Medtronic is a company that is in the medical technology field. It is among the largest in the world having an extensive coverage in the Americas and Europe. The organization has had to invest in diversity efforts so as to strengthen its overall performance. Over the recent years, the company has received accolades for its efforts that have been supported by both employee and consumer bases. Chief among their efforts has been the introduction on Diversity Networks and effective Employee Resource Groups. What is encouraging is that they seem to have now included these factors into their portfolio.
Medtronic has had Diversity Networks in the company for more than 4 years. These networks serve to have leaders who especially focus on policies and programs that will advance women and other people from diverse ethnical backgrounds into leadership roles. Namely, they have African, Asian, and Hispanic Decent Networks and the Medtronic Women’s Network.
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On the part of Employee Resource Groups, these have a focus on professional development and community building at the grassroots level. The resource groups further focus in areas such as faith, age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and other affinities. Some examples include Muslim Employee Resource Group, Disabilities Resource Group and Veterans Employee Resource Group.
The company has an EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) policy that allows them to provide the equal opportunities to all characteristics that are protected under federal law ( Medtronic, 2018). In addition, they provide ample accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. The executive leadership consists of 15 members in which more than 70% of the executive leadership team is male (Medtronic, 2018). On notable fact is that there are no African Americans, Hispanics or persons with disabilities in the executive leadership.
On the face of things, Medtronic fails to show the face of diversity when it comes to leadership. This is especially visible in matters of race and gender. This is because women are too few in the top helm and South Americans and African Americans are missing from that list. The fact that they try to cover up for this by placing the top leadership in inclusion councils is inadequate due to a lack of personal background in the lives of the aforementioned disadvantaged groups (Medtronic, 2018). This may in turn affect their effectiveness as the executive leaders given then role to spearhead groups that are not represented in the executive leadership have to work harder to understand their focus groups. This is tedious and a waste of resources compared to hiring an executive who comes from such a background.
The current situation in the company is not healthy and may be viewed in various ways to identify a solid reason. There could be a lack of able professionals. The fact that the company had to create Resource groups shows that there is a mismatch in the supply of qualified personnel who can lead at the helm.
The company has little presence in African states and Latin America. This could mean that the pressure to install natives of more closely related persons to leadership positions that would adequately represent their groups and provide the necessary stimuli to growth is still low. Hence, they have invested more in providing representation in the executive according to the areas in the world where their presence is considerable (Medtronic, 2018).
Women in general have a lower presence in STEM subjects and fields. This would mean that there is an even lower presence at the executive level due the high level of competencies demanded for qualification. This justifies their current efforts to encourage young women to pursue careers in STEM (Medtronic, 2018).
The company can however improve itself by initiating global mentoring programs and sponsoring employee groups. These would see that employees are able to be mentored by senior employees or leaders in the company who would help them strategize on how to be the company’s future leaders. This can be done using video conferences and work exchange programs.
From such a move, the expected results would be that employees with a better global view of the company. This would make them more equipped to handle a wider range of patients because they know how to speak with them ( Schachter, 2018). Additionally, there will be a more motivated group of minorities or under-represented persons that is qualified to handle larger positions at the company.
References
Medtronic. Com. (2018). Diversity & Inclusion Retrieved from http://www.medtronic.com/us-en/about/careers/diversity-inclusion.html
Medtronic. (2018). EEO Policy Statement Medtronic. Retrieved from http://www.medtronic.com/us-en/about/careers/eeo-statement.html
Schachter, H. (2018, May 11). Eight tips to increase diversity. Retrieved May 13, 2018, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/eight-tips-to-increase-diversity/article14707577/
