Why Merck Made Executive Woman's Top 25

What makes certain companies great places to work? Sure, competitive benefits, compensation and opportunities for advancement, but so does something more intangible: a supportive environment that makes each employee feel that her or his contributions are valued. As Executive Woman magazine pointed out earlier this year in an article announcing the top 25 corporations in America for working women, "positive working environments don't happen by accident." The magazine went on to outline its rigorous approach to honing its list of corporate hopefuls to the top 25. When the editors finished, Merck & Co., Inc. was among the winners.

Executive Woman applied three inflexible preliminary criteria: a) a minimum of two women on the Board of Directors; b) sound financial condition; and c) a significant proportion of women to men in the workforce. Once a company satisfied these criteria, the researchers addressed a battery of more complex issues, ranging from pregnancy leave to promotional opportunities. What the survey revealed is the extent to which equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation has become an ingrained part of the Merck culture.

"I think Merck was always highly regarded as a good workplace for women," says Debbie Merrill, executive director of Project Management in Merck Research Laboratories in Blue Bell, PA. "At Merck, achievement is based on competence, not gender." Says Charlotte McKines, executive director of Integrated Marketing Communication in Upper Gwynedd, PA: "As a woman, and as an African American woman, I think I've had more opportunities at Merck than I would have in most other corporations. Proportionately, there are more men than women in senior management, but you also see that changing. There are more and more senior women here."

Ms. Merrill points out, however, this isn't something that's happened overnight. She joined Merck as an associate medical program coordinator in 1981 when the Company entered a joint venture with her previous employer. To make the most of the opportunity, she began a four-and-a-half year-long regimen of working by day and attending graduate school by night, eventually earning her MBA from Temple University in 1990. "With assistance from Merck," she adds. She leveraged her degree by joining the Project Management Group in 1992 and, less than two years later her effectiveness on a key product filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration led to her first major promotion to project manager. The ensuing nine years saw her steady rise to her current position in 2001 as executive director.

Yet she might never have been able to take advantage of these opportunities without Merck's help in balancing career and family responsibilities. "I had my first child in 1983 and took a year of child- care leave," says Ms. Merrill. "When I had my second child in 1988 I took eight months child-care leave. In both instances the Company allowed me to return to the positions I had left and all of my co-workers were tremendously supportive."

From this perspective, the Merck experience of Pamela Demain, executive director of Corporate Licensing in Whitehouse Station, NJ, has been similar. She joined Merck in 1981 and was offered an exceptional opportunity: "I was the first employee selected for a new training program in the international division," she says. "I spent about 15 months as a sales rep before returning to the international division as an analyst in antibiotics. Then, I worked my way up in the international marketing organization to senior product manager. The most important thing I learned during this time was how to build relationships and get people to work as a team to meet a common goal."

By 1988, she was running a large group in the Marketing Communications area. This promotion was especially meaningful to Ms. Demain because the offer came when she was five months pregnant. "The Company knew I planned to take six months child-care leave, but I never felt pressured. I was impressed that Merck would show that much confidence in me."

Once back from child-care leave, however, a working mother's family responsibilities are far more likely to increase than decrease. Therein lies the value of one of Merck's most highly publicized programs, the child-care centers offered at major sites in the United States and even at one research site abroad.

In the workplace of the new millennium, flexibility is a necessity, especially for working mothers. Merck has taken this a step further; the "when", the "where", and even the "how much" of a job may vary to accommodate personal responsibilities, lifestyles, or interests. For Ms. Demain, it often translates into nothing more esoteric than "flex time." " I'm responsible for getting the kids off to school. So most days I can't get to my office before 9:00 a.m., and that's okay with the Company."

Discussions of balancing one's career with the life outside the Company typically revolve around working mothers, but as Charlotte McKines reminds us, single women with no children have private lives too. "I'm active in charities and sit on a couple boards, a shelter for abused women and an arts and cultural organization. The Company supports my involvement in these organizations, and, therefore, I am able to make a meaningful contribution. So it's not just family, but whatever you want to do, the Company affords you the opportunity to find balance in your life."

For Ms. McKines, much of the appeal of her current assignment is the chance to mentor others, whether on an organized or informal basis. She also looks to her own mentors for guidance. "I am fortunate to have a few women mentors within the Company -- senior women with valuable experience to learn from. Women here are very open to meeting you for coffee, lunch, or dinner."

Yet for all the success of Merck's "woman-friendly" programs, says Ms. Merrill, she doesn't see Merck in terms of male and female. "Everyone at Merck wants to work next to people who can do the best job, do the strongest science, and make the greatest contribution. And they want to see them rewarded. I don't think Merck promotes women just because they're women. This Company is populated by lots of highly competitive people and we all have to produce results."