Thermo Fisher Scientific executive Fred Lowery shares his insights on the importance of putting all people first to achieve results. He reflects on the Just Project and other ways the company advances its commitments to diversity and inclusion.-By Donna Benjamin
Diversity is hard work. That is the opening statement from Fred Lowery, Senior Vice President and President, Customer Channels at Thermo Fisher Scientific, when recently asked how progress to achieve diversity goals can be both measurable and sustainable.
Lowery goes on to explain that framing diversity and inclusion (D&I) as a business imperative establishes focus and structure that compels managers and colleagues to think and act differently. Change starts with people, and he credits Thermo Fisher’s D&I progress to the company’s concerted effort to build a culture where colleagues feel a true sense of belonging.
Thermo Fisher has made tremendous strides in D&I over the past decade, and one initiative that embodies its commitment is the Just Project. The unique and strategic effort started as a humanitarian response to the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black and Brown communities, working in tandem with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and has since evolved into something more impactful and far-reaching.
Named after African-American biologist and academic Dr. Ernest Everett Just, the Just Project is about much more than providing COVID testing to HBCUs. Indeed, Thermo Fisher’s significant role in the rapid pandemic response put it at the forefront scientifically and operationally, but the company also felt a deeper obligation to address glaring health inequities.
“We saw that universities and colleges, including HBCUs, were challenged with getting enough test kits and doing the testing, so we asked ourselves ‘what can we do to help?’” says Lowery. The first step was reaching out to HBCU presidents to offer support, not just in the form of donations, but, more important, providing infrastructure, expertise and supply assurances that would enable HBCUs to control their own destinies during the pandemic and support the communities surrounding them.
The Just Project shows what makes Thermo Fisher’s leadership unique, including its efforts around D&I. The company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda is focused on achieving sustainable results by supporting the efforts of communities, starting with scientific leadership. The Just Project wasn’t simply about donating vital testing kits and instruments, it committed to rapidly establishing certified laboratories on eight HBCU campuses for student and staff COVID testing. It was also about much more than COVID testing: Thermo Fisher is now working closely with HBCUs to shift the focus of the laboratories to new research opportunities that enrich their scientific curricula and increase opportunities for students.
To go even further in its commitment to lasting community benefits, Thermo Fisher also pledged to hire HBCU graduates, with a starting goal of 500. So far, 400 graduates have been hired, and approximately 15% of those new colleagues have been hired into leadership positions.
The Just Project is one example of how Thermo Fisher brings technology and collaboration together. In this case, Thermo Fisher approached the HBCUs to offer a set of capabilities but also remained open to listening to other challenges and needs. “You can’t do everything for everybody, but bringing your core capabilities to the table is an important start. Next, and perhaps more important, is how you transfer knowledge into diverse communities in a way that’s lasting and supportive,” says Lowery.
Putting People First to Serve Communities
Thermo Fisher has grown rapidly over the past decade, and today the breadth and depth of its product portfolio enables customers in their vital work. Thermo Fisher’s services, technologies and tools can support everything from diagnostic testing, infectious disease surveillance and understanding the genetic makeup of disease and developing new therapies, to protecting clean air and water and ensuring food and personal safety.
“When I joined Thermo Fisher, I knew I wanted to have an impact on people, and our growth over the past few years has enabled me to do that in ways I couldn’t have imagined,” says Lowery. “Businesses don’t grow unless the people grow, and that means being a responsible company internally and in communities,” he adds.
Lowery believes that a company can set the tone for its colleagues in ways that also carry into their personal lives. For Thermo Fisher, its 4i Values of Integrity, Intensity, Innovation, and Involvement set that tone. These values make up the company’s culture of belonging, guide leadership’s interactions with all stakeholders and drive CSR results.
“The 4i Values guide how we interact with customers, suppliers, partners, and community members and how we collaborate with each other as colleagues,” explains Lowery. “We believe in honoring commitments, delivering excellent results, continuously improving through innovation, and in working as one team that leverages diversity as our foundational success factor.”
Turning Talk Into Action
The competition for talent, especially in STEM fields, is fierce, and companies must do more than simply increase benefits and compensation. Today’s most admired companies do more than talk about the progress they’re making, they show it in the way employees are treated and how the company is serving society.
“Inclusion for me is about having an environment where people can bring their whole selves to work every day,” says Lowery. “They should be comfortable asking questions and presenting creative ideas no matter how wild they may seem at first. We are the world leader in serving science, and a more diverse global workforce is better able to bring the advanced science and critical thinking to customers that enables them to make bold and sweeping progress.”
Creating Sustainable Results
Lowery also underscored the importance of Thermo Fisher’s ESG strategy (environmental, social, governance). “ESG extends beyond CSR,” he says. “It’s about how we run our business for the long-term and the additive value we create when we actively consider ESG priorities in our corporate decision making.”
Lowery provided the example of Thermo Fisher’s sustainable finance strategy, which includes recent impact investments of $25 million that are helping to develop Black businesses and strengthen historically underrepresented communities. “It’s not charity; it’s inclusive decision-making,” adds Lowery.
Diversity is embedded within ESG. Investors, customers, job candidates, and colleagues increasingly demand transparency about the connections between business decisions and their impact on inclusion and representation. This is why commitments such as Thermo Fisher’s Supplier Diversity program, which connects suppliers with outside advocacy organizations such as Diversity Alliance for Science for mentoring, are so important.
Driving Social Responsibility on Many Levels
Hiring diverse employees is different from retaining them. Thermo Fisher monitors the hiring process at every stage to ensure diversity is a key consideration, from recruitment and candidate list development to interview panel makeup, interview questions and onboarding. Once onboard, the new colleague’s manager spearheads a collective effort to ensure the new hire has the tools for their success. This includes introducing them to Business Resource Groups, which are designed to create community and elevate the voices and perspectives of colleagues across the company, and assigning them a peer ambassador. “It all comes back to belonging and making sure that our colleagues feel welcome and supported from day one,” says Lowery.
Creating Lasting Impact
For Lowery, lasting impact is everything. From his first days with the company he wanted his impact to be about enabling others to leave a mark within Thermo Fisher and across their communities.
“We’re successful as a company because our colleagues feel empowered and can be their best selves,” says Lowery. He adds that Thermo Fisher’s ability to support customers and make it logical to do more business with the company is based on trust, and, he added, being stewards of the environment and reflecting the diversity of communities in which it operates, is increasingly central to that trust.
“I consider myself a results-driven executive, but I believe that great outcomes, delivered without compromising an ongoing commitment to CSR and ESG, can only come from enabling others to be their best and achieve results that matter to them,” says Lowery.