Medtronic Reviews in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Area

Pros

Excellent benefits, competitive salary and reasonable vacation time. It feels good to be part of company that makes truly amazing products that can improve lives. There is an active technical community within the company and they've done some cool work internally with social networking to leverage employees' expertise across business units.

Cons

Lots of layoffs in recent years and and maybe more to come with worries about markets slowing down. Moving to different jobs internally is not easy. In my experience,some hiring managers are reluctant to hire people who are looking to grow new skills. But there are good opportunities if you take time to build a network and let people know what your goals are.

Advice to Senior Management

Most formal leadership development programs are open to management only. I wish there were some leadership programs for individual contributors, too. Leadership skills are essential for lots of people who don't have "management" in their title.

Pros

Smart People
Hard working team members
Good Benefits
Good name for resume
Dedicated employees
Pockets of good management
Competitive pay
Mission

Cons

No growth
Turning into a commodity business, and Medtronic does not have a competitive advantage-not number one in quality, not lowest price, not best/easiest customer service..
Layoffs every year since 2006
Lack of clear direction
HR policies change all the time with no notice
Spends many millions of dollars on dinners, charitable outings (golf tournaments), and other events for doctors--money that could be used to brand Medtronic, develop new products, improve quality, etc...
Many employees think that the mission is "dead"

Advice to Senior Management

Revitalize the mission and pick a direction, for example: low cost, highest quality, most efficacious, best customer service, etc.
Remember that the organization is made up of people---43,000 Human Beings (some who are Medtronic patients) who develop the products, make the products, sell the products, distribute the products, service the products...
Hold people accountable for budgets and don't use layoffs as the only means to address budget challenges.

Pros

Company that is very serious about its Mission: "to alleviate pain, restore health and extend life."

Cons

Highly regulated environment, taking long time to embrace and execute change compared to other industries.

Advice to Senior Management

Be a leaner organization, willing to take the risk & change, Regulatory agent is not whom you serve -- patients are.

Pros

Sensitive to diversity
Management supports work life balance

Cons

Promotions come late, and salaries are not on par with other big companies

Pros

Strong management and good job training as well as opportunities for growth
very competent group of supporting engineers
Very good treatment of employees in terms of benefits and details such as the gymnasium and cafeteria

Cons

Long hours and it is a very large company with excessive bureaucracy
much of the upper management is overly concerned with politics within the company
strong disconnect between the Mexico, USA, Ireland and Puerto Rico divisions

Advice to Senior Management

look to a higher plowback ratings to further encourage and fuel the R and D department so that innovations continue to be the central part of the company

Pros

Medtronic has great work culture with all the flexibility.

Cons

Recently with layoffs and IBM taking over teams are becoming more and more siloed.

Pros

People are loyal with a strong work ethic
Line managed is usually encouraged to do what is right
Willing to take risk on innovative technologies

Cons

Lack of strategic thinkers
Very focused on quarterly financial results
Constantly reorganizes
IT managed treats people like they are boxes on an org chart

Advice to Senior Management

Omar's introductory address was great, follow through on what he said. Particularly treating people with respect and loyalty

Pros

Corporate mission, products that enhance lives, good reputation, co-workers.
Peers are supportive in helping address problems and sharing knowledge and experience.
Flexible work hours.

Cons

Seeming "good ol' boy" mentality with middle management; difficult to navigate career growth via upward mobility or cross-transfer between business units . . . incongruent with what is preached by management.
Some management seem very false/disingenuous in persona and in interaction with direct reports.
HR is as useful as HS guidance counselors relative to career advice.
Risk averse; innovation by acquisition.
Cumbersome policies to drive objectives and product development.

Advice to Senior Management

Re-capture the innovative culture and instill employee belief in direction and industry leadership of company. Stand behind corporate mantra and motivate your employee base. Drive cultural differentiation within industry rather than baselining to the competition.

Pros

healthe care sector and I had work environment.

Cons

you can be laid off any time .

Pros

Fantastic people (not all, but most)
Mission driven - people really care about patients
Great pay and benefits
You can learn a lot - jobs are broad based and there are tons of people that will help you learn.

Cons

Company is plateauing and becoming commoditized. Without leadership's willingness to impact margins, they will continue to squeeze costs, meaning people. Layoffs wont discontinue until leadership takes the changing market head on.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize that the market is changing. The margins cant stay where they are. Take the one time stock hit and realign yourselves with the changing environment. Otherwise continued layoffs will push the remaining people over the edge with too much work and too much stress.