In this week’s installment of our Career Advice video series, Linda Bell, Head of Content at Fair360, interviewed Shirell Gross, VP Global Chief Counsel, Global Operations and Supply Chain at Medtronic (No. 2 on the Fair360 2023 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list). Gross spoke about how her youth shaped her early career achievements, how to self-advocate in the workplace and the most critical support Black employees need.
Medtronic moved up eight spots on the list this year. Women make up 51% of the company’s workforce worldwide and occupy 43% of managerial positions globally.
“As the world grapples with new and evolving healthcare challenges, Medtronic remains steadfast in our focus of creating life-transforming technology, empowering patient-centric, insight-driven care and providing experiences that put people first to deliver better outcomes for our global community. Quite simply, we can’t achieve these aspirations without diverse perspectives challenging our ideas, contributing to innovation and driving durable shared value”
“Our unwavering commitment to ID&E means zero barriers to opportunity within Medtronic and a culture where all employees belong, are respected and feel valued for who they are and the life experiences they contribute. We know equity starts beyond our workplace, and we must play a role in addressing systemic inequities in our communities if we hope to have a long-term sustainable impact.”
“Our commitment to ID&E is critical to building upon our rich history of innovation that has been, and will continue to be, powered by our people. Whether it’s by fostering a culture of belonging, ensuring pay equity or removing barriers to career opportunities, we continue to prioritize ID&E because we know it makes us stronger and helps us further our mission.”
Today, women represent 51% of our global workforce and hold 44% of global management positions at Medtronic. Ethnically diverse talent currently represents 40% of our U.S. workforce and holds 28% of leadership positions, demonstrating great progress toward our representation aspirations.
This year we rolled out research-based effective practices and behaviors (things like inclusive hiring practices and ensuring equitable access to development and sponsorship opportunities) to ingrain inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) throughout our company. These practices support our leader-led model and ensure our efforts to reflect the communities we serve are effective and locally relevant.
In 2023, we leaned further into removing barriers to opportunities and advancing ID&E in an effort to drive real impact.
