How McKesson is shaping future leaders with Employee Resource Groups
November 2021 – Repertoire Magazine
By Pete Mercer
Luke Moore is always on the hunt for ways to add to – and improve upon – his skillset. For instance, as a diagnostic sales consultant for McKesson Medical-Surgical, while no one is answering to him, Moore still needs to find ways to engage sales reps who call on accounts. Specifically, Moore is interested in better understanding how to craft emails that speak directly to an individual’s motivations.
Moore is spending time this fall developing those skills via a unique McKesson initiative called the Emerging Professionals Group. The Emerging Professionals Group is equipping him with the skills and experience he needs to engage his sales representatives to achieve better outcomes for lab products and services.
“One rep may be motivated by commission dollars and gross profit percentages, and another may be motivated by serving the future needs of the customer,” Moore said. “Using these resources, it helps me to communicate and influence to get the results I need for the lab. I can now tailor the right message to the right reps to get the right response.”
Professional and personal development
The Emerging Professionals Employee Resource Groups at McKesson are designed to provide education and empowerment opportunities for individual professionals within the organization. McKesson has developed these groups of volunteers as a way to make the company feel like a smaller community, Moore said.
“[It’s a] McKesson sponsored group that exists to connect and develop the next generation leader within McKesson. Their vision is to produce top level leaders across the enterprise, so it’s not just geared for medical-surgical, or McKesson specialty,” Moore explained. “It’s looking at McKesson holistically, enterprise-wide.”
For Moore, the greatest value that the Emerging Professionals Group provides is professional and personal development.
“This program understands that your professional and personal lives reflect each other, and each part of you requires development and growth,” he said. “McKesson is not only trying to develop people professionally, but also personally, which is what really caught my attention. We all compartmentalize our lives. I have my work life here and my family life over here, but I think the reality is that the fabric of who we are kind of weaves through all of those areas.”
It’s that level of employee engagement that makes McKesson unique, Moore said. Without an employee engagement strategy, it can be hard to push any group of people to achieve business goals. By leveraging a group where employees can invest in their own professional and personal development at their own pace, Moore said McKesson is investing in its greatest resource: its people.
“I want to be the best version of myself,” he said. “Using those resources and working through some of those courses is helping to create and train the best version of myself that I can be, not just within McKesson, but within all the other areas of my life.”
Growing in the organization
For Moore, the Emerging Professionals Group is giving him the perfect opportunity to advance his skills and grow within McKesson, at his own pace.
“[Your managers] notice when they get notifications when we complete these courses. I want my managers to know that I take this seriously and I want to grow within the organization,” he said.
Not only are individuals voluntarily developing and training themselves through the group, but they are also establishing their own personal brand, Moore said. “Your personal brand is a huge aspect of what will set you apart from others in your field.”
Moore said he has a deep desire to be in the best position that most impacts the people he works with and the organization as a whole – no matter the title or role. He recognizes the value in branding and is using the personal brand approach to his advantage.
“McKesson uses this term, ‘build your brand.’ In other words, it’s a way to help you build your personal brand,” Moore said. “This approach helps you to craft what other people are saying about you when you leave the room. If I’m leaving the room, I want the vice president of the organization to say, ‘That’s what it looks like to take the initiative to grow.”