Randy Lewis, Sr. Vice President, Walgreen’s
Excerpts from His Keynote Address at Ontario JOIN’s 2012 Annual Fall Employer Conference
Randy began his compelling presentation with a Latin quote from the new movie, The Life of Pi. The school Pi attended has a school motto, “Nil Magnum Nisi Bonnum.” It means, “No Greatness Without Goodness.” Randy then took the audience on the journey that really epitomizes this… the story of the journey of Walgreen’s.
Randy also shared his personal connection to his passion, the story of his son, Austin, who lives with autism.
“And it was in that same spirit almost ten years ago when we were getting ready to launch a new type of distribution centre, first one in Anderson and the other one in Connecticut, we wanted to build the most efficient centres in our history or perhaps in the world and with the belief that people with disabilities could do more. We started with certain principles taking the advice of a legendary Chicago builder named Daniel Burnham who said, ‘Make no small plans for they fail to stir men’s blood.’”
We are a business, we only make 3 cents on the dollar, a razor thin margin. We are not a charity. We knew we could not lower any of our performance standards. And like we said, same pay, same standards, side by side, throughout our journey.
Walgreen’s has now hired in excess of 1,000 persons with disabilities into its distribution centres and this upcoming year have challenged the Walgreen stores to have one in 10 hires be a person with a disability. Randy and Walgreen’s have shattered the myths and misconceptions about lower productivity, increased absenteeism, staff turnover rates, safety and accident rates…
Randy also shared the names of many other organizations who have flown in to Walgreen’s to experience first hand and a mini boot camp to understand how Walgreen’s have been able to do this. Some of those organizations who have now implemented similar recruiting initiatives included Marks and Spencer, Lowe’s and Best Buy.
Workforce Diversity — Walgreens and the Obvious Solution, Forbes Magazine Article Excerpts
Do you realize how you are usually alerted to the fact that the restroom in your office building is about to be cleaned? This is one of those things that you probably never stopped to think about. But if you do, you will realize that you know the restroom is about to be cleaned because you can hear the cleaning crew banging loudly on the door to see if anybody is inside.
Randy Lewis, Walgreens’ senior vice president of Supply Chain and Logistics, had to ponder exactly that question when the company was planning the operations of its distribution centers. That’s because there was a good chance that some of the employees would be deaf and not able to hear the banging of the cleaning crew.
Almost ten years ago, Walgreens began to plan a new generation of distribution centers, one in South Carolina and one in Connecticut, for which the company wanted to hire a large number of people with disabilities.
So how did Walgreens solve the restroom cleaning problem? Once you stop to think about it, the solution is obvious. Have female crews clean women’s restrooms, and male crews clean men’s.
Although initially Walgreens aimed to have disabled employees constitute a third of the workers in the distribution centers, they now account for 40% of the workforce in one center, and 50% in the other.
Among the disabled employees is the head of HR, who has cerebral palsy. She had earned all A’s in college and graduate school. Sent out 300 resumes, done 30 interviews. Not a single job offer. “She’s one of our best HR people,” says Lewis, whose son also has a disability. The distribution centers also employ a disabled 57-year-old man who had never had a job before. When he took his first paycheck home, his mom cried. Yet another employee is autistic. “In every job that we’ve given him, he performs at a 150% standard,” says Lewis.
While these are touching stories, Lewis was very mindful of the fact that Walgreens is a business, not a charity, and had to build a sustainable model. It did. The centers employing people with disabilities are the most cost-effective centers in the company’s history. In January, Walgreens launched the same initiative in 327 districts, 8,300 stores, all across America.
That diversity is good business is also the topic of a Forbes Insights report, ”Fostering Innovation Through a Diverse Workforce.” The study, based on a survey of 321 executives, found that a diverse workforce is a key driver of innovation. However, that study also found that respondents felt they had made progress in gender diversity, but had fallen short in other areas such as disability and age. This only makes Walgreens’ programs all that much more important.
Lewis shared his thoughts about disabled employees in a keynote speech at the 3S awards, given out by the Global Sourcing Council to companies with exceptional achievements in sustainable and socially responsible sourcing.