Medtronic reaps two awards in SBR Management Excellence Awards 2020

The company is commended for effective employee engagement and executive leadership.

Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, services, and solutions, supports its employees in delivering on its mission “to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life” for millions of patients worldwide. This support, which is driven by Chris Lee, the APAC President, and the rest of the leadership team, can be felt among all employees in the APAC headquarters in Singapore. Their initiatives have thus earned them the Employee Engagement of the Year Award and Executive of the Year Award in the Health Products & Services category of the SBR Management Excellence Awards 2020.

Just one of Medtronic’s several employee engagement programs is “We are Stronger Together”. Launched at the start of the pandemic, it introduced training programs, wellness initiatives, and new policies to ensure the mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of its team members.

Underlying such programs is a commitment to open and transparent communication. All 450+ Singapore-based employees have direct access to APAC President Chris Lee. For example, every month, Lee selects five popular or controversial questions submitted by employees and answers them via video. He also leads quarterly meetings with all regional employees to share business results and strategy updates.

For his empathetic leadership, Lee is named Executive of the Year in the aforementioned category. During the pandemic, Lee has prioritised the welfare of employees over the company’s revenue and profit, believing that this will help the business bounce back faster. Since Lee was appointed in Singapore, employee engagement, and the business itself, has grown due to his commitment to innovation and inclusion.

For instance, he introduced Medtronic Spark, an internal competition that allows employees to suggest ideas on how to generate new revenue streams and go-to-market strategies, or to improve operational efficiencies in the APAC region. Furthermore, Lee has promoted gender diversity, thereby increasing women’s representation on the APAC leadership team to 50% from 36% previously.

Talent X is another program directed at employee engagement. The Medtronic talent exchange program encourages employees across APAC to transfer to new offices or new departments. For Singaporean employees, Talent X SG+ primes the company’s top talent for leadership roles by giving them exposure to different business units and countries in the region.

And in terms of employee engagement, Chris has a deal with his teams: good work should be recognised and rewarded. For every two consecutive quarters that the team meets its growth and revenue targets, employees get to leave work one hour earlier on Fridays. Other incentives include Pampering at Medtronic, free in-office lunch, and other surprises – like the Ding Dong Mystery Box, which is sent to employees’ homes during the pandemic.

These are more than small gestures, allowing employees to feel that they are also benefiting the company’s success – which is driven by their hard work and commitment. In turn, motivating

them to go out and grow the business and help patients.