. One example of the company’s commitment to the environment is its “Air to Ocean” strategy. The program shifts freight from plane carriers to cargo ships, reducing its carbon footprint and promoting fairness in environmental impact. This reduction in carbon emissions ensures that all communities, particularly those disproportionately affected by climate change, benefit from a healthier environment.
The company is also moving from paper-based to electronic labels. This change minimizes waste and ensures that critical medication information is readily available to diverse patient populations.
Looking ahead, Pfizer is leveraging AI to address healthcare disparities. Toward this aim, Pfizer has established an enterprise-level committee that will oversee the responsible use of AI. By collaborating locally with hospitals in Taiwan, the company is using AI to accelerate rare disease diagnostics, ensuring that all patients, especially those in underserved communities, receive timely and equitable care.
