Our people - Bristol Myers Squibb - Our stories

Our people

Our
people



Our Bristol Myers Squibb colleagues represent one of the most talented, diverse and inclusive workforces dedicated to transforming patients’ lives through science.  
 

We rely on the strength of our culture to ensure our people are at their best, so that we can optimally deliver for our patients. 


Our values — integrity, urgency, accountability, innovation, passion, and inclusion — make up the foundation of our patient-centric culture, and are reflected each day in the behaviors of our colleagues. 

Together, our people shape and strengthen our unique and caring culture, and we are proud to share a few of our 2022 highlights that illustrate this unity. 


Top moments from our PBRGs (People and Business Resource Groups)
13,750+
 

    unique members in 2022

200+
 

chapters

44
 

countries

40%
 

of employees worldwide participating

PBRG membership has grown to more than 13,750+ unique members in 2022 across 200+ chapters in 44 countries, and nearly 40% of our employees worldwide are members of PBRGs.

 

DAWN Disability Advancement
Workplace Network
DAWN initiative

DAWN launched the Disability Diversity in Clinical Trials (DDiCT) initiative, in partnership with our Global Drug Development team and U.S.-based nonprofit Disability Solutions, to identify ways to improve access, engagement, speed of enrollment and participation of people with disabilities in clinical trials. The launch of the DDiCT supports our overall commitment to identifying ways to address every dimension of inclusion and diversity and to developing and piloting trials that are accessible to the widest variety of patients. 

In the U.S., current clinical trial practices exclude up to one-fourth of the U.S. population based on disability status. 

OLA Organization for
Latino Achievement
27

OLA launched its first Mentoring Program for Scientists, in which members of OLA mentored 27 external scientists from college seniors, to graduate students, and postdocs about careers in the pharmaceutical industry.




 

B-NOW Bristol Myers Squibb
Network of Women

2022 Woman of the year  awards

B-NOW Executive Sponsor Chris Boerner was recognized as a 2022 Honorable Mentor for his commitment to advancing women. BMS was also recognized globally for its commitment to advancing women’s careers and for inclusion and diversity as a critical driver for business success.

BOLD Black Organization for
Leadership and Development

BOLD - Dance

BOLD developed an internal professional development portal to centralize information regarding organizational structure and career development offerings to enable employees to expand their enterprise mindset and gain opportunities to advance their careers.

PRIDE Alliance
Pride Alliance Waving Flag

To address the lack of available data across sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status (SOGIIS), BMS’ U.S. clinical trials now collect this data from adults who voluntarily self-identify, using ePRO — electronic patient report outcome methodology. This initiative, implemented in collaboration with BMS’ PRIDE Alliance and among the first of such efforts at any pharma research sponsor, helps us know our patients more fully and make inroads in reducing disparities in health equity.

CLIMB Cultivating Leadership and Innovation
for Millennials and Beyond

60
 

employees

100+
 

sessions instructed

12K+
 

registrations

6K
 

individuals

39
 

countries


CLIMB continued growth of Elevate, an annual six-week global learning initiative that empowers BMS employees to volunteer and instruct a course on a topic they are passionate about. In 2022, over 60 BMS employees instructed 100+ professional and personal development sessions with 12,000+ registrations by almost 6,000 individuals in 39 countries. 

 

PAN Pan Asian
Network

PAN continued to empower its leaders and allies to use their diverse cultural perspectives to drive innovative ideas and competitive outcomes for the organization’s mission of transforming patients’ lives through science. Last year, PAN welcomed 1,073 new members globally (a 30% increase from the prior year) and started three new chapters — field-based colleagues, Phoenix and Roszel Road — reaching the 20-chapter milestone.

PAN PBRG event
1,073
new members globally
VCN Veterans Community
Network

VCN Event

BMS climbed from No. 54 to the No. 1 spot on the 2022 Military Times Best for Vets employer list. The honor is a recognition of our commitment to supporting veterans, transitioning military members and reservists to build a successful career. We strive to provide a rewarding work environment for veterans to build their careers and to create a new life for themselves and their families.

 

 

Employee group highlight: Australia

 

PRBG event - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dancing


BMS Australia completed their first year of work in 2022 on the company’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), displaying their commitment to driving equitable advancement and outcomes for the country’s First Nations people. Employees participated in cultural training offered through Black Card, and leadership training with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung, a cultural heritage Aboriginal corporation.  

As a sign of respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, meetings of over 10 people are opened with a recitation recognizing the traditional owners of the land in which the meeting takes place. 

The objectives planned for the first year, which were all successfully met, included fostering meaningful First Nation connections, a commitment to learning as a show of respect, identifying opportunities for creating shared value and establishing reconciliation governance and reporting.  Progressing from the healing focus of last year, 2023 is all about moving beyond acknowledgements by generating momentum for institutional, structural, collaborative and cooperative reforms.  

BMS Australia celebrated NAIDOC Week in 2022 – led by the National Aborigines and Islander Day Observance Committee – which provides an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. In honor of the event, employees were invited to engage through an e-coloring book, a First Nations Voices music playlist, movie and book recommendations, and Indigenous Australian recipes. The company will recognize the week again this year.

BMS may be one of the few pharma companies with this focus and intentionality about access and inclusion for one of the world’s oldest populations.

Wellbeing -David standing  by lake on the deck

Supporting employees with a growing network of wellbeing initiatives

 

To do well, and serve well, we must be well. 

That’s why, around the world, BMS strives to create an inclusive, interactive employee community with a shared goal of living life better. Our holistic approach focuses on four pillars of wellbeing: physical, emotional, financial and life & work, which we support through a wide array of offerings.

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Global Initiative for Volunteerism and Engagement (GIVEs)  - Community Center

GIVEs volunteers in sub-Saharan Africa reduce health disparities


Bristol Myers Squibb’s Global Initiative for Volunteerism and Engagement (GIVEs) program, an ongoing collaboration between Global Business Operations and the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, sends colleagues each year to southern Africa, where they lend their skills to nonprofit medical organizations serving poor and rural communities.

 

 

This rewarding program not only supports our mission to help patients prevail over serious diseases, but also helps our colleagues build valuable skills they can leverage in their careers, such as teambuilding, cultural adaptability and leadership."


  Charlie Bancroft, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Volunteer Time
Off program
in 2022

 
1,011
 
recorded uses of volunteer
time globally
5,797
 
total hours volunteered
780
 
employees participated
VTO David

Empowering employees to give back
 

David Rucker has many roles: at Bristol Myers Squibb, he is associate director for Clinical Trial Business Capabilities, and at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York, he is event usher, guest services representative, museum exhibit designer and even trail blazer. 

For seven years, David has been volunteering at the Bethel Woods Center, a nonprofit cultural organization located at the historic site of the 1969 Woodstock festival. 

When he discovered BMS’ Volunteer Time Off program, in which eligible employees can take up to two regularly scheduled work days each year to volunteer at a charitable organization, he was eager to take part in some of the bigger projects that are done at Bethel during the work week, when there are more staff on site. 

 

I have a deep interest in the arts, and specifically that era of music and culture. The Volunteer Time Off program gave me a special opportunity to assist with a historical preservation initiative, rebuilding a trail system using old photographs, artifacts, and of course, hard work.”



VTO  - Park


David says there’s a lot of fun in knowing that everybody who now visits the museum will walk these paths he helped create.

 

c2c4c

Employees ride with heart for cancer patients around the world



Nearly a decade ago, the first Coast 2 Coast 4 Cancer (C2C4C) cycling event began with 53 employees riding 3,000 miles across the U.S. to honor loved ones impacted by cancer by raising funds for cancer research. 

In 2022, there were more than 350 participants from 23 countries, covering more than 7,000 miles for cancer. 

Where did all those volunteers come from? 

Riders in Europe joined the efforts in 2016 with the first Country 2 Country 4 Cancer ride, and colleagues in Japan debuted the Continent 2 Continent 4 Cancer ride in 2021. Collectively, the bike rides are known as C2C4C and have raised more than $12 million for cancer research worldwide, benefiting charities that fund leading-edge cancer research in their region of the world.

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Magazine - Living

LIVING


At BMS, patients are the center of everything we do. That’s why we’ve honored Global Patient Week for eight years, devoting time for employees to attend special events to meet our patients, understand their challenges and learn about their disease states. To ensure all employees could hear from these important people, last year we launched LIVING, a documentary sharing the stories of six patients from around the world, with little in common except their desire to bravely face disease and boldly continue living. Watch the film and be inspired. Global Patient week includes special events to meet patients, understand their challenges and learn about disease states.