ResMed places a “huge emphasis” on culture fit, according to its gobal CHRO Richie McHale

Employing and retaining the right people is critical to the process of innovation within ResMed, according to its global CHRO, Richie McHale, who said there are certain values it looks for in employees which are important to creating a successful environment within the business.

“We hold our employees to high standards of ethics and creativity, and value strong communication among team members,” he said.

“We ask a lot of our employees, but we provide a rich and rewarding environment for talented people who want to make a difference. We know that the majority of our success comes directly from our people, and we set high standards in talent acquisition.”

ResMed places a “huge emphasis” on culture fit, and McHale said that in the recruitment process it is important to give potential employees a deep understanding of how the business operates as well as aspects of its culture that provide a competitive advantage and what it takes to be successful at ResMed.

“Our processes give candidates exposure to many different aspects of our business through both formal and informal conversations with talented employees at all levels,” said McHale, who explained that it would not be unusual for a prospective employee to have 10 of these conversations before ResMed is ready to make them an offer.

“At this stage in our process, all candidates are highly talented, but we think it takes a special person to thrive at ResMed,” he said.

“As an example, we need people to be able to thrive and enjoy the ambiguity that comes with the process of problem solving.

“We hold our employees to high standards of ethics and creativity, and value strong communication among team members”

“People who need certainty are not going to do well in ResMed, and it’s important to ensure we are open and honest about this to enable both the candidate and ResMed to make an informed decision.”

ResMed has also invested significant time and energy in talent management over the past five years, according to McHale, who said this process extends through several levels in the organisation to identify and nurture capable leaders at all levels.

“We create learning opportunities ‘on the job’ that provide the skills to succeed in more complex and demanding roles.

“We look to actively mobilise our high potential employees across our global organisation and across functional/business unit boundaries to accelerate their development. This builds agile leaders with a global mindset,” he said.

ResMed actively looks to offer development programs that accelerate the learning curve by providing opportunities that stretch people across geographies and functions.

“We’re also prepared to take bets on people,” he said.

“In the past six months, for example, we have managed the succession of three of our most talented high potential leaders to critical business roles on the senior executive team – and we’ll continue to do so.”

“We’re also prepared to take bets on people”

Understanding the capabilities the business needs to develop to maintain its competitive advantage and deliver on strategy is not a start-and-finish project but an ongoing process, McHale affirmed.

By way of example, its new and emerging product portfolio, ResMed Air Solutions, is designed to help customers, physicians and patients by providing data connectivity, enabling an integrated approach to patient care and improved clinical outcomes.

“This innovation would not be possible without an investment in the most talented people we could find in the field of healthcare informatics. As we evolve our strategy, we will continue to identify talent gaps five to 10 years ahead and build appropriate talent management strategies to deliver on those gaps,” McHale said.

“For example, we know that payers will demand efficient care pathways that provide a positive patient experience and outcome.

“We need software engineers to help us build that infrastructure now so that we can innovate our core offerings in anticipation of what our customers will need. It’s embedded in the way we think about talent management,” he said.

For the full interview with McHale and story on how ResMed has built a culture of innovation through its people, see the next issue of Inside HR magazine. Image: supplied

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