Month: March 2023

Global chemistry company Chemours is proud to announce that Chemours Korea Inc. (“Chemours Korea”) has been certified for the second year in a row as one of the 2023 Best Workplaces™ by Great Place to Work®, the global authority on workplace culture and employee experience. This year’s award is even more meaningful to Chemours Korea as the company won two additional certifications, including the 2023 Best Workplaces™ for Women and 2023 Best Workplaces™ for Millennials in Korea.

“Chemours Korea has been putting efforts into making a creative and healthy workplace, aligning with transforming social norms and the emergence of new generations. We are thrilled our efforts are rewarded by being certified as one of the 2023 Best Workplaces™, especially for women and millennials in Korea. We are committed to ensuring employees feel good about coming to work each day and taking part in our mission to create a better world through the power of our chemistry. Ensuring we build an organization where each Chemours employee can institute change with passion and courage is critical to achieving our goal,” said Sanghee Kim, representing Chemours Korea.

Trust is the basis of Chemours values, and the company gives employees greater ownership to unleash their talent through its value of Collective Entrepreneurship. This employee-centric and bottom-up approach grants workers from all levels a greater voice, courageous approach, empowerment, and space in the decision-making process that positively and inspirationally shapes the organization.

As part of further fostering a culture of trust, Chemours Korea launched “Flex for Your Day,” which allows employees to work with their managers to arrange a flexible working schedule that ensures they can work productively while caring for their personal needs. This approach demonstrates the trust Chemours has in its employees to make the best decisions for themselves and the organization. And through the company’s value of Holistic Safety, which considers employees’ physical, emotional, and mental health, Chemours is committed to ensuring all employees feel safe at work and are free to be their authentic selves.

In addition to Chemours Korea’s commitment to being an equitable and inclusive workplace, the organization prioritizes corporate responsibility and contributes to its local communities. Chemours Korea and its employees supported several activities and causes, including lunch box delivery in a community welfare center, Effective Microorganisms (EM) ball activities with the Environment Action Association during its “Global Day of Service” volunteering program, participated in the Hope T Campaign with the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association, and the Flogging Campaign during the pandemic.

About Great Place to Work®:

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees around the world and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Great Place to Work helps organizations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. Their unparalleled benchmark data is used to recognize Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies and the Best Workplaces in the U.S. and more than 60 countries, including the 100 Best Companies to Work For® and the World’s Best lists published annually in Fortune. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™.

To learn more, visit greatplacetowork.co.kr and read “A Great Place to Work for All.” Join the community on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

For more than a century, International Women’s Day (IWD) has been recognized on March 8 globally as a day to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness about discrimination, and take action to drive gender parity. The Medtronic Women’s Network is rallying around this year’s theme to #EmbraceEquity, which is embodied at Medtronic year-round through programs like the one in this story.

Anaisa Rojas Brache first came to Medtronic as a manufacturing operator. She would look at the office in the corner and think, “Someday that will be me.” And thanks to the Medtronic Advanced Pathways & Skill Building (MAPS) program, she’s well on her way.

Medtronic launched MAPS to help remove barriers for Medtronic employees in the United States and Puerto Rico who wish to pursue an undergraduate degree as part of their career development.

This program offers 100% tuition paid by Medtronic for participating schools to eligible employees from day one. Notably, MAPS participants do not need to pay upfront for these educational costs, eliminating the need for reimbursement — just one more way Medtronic is working to remove barriers and ensure every employee has equitable access to the opportunities they seek.

Across industries, women comprise 48% of all entry-level hires, but they make up just 38% of first-level managers — a figure that continues to shrink at higher leadership levels, according to McKinsey.  Medtronic recognizes that different people face different barriers on their journey, and for many, earning a degree leads to meaningful personal and professional growth.

Breaking down barriers

When Rojas Brache came to the United States from the Dominican Republic four years ago, she didn’t speak English. She didn’t need to – her life was back home where she had an accounting degree and a plan. And she was certain she would return someday.

But as time went on, things started to change. She was exceling at her job, picking up English, and starting to see a future – not only in the U.S., but at Medtronic.

She considered seeking tuition reimbursement to attend college, but she’d just had a child and felt the cost was too much.

“When I learned about MAPS, I thought, ‘This is my time,’” Brache said. “Medtronic is not just saving patients’ lives. It’s changing employees’ lives, too.”

She’s studying business administration – specifically management – at the University of Memphis.

And she’s applying her education to work in a new leadership role on the manufacturing line.

“I’m creating my life here,” she said. “I’ve got my son, my job, and I go to school. This is my home now. Everything I dashed from my mind, now I can achieve.”

Hear more from Rojas Brache in this video and learn more about ID&E efforts at Medtronic here.