Strong corporate governance, including clear policies and procedures, protects our future. Governance is fundamental to earning the trust of our stakeholders and staying focused on improving the lives of patients. The Medtronic board of directors and executive leadership are charged with company oversight, balancing stakeholder interests, and ensuring business decisions align with our Mission.
Every Medtronic employee plays a part in safeguarding our reputation by acting ethically and with integrity. Guiding policies and principles, including our Code of Conduct, are used to communicate company expectations. We continuously reinforce a culture of ethics through annual trainings, ongoing communication, and in-person meetings. Our extensive training program for sales and marketing teams ensures that teams understand industry risks, know how to promote our products honestly and with transparency, and how to protect customer data security. By adhering to our policies, our employees serve the best interest of our patients, prioritize customer relationships built on trust, meet regulatory requirements, and protect our reputation as a company committed to ethical business practices.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND bUSINESS ETHICS — Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) HIGHLIGHTS
At Medtronic, we believe building on our foundation of governance and ethics is the only way to do business, keep the trust of our stakeholders, and serve the best interest of our patients. In FY19 Medtronic:
Introduced 5 new product-promotion trainings tailored to marketing and sales employees, reaching more than 21,000 marketing and sales employees — 97% of employees in those roles.
Certified 100% of our United States workforce in understanding our Code of Conduct and provided Code of Conduct training and certification to 99% of new employees.
Fostered learning, dialogue, and healthy debate about business ethics and compliance through our Ethics Circles, which engage employees in scenario-driven discussions. We supported over 360 Ethics Circles with more than 10,500 employees participating across 30 countries.