Medtronic, Inc.: Mission in Motion - Project 6

“ Nothing I can say about Medtronic today makes me happier or more optimistic about the future than the fact that the Mission is deeply embedded as a permanent part of the culture.” 

--Earl Bakken, Co-Founder and First CEO of Medtronic (1957-1974)

Medtronic, Inc., headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, produces medical technologies that treat neurological and musculoskeletal conditions, diabetes, and cardiac and vascular diseases. Operating in over 140 countries, the company employees almost 50,000 individuals. In 2013, Medtronic had $16.6 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net earnings.

At a 1960 board meeting, Bakken first outlined the ideas that would later form Medtronic's mission. I can't help but think that Bakken was influenced by Johnson & Johnson's famous credo, written in 1943. (For an interesting analysis of crafting meaningful missions, I suggest reading "4 Rules to Craft a Mission Statement that Shapes Corporate Culture" from Fast Company.)

Medtronic Mission Statement
from A Legacy of Improving Lives: Our History

Today, Medtronic's corporate social responsibility initiatives are inspired by the sixth tenet of the mission: to maintain good citizenship as a company. To achieve their mission, Medtronic has identified five strategic pillars of their CSR program: addressing chronic disease, a collaborative culture of innovation, responsibility in the marketplace, progressive environmental stewardship, and total employee engagement. These five pillars flow from the mission and reflect the core competencies of the company. Through the Medtronic Foundation, the company donated $64.6 million in cash and in-kind donations.

In terms of environmental stewardship, Medtronic conducted an initial test of equipment recycling. They receive 1700 kilograms of material out of which $53,000 of precious metals were recovered. If they had disposed of the equipment, they would have incurred $21,000 in hazardous material fees. Because the test was so successful, Medtronic is now using the recycling protocol on all eligible equipment. Over the next ten years, they expect to generate $700,000. The program also reduces demand for raw material since the recovered precious metals can be used instead of virgin material.

Dow Corning Citizen Corps: International Impact

Dow Corning offers employees a number of employee volunteer programs in their key areas of education, community vitality, and outreach. However, if I were an employee of Dow Corning, I'd want to join the Dow Corning Citizen Service Corps. In this program, employees commit to a four-week service project in which they provide skills-based volunteering in developing countries.

The first trip, conducted as a pilot, garnered 100 applications from employees out of which 10 were selected to travel to India in 2010 for a four week assignment. A second cohort worked in Bangalore. Some tweets about the Citizen Service Corps are indexed under #DCServiceCorps. There is reference to a blog for participants, but it is password protected.

Because the Dow Corning employees spent a month immersed in the local culture, they were able to experience a developing country and assist its citizens. Each employee was assigned to a particular project, and the employees provided expertise and assistance to the community partners. Employees brought back to Dow Corning a better sense of the opportunities and challenges for the company at the bottom of the pyramid. Laura Asiala, Director of Corporate Citizenship, noted that the company is exploring at least 15 business opportunities derived from the experiences of DC Citizen Corps volunteers. Upon her return, one employee remarked that the experience made her career more meaningful. A study commissioned by DC and conducted by a Harvard Business School Professor, revealed that alumni of the program were less like to turnover. My biggest question is why DC hasn't sent more cohorts.

Pyxera, founder of the Center of Excellence for International Volunteering manages international skills-based volunteering programs to handle the administrative details that companies may not have the expertise or desire to handle. IBM, a founding partner, regularly sends teams of employees through its Corporate Service Corps program. Patagonia offers a sabbatical program, just as exciting for its employees, but the placements are not always international, and they are not team-based.

Whether domestic or international, these longer-term volunteer placements provide numerous benefits to the employee, the host community, and the company. If your business strategy relates to development, selecting such an EVP may provide multiple gains above the program's expense.

 

References

• Kanani, Rahim (2012, July 17). "IBM Deploys Talent, Technology and Innovation for Global Social Progress," Forbes. 
• Tergeson, Anne (2012, January 9). "Doing good to do well," Wall Street Journal.

Campbell Soup: Make a Difference Week

“Campbell’s most inspiring achievements are not measured in dollars, but in the spirit of our employees who volunteer thousands of hours to build and sustain healthy communities. From the C-suite to the plant floor, Campbell’s people are motivated to enhance the quality of life in the areas where we live and work, starting right here in Camden.”--Denise Morrison, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company celebrates Make a Difference Week April 4 through 11. (The event started as a day-long celebration, but seven years ago, when more employees wanted to volunteer, the company expanded it to a full week.) Over 3,000 employees across the United States are expected to participate in one of the 70 projects planned for the week. Planting trees at a local school, reading to children, sorting and boxing food for food banks, building raised vegetable gardens, and preparing backpacks full of food for children who might not have anything to eat during the weekend are some of the activities planned for the eager volunteers. The company, its employees, and even some partner organizations are tweeting about Make a Difference Week using #CampbellMADW.

CEO Morrison told reporter Mark Abrams, "“We believe that employee engagement is really important and drives better performance, and so if we can get our people engaged in the community, they realize that you can make a profit and make a difference.”

Make a Difference Week is only one aspect to the portfolio of CSR initiatives sponsored by the company. Campbell's CSR activities stem from a reflective and thorough CSR philosophy with four strategic focus areas:

• Nourishing Our Planet: Environmental stewardship 
• Nourishing Our Consumers: Our interactions with customers and consumers 
• Nourishing Our Neighbors: Community service 
• Nourishing Our Employees: Building a high-performance workplace

(Using "nourishing" is a nice reflection of their core products and industry. Interestingly, too, the names are not tied to issue areas but to key stakeholder groups.) Each focus area is clearly connected to strategic goals with relevant and clear metrics. The Global Reporting Guidelines inform Campbell's reporting which is available for interested parties to download. The Sustainability/Community Affairs team maintains a separate twitter account.

Campbell's efforts in their hometown, Camden, New Jersey, may be particularly critical since a range of social and economic problems bedevil the city, which is the poorest in America according to 2011 census data. Additionally, it has the highest crime rate among cities in the United States. Children in Camden are more likely to live in poverty than those in surrounding cities, and only 49% of students graduate high school.

To revitalize their hometown, Campbell's created the Healthy Communities program. Camden is a signature town for the program, and Campell's has funded neighborhood improvements and a community soup kitchen as they provide nutrition education, advocate and assist in food access and physical education, and maintain cooperation with community stakeholders.

Of particular note, Campbell Soup Company also cultivates skill-based employee volunteerism. In the 2013 fiscal year, skills-based volunteering accounted for 20% of total volunteer hours, allowing Human Resource professionals to assist community members in writing resumes and preparing for interviews, while chefs and nutritionists provided healthy cooking and nutrition demonstrations for young people, and members of the Marketing group provided local non-profit organizations assistance with marketing and development plans.

Whether traditional or skills-based volunteerism, the Campell Soup Foundation provides eligible non-profit organizations with a $500 grant for every 25 volunteer hours contributed by an employee through the "Dollars for Doers" program. Employees also participate in design teams that develop innovative products to respond to issues related to hunger. These include the produce-to-donate products Just Peachy (a salsa sold to benefit the Food Bank of South Jersey), Super Smoothie (donated to children in need through non-profit partner organizations), and Nourish (a hearty, nutritious meal in a can donated to Food Bank Canada and Free the Children).

Based on their exemplary CSR activities and strong corporate ethics, for the fifth year, Campbell Soup Company has been recognized by Corporate Responsibility Magazine as a top corporate citizen. In 2010, Campbell Soup Company received the Corporate Engagement Award of Excellence from the Points of Light Foundation, which highlighted the company's skills-based volunteer efforts and the company's work in hunger relief efforts. Then-CEO Douglas R. Conant commented, "We deeply appreciate this award, as it recognizes the efforts and dedication of Campbell employees who freely give of their time and share their expertise to help others. Our company is absolutely committed to making a difference in the communities in which we operate and to nourishing peoples' lives everywhere, every day."

Whenever I have my students analyze a company, the final question usually requires them to provide recommendations for improvement. I remind them that even companies that perform very well can always do something to improve. I myself have to turn a very critical eye to find areas for improvement. One suggestion might be to include all of the performance metrics in a single location, since some of the data distributed across the website isn't included in the formal CSR report. Though this might be available through a private employee volunteer portal, more information about employees' roles in CSR and a chance to interact with others could enhance employee engagement. Overall, Campbell's CSR program, as well as its sustainability initiatives and reporting, exemplify current best practices in the field. Their CSR portal provides valuable information about the content and communication of CSR activities that serve as a model for other corporations.

Gap Inc.'s "Be What's Possible" Program

Gap, Inc. has a number of programs that allow employees to become involved in social action at work. The "Service Leadership" section of their corporate social responsibility report. In 2010, employees donated over 428,000 volunteer hours, primarily through skills-based volunteerism that leverages an employee's knowledge, skills and abilities to help local charitable organizations. The report explains: 

employees provide skills-based volunteerism that ranges from writing a competitive analysis for a women’s organization to creating a database for a workers’ rights group to providing organizational development for a family services agency. As an ongoing example, a team from our Legal department has been working with two youth nonprofits to provide the legal expertise they need to expand their services, acting similarly to an in-house counsel for these organizations.

To help associates identify the volunteer opportunities that best align with their skills, Gap, Inc. provides a website called "Be What's Possible." 

This site outlines the different social action programs available to employees, including grants for team-based volunteering, "money-for-time" (donations to non-profits when an employee volunteers a minimum number of hours), Camp Old Navy, board member match, and more. Gap, Inc. provides two different toolkits that help employees identify the intersection between their skills and their passions and provide advice for maximizing the impact employees can have on their chosen cause. Finally, the site outlines the target causes (those that "fit" with Gap Inc.'s social mission) and offers instructions for associates who want to take advantage of matching donations.

Gap, Inc. believes the opportunities for social action at work pay off with more committed employees:

We see a direct connection between our employees’ volunteerism and their commitment to Gap Inc.: engaged employees deliver strong business results. In a recent employee survey, nearly all respondents said it is important for them to work for a company that invests in the community.