Fostering belonging attracts talent to Medtronic

As part of Medtronic Canada ULC's commitment to its employees’ physical and mental well-being and to celebrating diversity, the medical technology company supports staff-led employee resource groups (ERGs) that bring together various communities within the company.

“For Medtronic, the focus on employees’ traditions and cultures has brought people together locally and across geographies,” says Sheri Dodd, president of Medtronic Canada.

For Guy Losier, a respiratory therapist and advanced parameters and ventilation specialist at Medtronic, the focus on diversity and inclusion has been meaningful. Based in Moncton, N.B., the 55-year-old discovered some two decades ago that his mother, who had been adopted as a child, had some Indigenous (Mi’kmaq) heritage.

A few years after this revelation, Losier became a member of the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council, the voice for off-reserve Indigenous residents in the province. Joining the group, he says, was a positive and eye-opening learning experience that gave him a rich appreciation of Indigenous culture and life experiences in Canada.

Propelled in part by the discovery of unmarked graves of First Nations children on the sites of former residential schools, Losier decided to bring that awareness to his workplace in 2021.

He went on to spearhead a new employee resource group at Medtronic for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples (FNIM), through which he and FNIM community members meet regularly to make presentations about Indigenous culture or offer learning initiatives to employees Canada-wide.

Thanks to the ERG’s efforts, as part of Medtronic’s annual month-long volunteering campaign, the company continued to increase awareness of Canadian Indigenous culture in June 2022. Every Tuesday for six weeks, the ERG hosted a lunch-and-learn with a group of employees and studied the Indigenous Canada course from the University of Alberta.

“A lot of people took part and they really enjoyed it,” Losier recalls. “We shared history on Aboriginal peoples’ challenges since colonization, and knowledge of Aboriginal culture.”

According to Dodd, its ERGs reflect Medtronic’s deep commitment to diversity and fostering belonging, and ensuring all employees are recognized. “I’m proud that Medtronic Canada represents the customers we serve,” she says, “and that everyone, regardless of their gender or background, can grow at Medtronic.”

She says that the firm’s ERGs have funding, program components and quarterly business reviews. “Our executives take them very seriously – they aren’t just after-school clubs.”

Dodd has worked at Medtronic, the world’s largest medical technology firm, for more than 12 years and was recently appointed to her current position. “The tradition and culture for Medtronic,” she says, “have really been consistent across geographies in terms of understanding that diversity and inclusion are going to make a company better.”

Overall, Dodd says, Medtronic recognizes that supporting employees’ well-being helps serve its customers. “All employees play an important role in helping to achieve our mission to improve lives. Diversity and inclusion aren’t simply talked about in an email or at a town hall – they are embedded in the way that we share patient stories, in our hiring and interviewing process and in how we innovate.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top 100 Employers winners, published November 18, 2022 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Medtronic Canada stays connected inside and out

David Singh has been helping to incorporate new technologies at Brampton-based Medtronic Canada for nearly 30 of Medtronic’s 50 years in Canada.

From the start, Singh, senior director, IT, has been acutely aware that employee well-being and productivity are supported by people’s ability to effectively connect and collaborate. “If you can use technology to enable and protect the culture at the same time, it’s a win for everyone,” he says.

Medtronic is a leading global healthcare technology company, with over 95,000 people in 150 countries worldwide dedicated to alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life. From miniaturized pacemakers to minimally invasive laparoscopic instruments to patient monitoring systems, Medtronic’s innovative therapies address 70 different health conditions, including Parkinson’s, diabetes and a number of heart diseases.

Staying connected is critical. “We look for ways to continuously improve the employee experience for easy communication with anyone in the country and around the world,” says Singh. “My team operates from multiple locations, with eight different offices supporting 26 different regions across two continents – just one example of why it’s so important for us to have tech communications solutions.”

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of several digital communications tools, both synchronous and asynchronous, says Singh. “We don’t look at technological tools from an IT perspective,” he continues. “We ask, what business problem are we trying to solve?”

When the world shut down overnight, his team focused on supporting and empowering employees to continue to engage with each other, as well as with patients and healthcare providers, virtually.

“It really makes a difference when we can see who we are talking to and have a sense of connection with our peers and customers,” he says. “One of our goals in IT is to help drive collaboration as effectively as possible in a digital environment.”

For Singh, the virtual and hybrid environments enabled by his team also “level the playing field” when it comes to active participation in meetings. “Some people who may have felt intimidated in a strictly face-to-face setting feel more confident contributing in this new work environment,” he says. “We are seeing more creativity and diversity of thought than ever before.”

Alex Naccarato, a senior digital specialist in Medtronic’s diabetes business, agrees.

“There’s a lot of open communication here,” says Naccarato. “In my job, I work closely with teams from all over North America – a crack squad of experts – and I always feel comfortable speaking up when I have something to say, even though I’m a younger employee.”

With digital tools and technology continuing to evolve, roles like his that focus on external communications are important in reaching people outside Medtronic, such as patients and customers.

As he lives with Type 1 diabetes himself, Naccarato feels a special connection with those looking to use Medtronic insulin pump systems to help improve the management of their condition.

“I help patients connect with the company, literally and figuratively,” he says of his work in digital marketing and social media, which helps the company stay on the leading edge of systems it uses to interact with its diabetes community. “It’s cool that I’m in digital, but I know my work contributes to helping better people’s lives.”

Adds Singh: “We’re in the healthcare technology business. We’re constantly looking for ways to apply technology to improve both the customer and employee experience.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Greater Toronto's Top Employers winners, published December 9, 2022 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Medtronic commits to a greener health-care industry

In 2014, when Cameron Hawn joined Brampton, Ont.-based Medtronic Canada ULC as a territory manager for Central Canada, there weren’t many discussions about sustainability in the medical sales industry. Today, it’s a completely different story – in fact, Medtronic’s customers are asking him what the company is doing to advance sustainable practices and processes.

Medtronic researches, designs, manufactures and sells medical devices and therapies. “The feedback I receive from hospitals is that they’re looking for partners, not just suppliers,” says Hawn, now manager of strategic partnerships. “Unlike a decade ago, it’s no longer the case of needing a medical device, but they want to know where it’s coming from and how it’s made.”

Medtronic has a long history of doing the right thing for customers and patients. “We’re purpose-driven relative to our mission to maintain good citizenship as a company, and that includes our social responsibility,” says President Sheri Dodd, who joined Medtronic Canada in the fall of 2022. “The company’s commitment – and the employees’ drive to sustainability in Canada – are very impressive.”

That sense of stewardship led Medtronic to become a co-founding member of the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, which is working toward an environmentally sustainable, climate resilient and net-zero health system. Medtronic also has internal environmental action groups across Canada, where employees can share best practices and contribute suggestions on how to be greener.

One of the most impressive initiatives is the Brampton head office, which opened in 2009 with a Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design (LEED) silver designation. In fact, the headquarters was the first Medtronic office globally to go green. Before it was built, employees were asked about their vision for it; the response was that it should be environmentally friendly.

Other initiatives include asking customers to return end-of-life devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators to Medtronic. Considered hazardous waste, they were being safely stored in the warehouse. Medtronic created a process to collect and disinfect the devices, then properly dispose of any recyclable parts, such as batteries and precious metals.

“Environmental awareness is becoming part of more and more conversations,” says Hawn. “We’re creating a more sustainable ecosystem beyond solving product challenges, and we’re looking at challenges related to patient outcomes, staffing and operating room efficiencies.” This also includes extending the shelf life of innovative technologies, resulting in less clinical and residual waste.

Smaller but still impactful steps include encouraging employees to take coffee grounds from the cafeteria to use as compost in their gardens and to plant tree seedlings at home. There’s a charging station for electric cars in the company’s parking lot and incentives for leasing hybrid company cars. In 2021, the Canadian offices went paperless for invoicing, the first country within Medtronic to do so.

“There are so many great team members and customers who care about sustainability – it’s a huge collaboration,” says Hawn. “It’s no longer good enough to be good enough. We’re pushing the envelope to provide an exceptional experience for patients, hospitals and our employees.”

In her off time, Dodd says, she and her husband love to hike, ski and snowshoe. “My joy is being outside, and I want the environment to be healthy for a long time,” she says. “I bring that mentality to how I operate in my work – and I love that I found a company that shares those values.”

When a hospital partners with Medtronic, they’re getting a company that’s committed to green – and while Dodd is proud of their environmental strides, they’re committed to doing more. “We can touch thousands of hospitals, then multiply that by hundreds of products and tens of thousands of patients,” she says. “That’s good math.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Greenest Employers winners, published April 18, 2023 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.