2 October 2014
The 2nd October 2014, was indeed a special day for Pfizer South Africa as it received the award for ‘Top Employer South Africa 2015: First in Industry’ in the Pharmaceutical category. This is a spectacular achievement as this was the fourth consecutive year that this award was received by Pfizer from Top Employer Institute Africa and Benelux.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, the Top Employers Institute (formerly known as the CRF Institute) globally certifies excellence in the conditions that employers create for their employees. Optimal employee conditions ensure that people develop themselves personally and professionally. This, in turn, enables companies to grow and to develop, always. This process has been in existence since 1991.
David Plink, CEO, positioned the Top Employers certification as follows: “Over the years, we have assessed and certified companies the world over using our proprietary methodology. We strongly value our objectivity, independence and selectivity. As a result, current and prospective employees can trust upon the certified organisations to have excellent conditions in place for their people to develop. Always.”
The first step of this structured process is the company’s participation in the HR Best Practices survey. These results are validated and pass an external audit (executed by Grant Thornton) before the scores are rated against an international standard. Once these rigorous criteria have been met, the company will be certified as a Top Employer. This has become an extremely competitive field as certification validates HR processes as being of the highest standard.
The Top Employers research methodology is adapted to each country and revised annually, as is the international standard for ratings. It is developed in close cooperation with a local panel of HR experts and other selected partners. The certified companies are all researched thoroughly to select the category winners.
When asked what this accolade meant to Doreen Nel, Pfizer HR Director, Doreen said, “This award allows prospective employees to base their selection of companies for which they wish to work on a sound, objective set of criteria. This certification benchmarks employee offerings and ensures candidates that we are a sustainable employer that always values our employees.”
Those organisations that attain the Top Employers certification demonstrate that they provide an outstanding employment environment and nurture and develop talent throughout all levels of the organisation. Themba Mnguni, Pfizer Key Accounts Manager South Africa shared his thoughts on this achievement, “Pfizer winning the Top Employer award, showed that Pfizer is one of the top organizations in the South African economy. I like working for Pfizer because I get the satisfaction that the organization is delivering lifesaving drugs to the society and has the highest standard of excellence in employee conditions.”