Putting Purpose into Action

Oct. 16, 2020

Over the past months, we’ve seen ties between health, progress, and prosperity strain in real time due to the hardships brought on by the pandemic. Life as we know it changed dramatically, as did the role of the private sector in many ways. It’s never been clearer: our future depends on companies that contribute to society by innovating boldly and acting with integrity. 

Today, I’m pleased to share the Medtronic 2020 Integrated Performance Report, Putting Purpose into Action. It details how we’ve built resilience for the future, supported customers and patients in entirely new ways and under unprecedented circumstances, and protected our first priority — an unwavering pursuit of our Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life for patients around the world. I encourage Medtronic employees to take a moment to reflect with pride on all we’ve accomplished across our business to further our environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact. 

Our efforts were recently recognized by being included in the Top 30 of the Forbes Just 100 ranking of best corporate citizens (among the United States’ largest publicly traded companies); and in September, we earned the 13th spot on the Fortune Change the World list—both in part for our work to help meet the time-sensitive, global demand for ventilators in response to COVID-19.

Our deep commitment to global corporate citizenship will continue to drive everything we do: adding value to society through the development of innovative, life-saving medical devices and therapies; promoting environmental stewardship; supporting our global workforce; and working responsibly with, and on behalf of, our partners, suppliers, and shareholders. The path is clear because our purpose is clear.

Here are some highlights from the report:

Promoting environmental stewardship: Raising the bar

We’ve stepped-up our program for reducing our global environmental footprint and protecting the natural resources we all rely on. I’m proud to share that we achieved all our FY20 Environmental Performance Goals including significant reductions in energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, regulated and non-regulated waste, and water use.

But we know there is more that can be done. That’s why we set a goal to be carbon neutral in our operations by FY30. To achieve this ambition, we’ve set aggressive new FY25 targets on emissions and energy, in addition to targets on water and waste reduction. We look forward to achieving these targets and finding new ways to build our business resilience and adapt to a changing climate. 

Supporting a global workforce: Global inclusion, diversity, and equity

A new spotlight is shining on injustices that weigh down our ability to truly progress as an equitable society globally. The senseless killing of George Floyd in our hometown of Minneapolis, MN was a wakeup call. We're actively leaning into actions and policies that further advance our global inclusion, diversity, and equity work.

In FY20, we achieved important performance targets in our workforce and economic impact through our supply chain. One of the accomplishments we are proudest of is achieving 100% gender pay equity in many countries including the U.S. and 99% gender pay equity for employees globally. In the U.S. we also achieved 99% ethnicity pay equity for employees. In addition, we were one of three companies recognized this year by Catalyst, a global nonprofit focused on accelerating progress for women.

In our global workforce, among our suppliers, and in the communities where we live and work, we’re putting a holistic program of changes in place to make sure we are doing our part to walk the walk.

Adapting to COVID-19: A roadmap for change

Guided by our Mission, Medtronic mobilized and quickly mapped out a course of action to help global healthcare professionals and partners continue to treat patients and also protect themselves in the face of COVID-19. We ramped up our internal ventilator production five-fold in a matter of just a few months and published open-source design specifications for our portable, compact ventilator. Within the first few weeks, the design files were accessed over 200,000 times.

I’m very proud of how our team around the world moved at the speed of a start-up and executed with the confidence of a seasoned expert. With clear and decisive plans, and powerful collaboration beyond our walls, work that could have taken months or years instead took days and weeks. From engineers working on the next breakthrough to those in our factories making lifesaving products; from field representatives to those virtually changing lives, our employees stepped up their support for our healthcare partners, and we stepped up our support for them.

Throughout this pandemic, we’ve shown what Medtronic does best: forge the path ahead in service of putting patients first, proving a 60+ year old Mission can still inspire innovative thinking. And we continue to do everything we can to help communities throughout the world with their COVID-19 response.

Working responsibly in everything we do

As stewards of human health and well-being, and with an aspiration to be the undisputed leader in healthcare technology, we need to prioritize sustainability to create a better world. We consider it a strategic imperative alongside driving long-term growth and profitability. We’ll apply the highest standards of ethics, quality, safety, security, and reliability. And we’ll act with a renewed purpose to operate as responsible corporate citizens — because it is the right thing to do.

I want to again thank the frontline healthcare workers fighting COVID-19 every day, those caring for the many other needs of patients worldwide, and all the Medtronic employees who’ve gone the extra mile during this difficult time. I’m thankful beyond words for their inspiring sacrifice and tireless resolve.

If there’s one lesson FY20 taught our team, it’s that when we focus energy on our Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life, we can make a meaningful difference to patients and customers around the world. Medtronic has never been more focused on our purpose or clearer on our role as a responsible corporate citizen. The future we make is up to us, and we must seize the opportunities ahead in our next chapter to continue to fulfill the Medtronic Mission. 

See the full report on Medtronic.com.

Sincerely,