February 3, 2023 | Case Study

Merit Medical and MyCareerPath

MyCareerPath pilot programme with Merit Medical Galway.
Department Name: Manufacturing
Industry: Medical Device
Keywords: Upskilling, Career Assessment, Career Learning Pathways, eLearning Courses, RPL Toolkit, Career Guidance, Workplace Learning, 1-to-1 Mentoring.

What We Did

1. Business Needs Assessment

MyCareerPath worked with Merit Medical’s HR Team to bring a group of employees through a four-stage mentored career pathway. Employees developed career management skills and information on Life Long Learning to engage with opportunities within Merit Medical.

2. Planning Phase

Collaborated with the HR Team to organise a webinar for employees, to demo the platform and bring employees through the registration and the onboarding process.

3. Onboarding

Interactive discussion with employees, including information about the four step programme, highlighting the importance of engagement over the 6 week period and 1-to-1 mentoring.

4. Engagement

Individual appointments between Career Advisors and employees. Personalised engagement with CareerEDGE+ employability programme. Assistance with developing personal skills, building awareness of opportunities across Merit Medical and the confidence to engage with change. Support in understanding opportunities linked to prior learning.

5. Evaluation & Outputs

Evaluated:

  • Learners experience.

  • Engagement with mentors/platform.

  • Resources that were most impactful in support of self development and career planning goals.

  • Progress into higher education.

Summary

Merit Medical is a leading manufacturer and marketer of proprietary disposable medical devices used in interventional, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, particularly in cardiology, radiology, oncology, critical care and endoscopy. MyCareerPath supported and worked with employees from across various teams and roles.

Step 1

Idea

Supporting Merit Medical in people development, upskilling, and career planning.
Step 2

Process

A personalised 4-stage programme with mentorship from professional guidance counsellors.
Step 3

Goal

Engage employees in skills and knowledge development to meet current and future business needs within Merit Medical. Empowering employees to be responsible for their own career progression plans.

Input

Background

Founded in 1987, Merit Medical Systems, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and marketer of proprietary disposable medical devices used in interventional, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures, particularly in cardiology, radiology, oncology, critical care and endoscopy

Our mission is simple;
Understand, Innovate, Deliver with our customers at the forefront of everything we do.

Merit Medical set up its Irish division in Galway in 1996 and this is now Merit European Operations HQ with just over 900 employees. Merit Galway was awarded Medtech company of the year in 2018. This facility produces millions of devices every year and Merit serves client hospitals worldwide.

MyCareerPath supported our vision to encourage employees to be innovative and adaptable, by empowering them to take responsibility of their career development and life-long learning through a four-stage mentored career learning pathway.

Collaborating with MyCareerPath, enabled us to align with one of our key objectives to Engage, Develop and Retain our employees along with:

  • Supporting employees with career development and lifelong learning within Merit Medical
  • Developing our employees understanding of their abilities and capabilities to achieve their full potential
  • Ensuring employees have the skills to meet the current and future needs of the business
  • Continuing to build skills for agility and adaptability to meet organisational goals
  • Assisting employees in exploring further education and potential suitable courses available to them
  • Helping employees understand what recognition of prior learning is – and how this can enable their progression within the organisation

“The overall aim of piloting and collaborating with MyCareerPath.ie was to provide our employees with an understanding of career development and life-long learning thereby supporting them to achieve their full potential within Merit Medical. Additionally, the recognition of prior learning and 1-to-1 mentored support is very beneficial and instrumental in supporting our employees to match their work-based experience and ambitions to areas of study.”

Chosen Pathways

5 Distinct Career and Learning Pathways

Each pathway tailored to suit people at different career stages.

10 learners engaged with the ‘Accelerator’ Pathway, 2 learners with the ‘Dream Builder Pathway’.

Career Pathways: Visit Our Pathways page fore more

Output from the Process

Employee Career Development Plan

  • Employees receive guidance from a qualified Career Advisor on the 5 pillars of employability (CareerEDGE+)
  • Employees have clearly defined pathways and transversal skills gaps analysis
  • Employees are more engaged in having a focus on career development plans
  • Access to e-learning resources to support career learning goals
  • Recognition of prior learning information
  • A Career and Development Plan with SMART Goals and future career objectives

Testimonials

Mateja Perekovic, Learner

“I understand my strengths on a deeper level, how to use them better for the future of my career. Other assessments made me consider management skills, understanding my own style and how it impacts my team.”

Laura Gray, HRBP (L&D)

“The service provided to Merit employees was excellent and supported them in their career development conversations and life-long learning within Merit.

The 1-to-1 mentoring, e-learning tools and the RPL service gave employees clarity in their strengths & career planning within Merit; and gave them confidence in the options available to them when it came to further education.”

Overall feedback from Merit Medical on the Platform, Career Assessments and E-learning tools:

The 1-to-1 Career Guidance service and Recognition of Prior Learning advice was appreciated by Merit employees. Career Assessments provided beneficial insights identifying transversal skills and taking this knowledge forward will be key in helping to manage career planning activities and further study options. Understanding individual strengths together with psychometric assessments can promote self-awareness and may highlight opportunities and the confidence to engage with change. The ability to access the platform online, 24/7 was instrumental in engagement due to the manufacturing environment and the range of shifts.

15

Participants took part

Chosen from a range of levels across the department over an 6-8 week period

204

Overall logins

eLearning Hub Visited 199 Times
Careers Assessments Completed 47 Times

1242

Activities completed

eLearning Resources Viewed 132 Times
RPL Site MyExperience Visited 14 Times

Have you applied for an ATU course?
67%
Yes
Did you find the online service easy to use?
100%
Yes
Would you recommend the service?
100%
Yes
  • 67% rated highly online element
  • Personal mentors giving motivation and confidence on what courses to apply for
  • Top Career Tools used: Strengths & Personality Profile, Management Style and Employability Pulse
  • Top e-Learning Courses: Self-awareness, Strengths, Transferable Skills, Career Direction, Planning

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