Hundreds of Covidien employees visited the One Covidien Exhibition area in the Warsaw National Stadium’s atrium during the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunchtime breaks. Twelve different booths displayed a wide variety of products and shared services that make up Covidien in Europe, and gave an opportunity for all delegates to learn more about our businesses, and the functions that support them.
The atmosphere was lively throughout, and the booths were crowded with interested attendees who lined up to discover the great technologies, products and services on display, and exchange with the experts manning the booths.
“The exhibition is very good, it is very big so we can see everything, and it’s very interesting to see what all the different departments do.” said Marco Zunino, GSP Sales Rep, Italy
The One Covidien Get Together took place in the atrium of the Warsaw National Stadium on Thursday evening. This was a very special occasion, as for the first time, the full 1500 Kick-off meeting attendees came together in one place, and it proved to be quite an event. In just a few hours, the whole atrium was transformed from the One Covidien Exhibition area to a central stage, complete with atmospheric lighting and background music. Gathering in the atrium and the balconies overlooking the stage following the end of their breakout meetings, colleagues had some time to meet and chat over drinks.
To begin the session, the This Is Positive Momentum video was displayed on the screen, and Cristiano Franzi – President Covidien Europe, took the stage to thank the participants for their contribution to a great Kick Off event. The main focus however was on World Stroke Day, and shortly Nadine Hans - VP Marketing Vascular Therapies introduced a poignant video featuring New York Metropolitan Opera singer and stroke survivor Eric Jordan who had been treated and consequently saved by Covidien’s stroke treatment products.
Then came the big surprise: Eric had flown overnight from the US and was present at the meeting, and he came onstage with Nadine and spoke to the captivated audience. He then performed two songs, including "New York, New York", followed by great applause. Undoubtedly the highlight of the entire week.
The final message, to close the One Covidien event, came from Cristiano Franzi : “Our products change patients’ lives every day. You do make a difference.”
Closing Event
The final event of the week took place on Thursday and Friday evenings, when delegates had the opportunity to celebrate together at the Kick-off closing party. The venue featured a large main dance floor complete with giant disco ball and a balcony section above, as well as a second separate room of almost equal size featuring a buffet and seating area. There were also a number of smaller side rooms, including a sushi bar complete with on-site sushi-chefs to make and serve to order. The attendees were ready to eat, talk, relax and dance after an intensive week of meetings, and a great evening was had by all.
Warsaw Kick-off Meeting - One Covidien
There is something special about bringing 1.500 people together as One Covidien in one location. It is a unique opportunity to share with everybody how big we are as a company and hopefully impress upon everybody what a difference we can make for healthcare in Europe. Each one of you, all of us together do have that power to make that difference; we share a vision and a sense of purpose to positively impact every patient that our products touch - with integrity, honesty, safety and quality. In the process, we know that we will positively impact the future of healthcare. Build on this positive momentum for the patients, for Covidien, for yourselves.
It was great seeing everyone in Warsaw. Although I spoke with many, I wish I could have spoken with all. I gathered from your comments that the meeting was useful and I am happy about that because it is indeed a big investment to organize an event of this size. It was also a great way to celebrate everything that we have achieved as Covidien, before we start a new life as Medtronic. (expected closing date in early 2015)
The largest award ceremony of the week took place on Wednesday evening in grand surroundings on the Warsaw Polytechnic University campus. More than 500 people were seated for their silver-service banquet before the award presentation, the atmosphere was palpable.
Cristiano Franzi and Bryan Hanson came onstage to open the proceedings. Chris Barry was also invited to the stage and applauded the team. “You are the growth engine of Covidien”, he told the audience.
After the announcement of the President’s award location, Wilfred vanZuilen - VP AST Europe came on stage to announce the winners, which included Thomas Daniels (UK).
Interviewed afterwards, Thomas Daniels said:
“It was a fantastic experience, I haven’t won one before. This is my third year with Covidien, I’ve watched other people win and sat back wishing I could win one, so I worked really hard. It’s been a fantastic year and all things came out well.”
AST Breakout
A new surgical procedure for rectal cancer called TATME was the focus of one of the AST breakout sessions, presented by Eligio Floscoli - Senior Marketing Director, Procedural Marketing, at the Warsaw stadium on Friday. The highly detailed session explained the advantages over older surgical techniques, and how the drive for Laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery in recent years has helped bring along this procedure. Eligio described how with this new technique, patients recover much more effectively and can return to a normal life.
Interviewed afterwards, Stephanie Wood - Product Manager AST Energy, Marketing Stapling, said: “It makes a massive difference; rather than being in hospital for 2 weeks, patients go home in 3 – 4 days. We have a very wide product range that demonstrates clear benefits to the surgeon. We offer multi solutions to help the surgeons with this procedure, and the competition is non-existent. We also plan to train the surgeons on how to use the equipment properly.”
Building on their phenomenal success over the last couple of years, Wilfred asked his team to go one step further, to beat these achievements in the coming year, and to ‘Go the extra mile’ – very much the philosophy of the department and the message conveyed by AST at this year’s Kickoff in Warsaw.
Interviewed beforehand, Wilfred said:
“2014 was for AST a fantastic year. We grew the business and we did almost everything correct.
“I like to have challenges, but it is important to have the right leaders in place. We are gifted as a division with a lot of new products and that is very motivating for the sales force.
“There are a lot of exciting moments in my job, but the most exciting thing for me is that you see that people are growing. They are growing in their roles as sales reps, growing in their roles as managers. My exciting role is to push people into new roles and to see them growing and after a couple of years they are doing a great job. This gives me a lot of energy in the morning when I wake up.”
The MCS & SPS awards ceremony took place on Tuesday evening in the impressive, five-story building on the Warsaw Polytechnic University campus. Huge white arches surrounded the diners as they sat around their white-clad tables enjoying their banquet before the ceremony began. The atmosphere was full of energy and anticipation.
The suspense built, and the ceremony finally began with the ‘This Is Positive Momentum’ motivational video on the big screen, before Cristiano Franzi – President Covidien Europe, came onstage to open the proceedings and thank the teams for their efforts this year. He then introduced the video to highlight the President’s Award winners’ destination for this year: the Maldives.
Mark De Martini - VP Sales and Marketing MCS, announced the winners, including: Michal Stachura (Poland), Giuseppe Coppolecchia (Italy), Davide Maglie (Italy), Veronica Barone (Italy), Oscar Calderon Antunano (Spain), Jesus Espadina Molina (Spain), Pedro Santos (Iberia), Frederica Janeke – European Product Director Respiratory Function, Joris de Wild – Logistics Director Europe.
The climax of the evening came when all the winners gathered onstage, arm in arm for a group photo, accompanied by loud cheering from the audience : a great end to a great evening.
An energetic opening presentation was delivered by Marc De Martini - VP Sales and Marketing MCS, in the MCS plenary session on Tuesday afternoon, as the MCS division looked back on 2014 achievements. After a stirring video intro which dramatically showcased various MCS products, the audience of 450 people watched on as Marc launched his vision for the coming year. His speech covered a range of topics, including a detailed review of FY14, his vision and goals for FY15, and the bringing together of One MCS, one of his most notable achievements since joining the organization 7 months ago. One inspiring message stood out from the rest however:
“We want to be recognized as the team with the most talented people, inside and outside the organization. We are stronger together”
Frank Weinz, Senior Product Manager, Germany, summarised:
“Very good, excellent. Integrity and collaboration are very important. The most interesting thing is that we are very diverse in the opportunities that we have, we have a strong team, we are working well together. The Kick-off meeting is very important to me.”
Interviewed beforehand, Townsend Goddard - VP Marketing MCS, had the following to say:
"FY14 was very much a year of change for MCS. We’ve covered a lot of new ground, we’re feeling very good for FY15.
"The human relationship is absolutely critical to us. Our staff and sales reps our out on the front line every day working with healthcare professionals, delivering quality products, making sure that we’re helping people. At the end of the day our products touch people, touch the patients, so the human aspect is really key to what we do.
"FY15 will be a critical year for us. It’s time to look at the portfolio, make something greater than the sum of its parts; we’re calling this ‘Stronger Together’.”
Marc De Martini
MCS Breakout Sessions
This MCS breakout session took place on Wednesday in the form of an all-day ‘speed dating’ session for the MCS sales force, in which team members were split into six groups, rotating between six different MCS workshops throughout the day. Each workshop lasted an hour, and each showcased a different aspect of the MCS department. These included NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), ICU (Intensive Care Unit), OR (Operating Room), Procedural Session / Capnography, Procurement and Extended Care / e-health. The workshops were detailed and interactive, particularly ICU, where everyone sat around a table with a mannequin hooked up to an Intensive care unit, whilst Anna Pietronigro - European Product Director Enteral Feeding, gave an engaging presentation. Extended Care / e-health were also impressive, with some fascinating, complex machinery on display in the middle of the room.
“In vascular therapies, it’s all about people.” - Nadine Hans - VT Plenary
The opening speech was delivered by Nadine Hans – VP Marketing Vascular Therapies, at the VT plenary session on Tuesday afternoon at Warsaw’s Sofitel. The presentation covered the significant progress made by the team over the last year in comparison to preceding years, and detailed how they plan to carry that momentum forward into FY15. Nadine also moderated the Customer Focus Panel to underline the importance of customer care, her final slide reading; “Customer Care is not a department, it is an attitude.”
During the break, Ralph from Germany said “I think the presentation is very engaging, and we are all looking forward to the new fiscal year. The Kick-off meeting is very important to me as it is the only time I get to meet all my colleagues from Europe and to share our different perspectives.”
The plenary concluded with Nadine describing how privileged she felt to work for Covidien, and left the audience with one key message: “In Vascular Therapies, it’s all about people.”
Interviewed afterwards, Nadine Han – VP Marketing VT, said:
“Our tagline is ‘where people make the difference’, and for me, people are THE most important part of running any kind of business, because however exciting, however tough, challenging, disruptive or commoditized your business might be that you have to run, it’s the people that make the difference. I try to surround myself with people who are engaged, committed, creative, and positive minded. For me the most important thing is the collaboration with the team. Sometimes I would hire somebody that is not the top performer that I was aiming for, but because of the gut feeling, confirming that this is the right personality. I would go for the lesser performer but the right personality. Good and strong people make the difference, especially when times get tough.”
“We are coming from a relatively tough, ugly period, and we have achieved some significant milestones this year regarding how we improved our customer care and focus.”
“I am a people person, and when I talk about the patients, it comes from my heart. As head of VT, I believe that we as a company can make a significant change for the healthcare professionals and for the patients. There is nothing as powerful as saying that you are a part of a company that saves people’s lives. This makes me very proud.”
In a unique venue located directly beneath Warsaw’s Castle, the VT awards ceremony kicked off at 8.30pm on Tuesday evening. From the food to the sophisticated lighting, everything seemed to have been carefully planned to make the event as impressive as possible.
There was an air of suspense and excitement, as groups of colleagues stood around the tall white tables waiting for the ceremony to start. And it did so with Cristiano Franzi taking the stage to announce the prize for the winners of the President’s Award: a trip to the Maldives for the top 5% performers in the company.
The two winners from the Neurovascular division were Samuel Wilde from the UK and Jose Angel Vila from Spain, and from Peripheral Vascular and EVI winners included Louisa Powell-Smith (UK) Margaret Majetti (Italy).
Brad Mosley - VT Marketing Director said of the evening:
“It’s great, I think any time I get an opportunity to be with all these people, all going for the same goal, it really just gets everyone excited. We spend so much time with our day-today lives working separately, so to come together, you just can’t put a price on that. It’s great.”
VT Marketing Day
Dr Ryan Egeland, Global Director Medical and Scientific Affairs Vascular Therapies, engages the audience during the PV breakout session.
In a highly entertaining plenary session on Wednesday afternoon, the GSP team managed to turn a conference room at Warsaw’s Sofitel into a glitzy movie theatre, conducting the session as an Oscar-style award ceremony. Every detail was captured, from the popcorn available outside to the tuxedo-wearing ‘presenters’.
The entire afternoon was a demonstration of how GSP can deliver, and already has delivered, unmatched value.
Some of the key points included Christopher Provines’ - CEO of Value Vantage Partners and author of Healthcare Value Selling who presented ‘Value Selling in Healthcare’, as well as presentations on a new app for sales reps - Code Evolution - , the value selling iBook and how PACT (Professional Account Conversion Tool) can help to create successful partnerships.
However, the highlights were undoubtedly the ‘Best Movie Awards’, in which each country showcased their own “transformation” mini-movie on the big screen, based on real movies such as Rocky, Forrest Gump and Indiana Jones, using members of their teams in place of the actual characters. They were genuinely hilarious, although the Italian team’s rendition of Indiana Jones probably took first place for production value, acting and laughs-per-minute!
Interviewed later, Nelleke Van Heerikhuize said:
“It’s so great to have the entire GSP team together. There is such an energy and engagement.
“We had a very successful 2014. We knew we had to approach the market differently and while we did explore this new approach and learned from successful and not so successful experience,.we delivered our numbers. We have the talent in place, the knowledge and the tools. Competition just makes us stronger.”
Set in the cavernous Kubicki’s Arcade directly below Warsaw’s Castle, the GSP awards ceremony took place on Wednesday evening. The 192m tunnel-shaped venue was truly spectacular, built in the 19th century with red brick walls, and with a candle-lined blue carpet running through the castle grounds up to the entrance.
There was an excited buzz in the air before the ceremony began, with groups of colleagues and friends standing around tall, white-clad tables, with the subtle lighting and background music giving an atmosphere of sophistication and grandeur.
The proceedings began with a motivational video being displayed on a giant screen at the end of the tunnel. Cristiano Franzi –President Covidien Europe, Chris Barry and Nelleke van Heerikhuize then took the stage to give a brief introduction, and to announce the prize for the President’s awards: a trip to the Maldives.
Winners included:
Anne Louise Saleur (Spain)
Wendy Van Den Brant (Benelux)
Marisa Vizarraga Catalan (Spain
Bronwyn Karlberg (UK)
Joaquin Maurino Gonzalez (Spain)
Angelo Albonico (Switzerland)
Lars Andersen (Denmark)
Isabelle Schaerer (Switzerland)
Maria Elena Bautista Soria (Spain)
“Thank you for challenging yourselves, and for challenging me, every day”, said
Bob to his team.
GSP Breakout Session – Benelux
Thought productive discussions took place during the Benelux GSP breakout session.
‘Hernia Rocks!’ was very much the message delivered in Warsaw, as Guns’N’Roses (was it really them??) took to the stage to kick off the Hernia plenary session. And with good reason. Two years ago at the Kick-off meeting in Malta, the Covidien Hernia division set itself five ‘core values’ to follow, which have since led to this division turning around its performance and contributing to the European growth this year. They were: focus, fast and effective, innovation, entrepreneurial and European. The entertaining and interesting preliminary session on Wednesday elaborated on these values in a special performance, demonstrating how they have benefitted the Hernia division, and how they have helped build the Covidien brand as a whole.
Interviewed afterwards, Markus Lang - VP Sales and Marketing Hernia, had the following to say:
“The Kick-off meeting for Hernia has been fantastic, we talked about the last year and we celebrated; the Hernia division really rocked the last year. It was very dynamic, very energetic, we had lots to celebrate
“We have been able to really turn the business around. We want to be a division that keeps winning year after year. We have great new products, we have a fantastic culture, and we have momentum that we want to keep driving.
“The Hernia division is very important for Covidien overall. We impact a lot of patients. Our culture is contagious. The human touch is probably the most important culture that we have. It is the core of our success.”
The Hernia awards ceremony took place in the Physics Building at the Warsaw Polytechnic University on Wednesday evening. The atmosphere built gradually as the attendees had dinner before the beginning of the ceremony.
Things got under way with the This is Positive Momentum video on the giant screen above the stage, before Cristiano Franzi –President Covidien Europe and Chris Barry complimented the Hernia team and their great results, and recognized Michel Therin – Global VP of STR and Biosurgery, onstage for his outstanding contribution to the business.
Cristiano then announced that the President’s Award winners would be joining a trip to the Maldives in January.
“You are the heartbeat of not only Hernia, but of Covidien”, said Chris Barry before the winners were announced.
Winners included: Christiane Maintz (TopSales Rep, UK), Robert Poth (Best Regional Sales Manager, Germany), and Alec McShane (Best European Marketer).
When asked how he felt about winning the award, Alec said the following:
“Shocked, I would say, but it was the highlight of a fantastic day”
Hernia Breakout Sessions
Thought productive discussions took place during the Hernia breakouts in the Nordic, UK meeting rooms.
An Interview with Dr Maciej Jmietanski (Hernia Surgeon)
Renowned Polish hernia surgeon Dr Jmietanski was present at the Kick-off meeting on Thursday morning to give a detailed and engaging presentation at the Hernia breakout session. We managed to catch up with him beforehand and ask him a few questions:
“Covidien has very good products, and what I like as a scientist is that there is usually very good scientific feedback from the scientific community. I work in the hernia field, and I think the mesh are improving still, we are looking for restoration of the front abdominal wall, and I think this is the direction the company should follow.”
The ‘perfect storm’ with thunder and lightning effects, dramatic music and a video of a violent sea storm kicked off a motivational plenary session from the Early Technologies division on Tuesday afternoon. In a highly innovative session, the ET team presented itself as a -hi-tech naval ship, exploring new waters, with danger and the-unknown on all sides. Each table was named after a naval ship (the USS Pioneer, the USS Adventure…), and the ‘helm’ (complete with ship’s wheel) was firmly held by Bronwyn Brophy - VP Early Technologies. The resounding message: ‘We are the growth engine of the company. We are the innovators, the risk-takers, the explorers. We will take this company forward’.
“Are we up for the challenge? Yes we are!” – Bronwyn Brophy
Interviewed beforehand, Bronwyn said the following:
“In 2014 ET was born and we achieved many things. We integrated the Given business and built a one GI solutions team, we launched Interventional Lung Solutions for diagnosing early stage lung cancer and we launched the Thermospheres technologyin our AAS business.
"In GI, we don’t want to sell products, we want to sell solutions. We created a one GI solutions team that could go out and deliver a continuum of care to customers.
“We see ourselves in the perfect storm type scenario. The markets where we operate are large, growing and for the most part untapped.We have what we consider to be pioneering ground-breaking technologies that can make significant differences to peoples lives. It’s like putting up the best naval ship on the seas against a fishing trawler. What it comes down to is our people and their ability to bring these remarkable innovations to the masses.
“We are big on TEAM. Our number one thing at ET is about the team and the people. We very much look for people who are different, entrepreneurial, self-starters, lateral thinkers.
“I have the best job in Covidien. All the most innovative technologies are in our hands, and they are products that really make a difference to patient’s lives. Why would you work anywhere else?!”
Taking place in the impressive Physics Building at the Warsaw Polytechnic University, the ET award ceremony began with a silver-service banquet, served in an atmosphere of subdued excitement and anticipation. The blue and white lighting theme combined with subtle, relaxed music during the meal lent a very elegant, stately feel to the venue.
The ceremony kicked off with a motivational Covidien video shown on a giant screen above the stage, which was to be repeated throughout the Kick-off event, the final message being: This is positive momentum.
After the video, Cristiano Franzi –President Covidien Europe took to the stage to say a few words, and to introduce the prize that would be awarded to the President’s Award winner: a trip to the Maldives.
The winner of the president’s award was Aspin Lin-Lee (UK)
Interviewed afterwards, Aspin Lin-Lee said:
“I’m blown away to be honest. I think it’s fantastic, I never thought I would have won it, and I’m really looking forward to going to the Maldives. It’s brilliant!”
Sam Johnson - Customer Service Director, gave an interesting presentation regarding Covidien’s newly re-structured Customer Care department on Thursday morning, detailing changes that have been made to improve the service. Sam received challenging questions from the team of managers watching and answered with confident and engaging responses, going into some detail regarding the Rad1ate project, which was initiated in March this year.
Interviewed afterwards, Ermanno Sironi, VP Customer Care, Europe said:
“The meeting has been really impressive seeing 1500 people altogether in the same location”.
“For Customer Care it has been a very challenging year. The team did a great job.”
“Our customers are asking us to work with a company that is easy to do business with, and this is our
mission. In doing that, we hope to improve the business itself. In the end, it’s all about the interaction with the people.”
The Medical Affairs breakout session took place on Wednesday morning, and outlined the overall FY15 strategy for the department, as well as the plan for GI solutions and therapeutics. After a brief introduction, the platform was taken by Francesca Rancati, who went on to present a slideshow elaborating on and celebrating the department’s impressive achievements from FY14, before going into further detail regarding future goals and how they would be achieved.
Interviewed afterwards, Carmen Walbert, VP Medical Affairs, said the following:
”I hope we can build on the solid foundation we have built with Medical Affairs this year, we are a very young team. I think with the foundation we have set we can build. We deal with humans every day, with team, with colleagues but also with physicians and healthcare professionals in general. The patient is at the center of everything.”
Vanessa Goodall - Director Sales training Development EMEA, and Wally Abiodun- Director Sales training Com Ex., introduced a thought provoking breakout session on Thursday afternoon at the Warsaw National Stadium, as they gave a detailed presentation regarding the world of selling and how to maximize the effectiveness of sales personnel. They explored issues including how the market has evolved and changed in recent years, the effect of an increasing number of low-cost competitors, what has changed for Covidien in recent years, and how to implement these factors into their sales strategy. Wally’s presentation included a chess board as an analogy for the hospital vs. the sales reps, and the session ended with some role playing activities, with Wally playing a stressed doctor dealing with a sales rep concluding a highly engaging breakout session.
Interviewed afterwards, Tony Castro (Regional Manager, Inside Sales) said:
”This is our first year, this is a big opportunity for the business. It was great to have the opening and the welcome that we got from everybody.
“Inside sales has the right module of approach to serve our customers. It’s a different approach, and I think the healthcare industry is missing that. I think Covidien has the best opportunity because we are the first one doing that. The human touch is very important.
Our Vision
Deliver unmatched value to our customers by providing onnivative solutions that improve patient outcomes, lower the cost of healthcare and expand global access to care
Our mission
Deliver innovative healthcare solutions by leveraging the One Covidien product & breakthrough service offerings and employee engagement to generate sustainable patient outcomes, deliver shareholder value and establish COV as the partner of choice in Europe
Our goals
• Improve ease of doing business
• Improve Covidien brand value & image
• Provide Solutions that reduce healthcare cost & add value
