After years of being expected to do more and more with less and less, now I just show up for the money. I stopped caring a while ago. How can a place change so much so quickly? Or am I wearing rose-tinted glasses when it comes to Medtronic of five to ten years ago?
30 replies (most recent on top)
Medtronic is cooked
@171 This has been what I have witnessed. You are at higher risk at the manager level than the individual level.
@15a They just don't know be my guess.
@b7 those who speak up are removed. If they have respect of their teams and peers, they are an even bigger issue to fragile leaders. There no doubt were some seriously good leaders who were recently taken out in the last round of RIF’s. People with track records of success, careers built on serving patients and the mission and not serving the desires of a poor leader who desperately wants a promotion.
I don't understand why some people think Elliot is our savior. Their main goal is to make as much profit as possible. That will include more RIFs and outsourcing our jobs while forcing the rest of us to cut corners.
@mx I’ve been here since the late 1990s. The contrast from then to now is heartbreaking. I still like my work and coworkers. I hope to retire when I choose but who knows with the RIFs and “disappearing” of people (solid performers who are suddenly “no longer with Medtronic.” Geoff Martha so needs to go but no one in a position to make that happen seems to care. I though we would see more activity from Elliot by now but maybe it’s in the works and not public yet.
Yes. Be glad you have the opportunity to work extra hard and longer hours so our leader can buy another beach house.
@a4 I’m slow…. What’s MLM. Make leadership money?
@mn I agree something must change in Surgical. Very short-term focused org and making decisions that look great now but long term…
@my Keep hanging on. The money is good if you can tolerate the chaos. Earl drove the passion for the mission. Most of those folks who work for Earl and then the next generation is almost gone. Sadly, that era may be gone for good. Praying for another amazing passion to come behind GM.
@kz the abusive relationship is an ironically good analogy! Hanging on, just hoping it’ll get better
@d7 you’re not wrong. We aren’t “owed” anything, but you may be a recent employee with most of your tenure under the Martha regime. If so, you weren’t part of the organization when it was truly great. Positions were coveted, the work mattered, teamwork was a given, and everyone was aligned with the mission. Successes were celebrated at all levels. The work was hard, timelines were tight, there was never enough money, and we always juggled competing priorities, but we got results, made great products, enjoyed coming to work, trusted and cared about our colleagues, and personal relationships mattered and loyalty was valued. People were willing to go above and beyond because they cared about the work and their team. It wasn’t perfect, but it was meaningful and rewarding.
We were fortunate to work for that Medtronic. It’s sad to see the culture that made Medtronic great fade away. We stay on because the pay is competitive, benefits are great, and the job market isn’t. I still work hard, but it’s unnecessarily bureaucratic and hard to get work done in the new Medtronic when the structure is always changing. I reported to six different people in one year, all with different and sometimes competing objectives. It was difficult to be successful in that environment, but I survived it. It got a little better the next year, but there’s still too much turnover and misalignment of objectives to be truly effective and efficient.
We’re all commodities now and could be subject to RIF in any moment, often for no strategic reason, just to hit a quarterly number. Good performers, poor performers, all subject to RIF, and whoever’s left has to pick up the workload with no recognition, appreciation, or increase in pay. It’s evident in the stock price relative to overall market performance that these new approaches aren’t working.
I too used to care but Medtronic has some terrible leadership! I’ve been at Medtronic for 10 years and supported several different business units but the worse leadership has been at Surgical! They can’t make decisions and have brought in people that don’t know the surgical business. The constant org changes don’t help. We used to be a results oriented company but the LT is just trying to hold on as long as possible. I’m assuming that the recent departures of LT members is a sign that things will continue to get worse.
@jg lol, it's not that deep bro.
@jg wow you’re so right. This actually this sort of feels like abusive relationship in a way. I keep hanging on hoping that the organization will change and get back to how it was when the patient was at the heart of everything. Sad stuff.
@jf You are the abuser attending the victim's support group. Someday you will watch something you love destroy itself and you will want to scream at the top of your lungs.
@ew I don’t know who is downvoting this.
MDT owes you nothing, if you’re not happy or feel like you agree with the direction of the company nobody is forcing you to stay. Go find an opportunity that will make you happier. Life is waaaay to short to let your happiness be impacted by an employer
You got rose tinted glasses.
But also remember this website is a toxic cesspool that attracts people who are frustrated with what they see going on, and also are filled with uncertainty and concerned about what their job (and income source) looks like moving forward. It breeds anger, and resentment.
@ew thanks HR
All please remember MDT is a "at will" employer, you can leave or be asked to leave "at will". With that said you are required to do the "best job" you can and will compensated for that effort. Be happy you have a job but always be on the look out for a new option with a new employer if your in your prime.
@b7 I believe that was me. I was constantly at odds with my manager speaking up about choices, culture, etc. you know where that landed me? Part of the RIF
Geoff Martha. That’s your answer.
You can thank the messages from leaders like Skipp. When he said Medtronic’s mission is Patient + shareholders, that’s when I know Medtronic lost its way.
Remember, you were hired because there was a job open and funding available.
That has a different vibe versus shrinking AOP, hiring freezes, cost controls and RIFs.
Looking around, I know my wouldn’t likely be able to replace headcount due to attrition, so it makes sense that things are different than when we had 3-4 open reqs to grow the group.
Putting the patient first once felt embedded in the culture and daily work. It didn’t require repeated reinforcement or recognition programs because it was simply part of how things were done. Seeing that culture change over time has been challenging and has impacted morale across many teams. A number of strong contributors have chosen to leave, which has been difficult to see.
I want to remind everyone here that you should always only show up for the money. At the same time, you should be reasonably conscientious about your work.
It’s true expectations have ballooned faster than support. Do your job as professionally as you can within your finite capacity. You should still care, fundamentally, I think. You can either push back and wait to be fired, or switch jobs on your own accord. The Medtronic of the past is gone.
Yup a lot of bootlickers in management. No one is left with a spine willing to speak up and point out the issues.
This has been around forever and still true ""I do just enough to not get fired."
Same cr-p was happening 5-10 years ago. It’s likely you’ve grown/learned enough how the sausage is made to recognize it.
Omar famously stated at town halls
1) the tenent 5 explicitly states to recognize the worth of ‘employees’ and contractors aren’t employees so the tenet doesn’t apply to how we treat contractors.
2) your e-mail address ends with a *.com which means your job exists to make money. Go work somewhere with a .org or a .edu if you’re going to question business decisions that return money to shareholders.
So yeah, what Neuron Geoff is doing is no different than what Neutron Omar was doing, just Neutron Geoff has figured out how to get half the company to blame DEI instead of leadershits.
You're not alone. We were told that this was a patient first company. However, this company has become a MLM where the only goal is to squeeze as much money as possible.