Advances and Barriers Part 1: How difficult is it for women to get to the top of procurement in life sciences?

The recent Oliver Wyman survey of 300 Chief Procument Officers (CPO) in global procurement, including Healthcare, revealed that the number of women in procurement is growing, but they are not yet properly represented at the highest levels. Plus, women are more likely to be in indirect procurement, rather than direct procurement, which is seen as more ‘strategic’.

To explore some of the issues behind the imbalance and to reflect on her rise to the top, Hubert Lindenblatt and Silvia Eggenweiler, Odgers Berndtson Global Life Sciences Practice, spoke to leading CPO, Marielle Beyer of Roche.

In a two-part interview, she gives her frank views on her career, and the current state of play on women in procurement, and diversity in general.

OB: Thank you so much for your time, Marielle. Could you please tell us a little about your career path?

Marielle Beyer: I started in procurement after university, first as a buyer in the airline industry and then after a few years I moved into financial services. I wanted to be more involved in the indirect services and professional services area.

I was lucky in the sense that my career over the past 17 years has let me experience more or less all roles that exist in procurement. I have had local, regional and global roles, direct and indirect.

Today what really attracts me are the transformational roles and significant leadership roles. 

OB: You worked for Zurich Insurance before. What motivated you to join Roche? 

MB: I really enjoyed my time at Zurich Insurance. During the financial crisis, there was an incredible amount of cost pressure and we underwent a major transformation resulting in the outsourcing of the entire source to pay scope. 

In the end, there were just a handful of roles that would have been reasonably interesting for me. But I did not want to have a role where I was going to be accountable for something and not able to directly impact.

I looked around and it was clear to me that I wanted to be in an international environment, a global company. 

I had the pharmaceutical industry on my radar, especially because I really enjoyed procurement transformation. The people who know life sciences also know that their procurement is less developed than other industrial sectors, so I chose a company where I thought I could make a real contribution. 

OB: And your career at Roche so far?

MB: I have been with Roche for eight years now, starting in a European professional services and indirect procurement capacity and then moving relatively quickly to direct procurement. That was one of the biggest learning curves in my career so far.

I then took over pharmaceutical procurement and was fortunate to lead the merger of the two divisional procurement organisations via a major transformation, with the help of a very gifted team. I thought it was the right thing to do. 

We built a centralized group function there and now I report into the CFO and CIO. I have been doing that for nearly three years. But there is still a lot to do and it is a lot of fun. 

OB: You moved from indirect procurement to core. There is always some debate about what it takes to get up to speed and understand those respective categories.

MB: That's right. If you've ever purchased let’s say professional services, you can also buy XYZ services or marketing agencies, or so on, right? They share similar approaches. 

I took the time to learn as much as I could about direct procurement. I had the support of my boss. He said that nobody expects me to know how everything works within two months. I gave myself sufficient time and it took 6 - 8 months to understand where and how I could add value and how to engage with the different stakeholder groups, with lots of learning and understanding. I also had a strong leadership team backing me up.

This job was probably one of the most exciting ones I ever had. 

What makes direct procurement so appealing is that it has a lot to do with "the right to operate". What you do has a direct influence in the way the product affects the patient. 

You have to do the best possible job so the promise to the patient is kept. Lives depend on it.

OB: What has it been like, the fact that you are a woman? How has that affected your career? What were the biggest battles you had to fight?

MB: It is interesting; I have already seen how procurement has developed as a discipline in respect to gender balance. 

In the past, it was 15 men and one woman sitting at the table and the men were all middle-aged white males. That has changed a lot. 

If I look at the gender statistics in my organisation of about 1,000 employees, for example, we now have more than 50% women. Incredibly smart, very highly educated, international men and women with very diverse backgrounds. 

Personally, I have to say that I have never given much thought to my gender. But there are a few decisive moments when you become a bit more aware of it. 

For me, that was when planning a family. I did not have much of an alternative, because I was pregnant with twins. 

That is when I realised that my superiors were making certain assumptions. I really had to communicate very clearly what my plans were and how I envisioned working after giving birth – a little bit along the lines of "Leave it to me, I’ll decide whether it's too much of a burden with the travelling, and the responsibility". 

But that was really the only decisive event in my career as a woman. Apart from that, it was mostly men talking over you and orienting themselves towards other men. But what I have learned from this is to be well and truly present. It all makes you a little tougher. 

OB: How old are your children now?

MB: Nine years old. But some of the same reactions I felt back then still exist today. 

I have heard other leaders comment on roles in their organizations: "But this is not a job you can do at 80%". So, I just asked, why not? 

She probably does more with 80% than many others with 120%. Because mothers in general know how to use their time efficiently. 

Whenever I talk with women, my recommendation is "You need to speak up and say what you want. Have a plan and communicate it accordingly in a timely manner.”

OB: Have you seen more and more women moving into the otherwise typically male areas, i.e. outside of HR and marketing, for example? 

MB: We now have a generation where the gender differences are no longer as big. 

For example, if you want to study engineering, you study it, no matter whether you are a man or a woman. That wasn't the case in the past, when there were more ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions. And if people started looking at you in a funny way while you were still at university, that would also affect your professional life, your confidence. That is different today. 

The procurement discipline continues to develop in this regard. This new generation is a bit more mixed. 

But if you have the courage to make the leap and take a leadership role, you still need good role models and acceptance in a company. 

Roche wants to achieve this and I think that is very positive. 

OB: Thank you, Marielle. In the next part of this interview, we will tackle how to think beyond the leadership gender goal, recruiting to get the best balance, and the role of the board, and the men on that board, in advancing diversity and inclusion.