Company: CVS/pharmacy
Agency: Weber Shandwick
Timeframe: 2005-ongoing
As with many pharmacy retailers, CVS/pharmacy is experiencing a shortage of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. And, as Baby Boomers continue to hit their sixties and
contemplate retirement, there may not be enough young people entering the workforce in the next 10 years to compensate for this deficit. What's more, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics recently projected a shortfall of 10 million workers in the U.S. in 2010.
Because of these trends, CVS Caremark (parent owner of CVS/pharmacy) began to launch programs and partnerships designed to recruit, train and retain older workers as part of
the company's workforce initiatives. Especially given today's ubiquitous focus on challenges related to reaching younger employee--namely, Gen Yers--this nontraditional talent
management effort addresses the needs of a generation that is often overlooked.
"[The program began] as a way for CVS Caremark to further develop a skilled, diverse workforce, while at the same time build stronger communities by employing and training
people in the neighborhoods we serve," explains Steve Wing, director of workforce initiatives, CVS Caremark. "Workforce initiatives establish win-win partnerships with local,
state and federal agencies, nonprofits and faith-based organizations."
A Mature Perspective
Currently, the number of CVS' mature workers, age 50 and older, has grown from 6% of all employees in the 1990s to more than 17%, and it is expected to grow even more in the
next 10 years.
In 2006, as the first members of the Baby Boomer generation began to surpass age 60, various studies were released that analyzed the value of older employees, while examining
their plans to keep working past retirement age. Weber Shandwick, which had begun working with CVS on this mature worker program in June 2005, homed in on these studies to use as
news hooks to interest the media in not only writing about mature worker trends, but also in highlighting CVS/pharmacy as a positive workforce leader at the forefront of these
trends.
To help position CVS as a successful, innovative and responsible employer, particularly where older workers were concerned, Weber Shandwick created the following objectives for
the workforce initiative targeting seniors:
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Build a positive corporate image among the general public, shareholders, customers and employees;
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Establish CVS as a corporate leader in workforce development;
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Position CVS as an attractive employer to workers age 50-plus;
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Gain exposure for the mature worker initiative and other innovative CVS workforce programs targeting seniors; and,
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Build brand equity for CVS in established markets such as the Northeast and other regions like Florida where the company has grown by acquisition.
To meet these goals and prepare for the following year, the CVS Caremark/Weber Shandwick team holds a three-hour planning meeting each year to set goals, objectives and
strategies. Additionally, Weber Shandwick holds biweekly calls with CVS to discuss new programs and review tactics as needed.
Celebrating The Senior Class
For the program planning and strategy phase, Weber Shandwick developed core messages around CVS' workforce training initiatives to attract and retain mature workers. Instead of
relying on celebrity spokespersons, the agency set out to find employees who would be good media candidates to bring these stories to life.
After contacting regional managers to help find mature workers, Weber Shandwick interviewed them to learn their personal histories. Because many employees are not media savvy,
the agency had to get them up to speed to "fully understand the value of PR," says Wing. And, to give each story a special nuance, the agency sought to exploit the most compelling
angle.
However, while the personal stories of mature employees who personified the message helped elevate this program, there were still inherent challenges--namely, gaining
visibility for the CVS Caremark's workforce initiatives with a modest annual budget, and targeting the reporters who would be most interested in these stories. Reaching out to
them in multiple markets across the country was instrumental in getting media attention.
To overcome this hurdle, the team leveraged CVS as an AARP Featured Employer (named in November 2005) to tie the CVS stories to a larger workplace trend. Two studies came out
in late 2005 that assisted Weber Shandwick. One, AARP's "The Business Case for Workers Age 50 plus," dispelled the fallacy that workers in this age bracket "cost more" than
younger workers.
Then there was the Boston College Center on Aging and Work's study, which states that traditional retirement, where employees stop working entirely, may never happen for most
Baby Boomers. The report also says that flexible schedules will be key to keeping them working. The communications team used these studies as news hooks to gain reporters'
attention.
The Golden Years
This strategy turned out to be highly effective and, in turn, the return on investment was far-reaching. From January to December 2006 alone, the campaign highlighting
CVS/pharmacy's mature worker initiatives generated 38 articles and 36,361,858 media impressions, plus significant online exposure in leading national, regional and trade outlets.
During 2006 and 2007, the communications team secured about 200 million impressions, and they are currently working to increase that number for 2008 and 2009, according to Sue
Vitters Howland, VP of Weber Shandwick.
The positive coverage helped CVS/pharmacy to recruit more mature workers on its own and place individuals in positive career paths. CVS/pharmacy also grew its mature worker
program from fewer than 300 employees to more than 1,000 in 2006.
"The coverage also helps to show current employees, customers and shareholders the ways in which CVS is a leader in workforce development," says Howland.
For Wing, there were several lessons learned from working on this program.
"In terms of maintaining a dialogue between the agency and our workforce initiatives field teams, we quickly learned that it was helpful to have our agency draft regular e-
mails for the field reminding them to send in story ideas," he notes. "Sometimes one tidbit of information isn't newsworthy on its own, but when added to information received from
other field staff, it turns into an interesting trade story for the media. During the past several years, my field staff has recognized the value in sending ideas to the agency,
and now they regularly send ideas to Weber Shandwick without any prompting."
Also, learning how to craft and execute a PR program on limited funds was another lesson learned. "It is possible to obtain significant top-tier national media coverage on a
modest budget--but it takes some creativity," adds Wing. "Weber Shandwick did this by leveraging news hooks and third-party stories to develop broader trend pitches. Trend stories
are a great way to obtain coverage with the top-tier national media. When you are the one to introduce the media to a compelling new trend, they will often reward you by making
your company the centerpiece of the story." PRN
CONTACTS:
Steve Wing, [email protected]; Sue Vitters Howland, [email protected]
Good PR Is Viral PR
While working as the director of CVS Caremark's workforce initiatives, Steve Wing learned a valuable lesson: A good national worker trend story can have a powerful cascade
effect, which can lead to further positive PR for the program that's being highlighted.
"After we placed our initial stories on CVS Caremark's mature worker initiatives with publications such as The Christian Science Monitor, Time and the Boston
Globe, other media outlets began seeing these stories and coming to us to do their own version of the story. In effect, the stories we placed were doing the PR for us," he
says. "We also proactively used the media clips in our pitches to encourage other outlets to do a similar story tailored to their unique audience. We made sure we pitched the
coverage to outlets that weren't competitors, such as pitching print stories to broadcast media and trade stories to regional daily newspapers."
If At First You Don't Succeed, Try Another Angle
For Sue Vitters Howland, VP of Weber Shandwick, attracting the media's attention to your company's innovative HR initiatives may have everything to do with the focus of your
pitch.
"Workforce trends tend to have a broad appeal with the media. Reporters who cover business, employment, education, retail, social issues, etc., are all interested in various
angles of workforce stories. So if, for example, you don't succeed in piquing the interest of the business reporter, then identify an education angle to the story and pitch the
education reporter," she says. "Additionally, companies often implement workforce initiatives across the organization, and if the company is national, that means you'll be able to
provide that ever-important local angle for daily newspaper reporters across the country. Finally, many organizations release significant studies on national workforce topics. The
key is to identify the compelling stories and trends that relate to your company's initiative. Once you find a winning story, keep on pitching it to every city and type of media
outlet that's out there."