How is Medtronic's culture now? Has it improved?

[Anonymous]

Good managers manage everyone differently based on the their employees experience level and the type of job they are expected to perform within in the group. Perhaps you observe your manager managing others differently than the way he/she manages you and it bothers you. Did the manager you work for hire you or were you inherited from a previous manager?

I read this as a non sequitor to my comment you're quoting.

 

[Anonymous]

Good managers manage everyone differently based on the their employees experience level and the type of job they are expected to perform within in the group. Perhaps you observe your manager managing others differently than the way he/she manages you and it bothers you. Did the manager you work for hire you or were you inherited from a previous manager?

It doesn't matter if he/she was hired by the manager or inherited from a previous manager. Just acking that question tells me that you probably shouldn't have direct reports.

 

[Anonymous]

Good managers manage everyone differently based on the their employees experience level and the type of job they are expected to perform within in the group. Perhaps you observe your manager managing others differently than the way he/she manages you and it bothers you. Did the manager you work for hire you or were you inherited from a previous manager?

Dumb and condescending at the same time. I hope this isn't a manager.

 

[Anonymous]

Dumb and condescending at the same time. I hope this isn't a manager.

This comment is neither dumb nor condescending; it is spot on. Peyton Manning, Alex Rodgers and Tom Brady do not get coached the same way the Cam Newton, Alex Smith and Tim Tebow do. Any good coach knows that leadership styles need to change with the situation and the personnel involved.

Regarding the question of whether or not an employee was hired by the manager or not, again this is very important to the equation. If a manager hires or promotes a person, they have a vested interested in the success of that person. There are two huge metrics by which managers at large sales corporations are managed-- 1) hitting your number; 2) hiring and developing talent. To carry the football analogy further, consider how often former first and second round draft picks are cut by a team immediately after a new GM and/or head coach are hired.

Everyone has preferences and biases. It is a simple fact. In closing, I find it interesting that half of the posts on CP claim that managers are worthless and unnecessary. The other half claim that sales reps can't succeed because they don't have good managers. Which is it? Are managers vital to success or not needed?

 

[Anonymous]

This comment is neither dumb nor condescending; it is spot on. Peyton Manning, Alex Rodgers and Tom Brady do not get coached the same way the Cam Newton, Alex Smith and Tim Tebow do. Any good coach knows that leadership styles need to change with the situation and the personnel involved.

Regarding the question of whether or not an employee was hired by the manager or not, again this is very important to the equation. If a manager hires or promotes a person, they have a vested interested in the success of that person. There are two huge metrics by which managers at large sales corporations are managed-- 1) hitting your number; 2) hiring and developing talent. To carry the football analogy further, consider how often former first and second round draft picks are cut by a team immediately after a new GM and/or head coach are hired.

Everyone has preferences and biases. It is a simple fact. In closing, I find it interesting that half of the posts on CP claim that managers are worthless and unnecessary. The other half claim that sales reps can't succeed because they don't have good managers. Which is it? Are managers vital to success or not needed?

The "Good managers manage everyone differently .." comment was irrelevant in the first place, so no point in trying to "teach" people further.

 

[Anonymous]

This comment is neither dumb nor condescending; it is spot on. Peyton Manning, Alex Rodgers and Tom Brady do not get coached the same way the Cam Newton, Alex Smith and Tim Tebow do. Any good coach knows that leadership styles need to change with the situation and the personnel involved.

Regarding the question of whether or not an employee was hired by the manager or not, again this is very important to the equation. If a manager hires or promotes a person, they have a vested interested in the success of that person. There are two huge metrics by which managers at large sales corporations are managed-- 1) hitting your number; 2) hiring and developing talent. To carry the football analogy further, consider how often former first and second round draft picks are cut by a team immediately after a new GM and/or head coach are hired.

Everyone has preferences and biases. It is a simple fact. In closing, I find it interesting that half of the posts on CP claim that managers are worthless and unnecessary. The other half claim that sales reps can't succeed because they don't have good managers. Which is it? Are managers vital to success or not needed?

"The other half claim that sales reps can't succeed because they don't have good managers. Which is it? Are managers vital to success or not needed?"

That is the million dollar question moving forward for The Big 3...and based on the RIFFs and consolidation of business units into hybrid organizations....I will say that I am happy to be a rep.

Now that a 'GE-Six-Sigma' Clone is running Big Blue it's no surprise that the leaning process is occurring. It probably would have happened anyway, but probably a good call putting someone with that background in charge of doing it right.

So, I suspect that regions are being assessed in a new light. If a region's business comes from mostly local contracts...it stands to reason that having a 'suit' in the territory makes sense. However, if a region gets most of it's business from nationally brokered deals with GPOs, then why not save the expense of having a manager there? Since it's essentially just a big contract that needs to be serviced, why not just put a couple extra clinicals (cheap) with cost savings associated with putting the manager to the sword (expensive).

What about disputes among reps in the area - like HR situations? This may be one of the more compelling reasons fro having managers in the field, but honestly my experience has been that those situations either resolve themselves or they get referred on up...the manager essentially just provides the necessary paper trail to justify whatever the final solution is. This reliance on regional managers, along with many other things we've come to expect from a full-fledged CRM organization, will change and not be missed.

What about managers as "executives in training"? That's a good point too, but as the business model changes - the necessity for dragging the bag as a pre-requisite to running the show is and will become less and less crucial. Contract management, C-Level negotiations...these will be the important tools for future med device CEOs,and you can find guys capable of that in any sector.

To sum up....I am not saying that middle managers are going away...I just see the Table of Organization changing from a pyramid to an hourglass...and as I said before...for me...I am happy to be at the foundation of that pyramid for the time being. The question is...for those who want to make their way to the top, what's the nest way to pass through the middle management rung without falling victim to a RIFF?

 

[Anonymous]

For your first question, the answer is it's the SAME!! Racist and sexist culture. If u aren't a WHITE MALE, you are DONE. Promotion is not based on accomplishments and qualifications. If you are a minority, you are screwed by your manager and the couple hateful colleagues (you know who you are)! Minorities have to prove their merit and qualifications on daily basis. You may have gotten there vibrant, with full of energy and passion, it won't be long before they break you down (especially if you know what you are doing and are smarter) and make you doubt yourself worth. you are expected to perform 1000 times better/more than your white counterparts. Your manager will ignore your contributions, credit himself or other non-deserving direct reports with it. When you ask for promotion citing your list of accomplishment and contributions, she/he will use the common terminologies used on minorities when they don't have anything else to say to disqualify you from promotion. Year after year, your manager will come up with new excuse(s) to why she/he can't still give you your overdue promotion. You will find yourself proving your merit and qualifications on a daily basis year after year hoping your manager will soon see beyond your gender/race!
For your second question, i have to say No it hasn't, worst for minorities!

 

[Anonymous]

For your first question, the answer is it's the SAME!! Racist and sexist culture. If u aren't a WHITE MALE, you are DONE. Promotion is not based on accomplishments and qualifications. If you are a minority, you are screwed by your manager and the couple hateful colleagues (you know who you are)! Minorities have to prove their merit and qualifications on daily basis. You may have gotten there vibrant, with full of energy and passion, it won't be long before they break you down (especially if you know what you are doing and are smarter) and make you doubt yourself worth. you are expected to perform 1000 times better/more than your white counterparts. Your manager will ignore your contributions, credit himself or other non-deserving direct reports with it. When you ask for promotion citing your list of accomplishment and contributions, she/he will use the common terminologies used on minorities when they don't have anything else to say to disqualify you from promotion. Year after year, your manager will come up with new excuse(s) to why she/he can't still give you your overdue promotion. You will find yourself proving your merit and qualifications on a daily basis year after year hoping your manager will soon see beyond your gender/race!
For your second question, i have to say No it hasn't, worst for minorities!

And you can thank HR for all of it. They have shoved the "diversity thing" down the throats of sales management to the point where they are absolutely sick of it. It's a sad day when HR and the company set diversity personnel quotas. And then there is the nightmare to try and performance manage underpeforming diverse employees. Talking about double standards! Management is bitter about this entire situation and the culture is not going to change until HR backs off and allows their leaders to hire the best person for the job no matter what color, race, religion or gender.

 

[Anonymous]

For your first question, the answer is it's the SAME!! Racist and sexist culture. If u aren't a WHITE MALE, you are DONE. Promotion is not based on accomplishments and qualifications. If you are a minority, you are screwed by your manager and the couple hateful colleagues (you know who you are)! Minorities have to prove their merit and qualifications on daily basis. You may have gotten there vibrant, with full of energy and passion, it won't be long before they break you down (especially if you know what you are doing and are smarter) and make you doubt yourself worth. you are expected to perform 1000 times better/more than your white counterparts. Your manager will ignore your contributions, credit himself or other non-deserving direct reports with it. When you ask for promotion citing your list of accomplishment and contributions, she/he will use the common terminologies used on minorities when they don't have anything else to say to disqualify you from promotion. Year after year, your manager will come up with new excuse(s) to why she/he can't still give you your overdue promotion. You will find yourself proving your merit and qualifications on a daily basis year after year hoping your manager will soon see beyond your gender/race!
For your second question, i have to say No it hasn't, worst for minorities!

You totally lack true perspective of who you are professionally and I can tell you, in your case, you are blaming your lack of promotatbility on the wrong issue. You were a bad hire by MDT and you over inflated your accomplishments and had ZERO credibility amongst the staff. Your communication and follow through was horrible. You intentionally misrepresented what people told you to favor your position. For you to say management took credit for your accomplishments is exactly what you were doing from the day you started!!!! You took offense to ANY criticism or corrective comments and never engaged with the team. The running joke amongst the team was, "What is XXXXX doing all day?" You never were where you claimed you were.(you know who you are) You were completely uneffective and laughable when it came to doing the actual job. The # of breaks you received was painful to watch and MDT let it go on way too long and it is best you have moved on but it sounds like you still don't get it. Big difference between racist/sexist and not having real competence in the job you were hired to do. Your vision is blurred.

 

[Anonymous]

Been here a year and love the positive performance-based culture. MDT gives you everything to succeed. Its all about performance and stepping up the skills.

 

[Anonymous]

Been here a year and love the positive performance-based culture. MDT gives you everything to succeed. Its all about performance and stepping up the skills.

You're still on the outside looking in. Wait until you've been here long enough to be allowed inside. Then, look around at what you see, that wasn't visible through the window.

 

[Anonymous]

You're still on the outside looking in. Wait until you've been here long enough to be allowed inside. Then, look around at what you see, that wasn't visible through the window.

Quite the contrary, he is very much on the inside. When mdt managers have to come to this site and spew, "Been here a year and love the positive performance-based culture. MDT gives you everything to succeed. Its all about performance and stepping up the skills" to defend the environment they've created - it's laughable.

 

[Anonymous]

You totally lack true perspective of who you are professionally and I can tell you, in your case, you are blaming your lack of promotatbility on the wrong issue. You were a bad hire by MDT and you over inflated your accomplishments and had ZERO credibility amongst the staff. Your communication and follow through was horrible. You intentionally misrepresented what people told you to favor your position. For you to say management took credit for your accomplishments is exactly what you were doing from the day you started!!!! You took offense to ANY criticism or corrective comments and never engaged with the team. The running joke amongst the team was, "What is XXXXX doing all day?" You never were where you claimed you were.(you know who you are) You were completely uneffective and laughable when it came to doing the actual job. The # of breaks you received was painful to watch and MDT let it go on way too long and it is best you have moved on but it sounds like you still don't get it. Big difference between racist/sexist and not having real competence in the job you were hired to do. Your vision is blurred.

hhhhhhhhmmmmmmm it sounds like you are the "manager" or the "hateful colleague" referenced above. MDT does not give any break...especially if one continues to underperform and was determined to be a bad hire. It appears you are threatened by this individual and may be doing everything in your little power to destroy the credibility of the individual and/or push this person out of the door! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately - you may be the one lacking professionalism and self-confidence. Work on the root cause of your pain - it doesn't appear it is due to the number of break the indiv got, rather due to the failure of your efforts to see him out of the door.

 

[Anonymous]

hhhhhhhhmmmmmmm it sounds like you are the "manager" or the "hateful colleague" referenced above. MDT does not give any break...especially if one continues to underperform and was determined to be a bad hire. It appears you are threatened by this individual and may be doing everything in your little power to destroy the credibility of the individual and/or push this person out of the door! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately - you may be the one lacking professionalism and self-confidence. Work on the root cause of your pain - it doesn't appear it is due to the number of break the indiv got, rather due to the failure of your efforts to see him out of the door.

I'm fine working with under achievers...I just pick up their pieces and move on....it's when they blame the company and the employees for their professional lack of progression and failures that crack me up. You are either this person or a worthless sympathizer. Thanks for the encouragement to look at my "root cause" (over used MDT clone term and one you over used while you were there by the way) so here's what I found-that I am motivated to achieve, not undermine others. Determined to not let others inadequacies get in my way. Stay focused on protomotable qualites I can adjust. But most of all I realized that blaming my failures in these catagories is a true sign of human weakness and overall professional failure when I choose to blame it on my race or gender. You are a classic example of "over promising and under achieving" and/or the "Peter Principle". Stop blaming your boss and colleagues for your failures...you have done this for years and that's why you have stayed in each job for 2 yrs or less for the last 15 yrs. What I find comical is that you have been hired for the majority of your jobs for the same resons you feel you are being discriminated against but you only accept the latter...pick your poison!

 

[Anonymous]

For your first question, the answer is it's the SAME!! Racist and sexist culture. If u aren't a WHITE MALE, you are DONE. Promotion is not based on accomplishments and qualifications. If you are a minority, you are screwed by your manager and the couple hateful colleagues (you know who you are)! Minorities have to prove their merit and qualifications on daily basis. You may have gotten there vibrant, with full of energy and passion, it won't be long before they break you down (especially if you know what you are doing and are smarter) and make you doubt yourself worth. you are expected to perform 1000 times better/more than your white counterparts. Your manager will ignore your contributions, credit himself or other non-deserving direct reports with it. When you ask for promotion citing your list of accomplishment and contributions, she/he will use the common terminologies used on minorities when they don't have anything else to say to disqualify you from promotion. Year after year, your manager will come up with new excuse(s) to why she/he can't still give you your overdue promotion. You will find yourself proving your merit and qualifications on a daily basis year after year hoping your manager will soon see beyond your gender/race!
For your second question, i have to say No it hasn't, worst for minorities!

It's unfortunate. Stay focused. It is part of life. Don't let it discourage you. Sometimes, it's easy to assume the worst. Some bosses aren't good at recognizing their employees - it doesn't mean they don't value or recognize your contribution. Be patient. Don't trust anyone - including the one you think you can trust. Definitely, stay clear from the manipulative and two-faced individuals. Everyone has heard of such individuals or works with one. Limit your interactions to work-related. I once had great relationship with my current boss before he became my boss. It was severed for a while by a colleague who wanted to have more control. Just stay true to yourself. Keep doing your job. Follow your boss's suggestion for improvement. It can only make you better. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't trust anyone - including the one you think you can trust. Definitely, stay clear from the manipulative and two-faced individuals. Everyone has heard of such individuals or works with one. Limit your interactions to work-related.QUOTE]


Good advice, and remember, these people can be coworkers or your bosses.

 

[Anonymous]

MDT does not give any break...especially if one continues to underperform and was determined to be a bad hire.

Absolutely not true. If only the culture were based on performance ...

 

[Anonymous]

And you can thank HR for all of it. They have shoved the "diversity thing" down the throats of sales management to the point where they are absolutely sick of it. It's a sad day when HR and the company set diversity personnel quotas. And then there is the nightmare to try and performance manage underpeforming diverse employees. Talking about double standards! Management is bitter about this entire situation and the culture is not going to change until HR backs off and allows their leaders to hire the best person for the job no matter what color, race, religion or gender.

I enjoy working with people from a multitude of backgrounds. However, "diversity" can be used in very manipulative ways at MDT. Have a problem with someone's work? (Work, not their color or gender or whatever.) If they are in any category different from you, the first approach from your boss can be to accuse you of racism or sexism (or whatever they can try to pin) and never address the person's work. Addressing the person's work might put the burden on the manager to deal with that person individually to develop their skills. Of course, the manager needs to be able to recognize competence and good character, and, more importantly, incompetence and poor character. These attributes go across all people. Valuing incompetence and poor character should not really run together with "valuing diversity," as it seems to be applied at MDT. MDT has many talented employees from various backgrounds, and it also has some underperforming employees from various backgrounds. I wish MDT would stop obsessing about "diversity" and start focusing on performance. I really don't care who the "guy" in the next cube is, as long as "he" makes solid, positive contributions to my team's work.

 

[Anonymous]

It's unfortunate. Stay focused. It is part of life. Don't let it discourage you. Sometimes, it's easy to assume the worst. Some bosses aren't good at recognizing their employees - it doesn't mean they don't value or recognize your contribution. Be patient. Don't trust anyone - including the one you think you can trust. Definitely, stay clear from the manipulative and two-faced individuals. Everyone has heard of such individuals or works with one. Limit your interactions to work-related. I once had great relationship with my current boss before he became my boss. It was severed for a while by a colleague who wanted to have more control. Just stay true to yourself. Keep doing your job. Follow your boss's suggestion for improvement. It can only make you better. Good luck.

So your great relationship with your boss has worked out for you? You are taking his suggestions? How does your response address the thread you attached about the complaints of not getting promoted because of their race/gender? This thread is about MDT culture not being fair to race/gender,which I 100% DISAGREE, and your "hang in there" is a soft-sell approach in answering your original post.

Let me guess, so you went to your boss on these individuals you call 2-faced and manipulative and your boss ignored you and because of that you no longer like your boss and MDT is bad place to work? BOOOHOOO. How can you call others 2-faced and manipulative when it sounds like that's exactly what you did and it back-fired? For you to offer this kind of career advise clearly indicates you have had a troubled history of employment filled with disappointment.

 

[Anonymous]

For you to offer this kind of career advise clearly indicates you have had a troubled history of employment filled with disappointment.

Would this person's career advice be typical at MDT, then?