Learning & Development at Olympus
At Olympus, we believe our people are the driving force behind our success - today and in the future. To realize Our Purpose of making people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling and to ensure patient safety at all times, we are committed to enabling every employee to develop a deep understanding of our shared strategic ambitions and Core Values, while continuously strengthening both their professional and personal capabilities. In doing so, we empower our people to meaningfully contribute to our collective success.
Our ambition is to foster a culture of continuous growth. As markets, technologies, and societal expectations evolve rapidly, we firmly believe that learning never stops. Olympus actively supports this by providing diverse opportunities - ranging from structured training and education to experiential learning through collaboration, leadership engagement, and on-the-job challenges that accelerate development.
Inspiring leader role models are a critical driver of both business performance and cultural transformation. Our Global Leadership Competency Model (GLCM) provides a consistent, global framework to guide leadership development, talent and succession management, and hiring decisions - ensuring that we cultivate leaders who inspire and deliver across our organization.
We target globally aligned processes and programs that drive cross-cultural collaboration and strategic alignment across borders. Through a consistent global approach to performance and development, we encourage ongoing feedback, personal ownership of growth, and alignment between individual aspirations and organizational goals. We hold ourselves accountable by measuring our progress through regular employee engagement surveys and we continuously refine how we develop our people and culture, ensuring that Olympus remains a place where talent thrives and impact grows.
Our Development Offers
We empower our people to grow, lead, and drive meaningful impact for patients worldwide by providing a comprehensive portfolio of learning opportunities designed for leaders, individual contributors and teams.
We accelerate personal and professional growth by building critical capabilities in leadership and business excellence for all talents. Our approach blends targeted programs, digital learning platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, and curated learning journeys, enabling continuous, flexible development aligned to evolving business and individual needs. To support our people to thrive in a diverse global organization, we foster collaboration and inclusive leadership through cross-cultural learning, 360 Feedback, mentoring, coaching, English learning initiatives and innovative tools such as GlobeSmart, accompanied by facilitated workshops to help teams achieve effective cross-cultural collaboration.
Rooted in Our Purpose and Core Values, we place patient safety and quality at the center of everything we are doing. Through Global Onboarding, Core Values initiatives, and immersive learning experiences and interactions with patients and healthcare professionals, we strengthen a culture where every employee understands their impact. Our organization-wide Patient Safety & Quality in-person group workshops re-emphasized Our Purpose and Core Values and how each of us can take action on a daily basis. An additional Quality E-Learning reached 92% of our workforce and highlighted once more that quality and the safety of our patients remains the highest goal for Olympus. At the same time, we build deep functional expertise through role-specific training and academies, strengthening the capabilities that drive innovation, operational excellence, and ultimately patients’ care. Digital initiatives around AI adoption and upskilling support our strategic ambition of innovation-growth and market leadership.
The gradual implementation of our Global Learning Management System aims at ensuring access to development opportunities from all over the world and a one-stop-shop for Olympus’ talents to take their careers to the next level.
Leadership Development
In 2019, we introduced the Global Leadership Competency Model (GLCM), defining the critical capabilities our leaders need to deliver on our strategy and achieve meaningful impact. Initially embedded in talent and succession management for global key roles, the GLCM was expanded in 2021 to all management positions worldwide, becoming a consistent foundation across hiring, talent development, and learning.
In February 2024, following the launch of our refreshed Core Values, we further evolved the GLCM to align more closely with Our Purpose and strategic priorities. This enhanced model strengthens the leadership capabilities required to lead in a complex, fast-moving med-tech environment - ensuring we continue to drive innovation, performance, and patient impact. Today, the GLCM serves as the foundation for all global leadership development offers at Olympus.
To support leaders in their growth journey, we introduced the Global 360 Feedback process in May 2022 - a powerful development experience enabling leaders to gain holistic insights from managers, peers, and their teams. Since its launch, approximately 1,400 leaders have participated, using these insights to accelerate their development and leadership effectiveness in global and regional programs.
We further strengthen our talent pipeline through a structured, data-driven approach to talent and succession management, including the use of the nine-box matrix to assess performance and potential. This enables targeted development, supports high-potential identification, and ensures a strong and sustainable succession pipeline aligned with our strategic priorities. A Talent Development Toolkit and Talent Development Sessions as well as a Recognition Toolkit support our leaders to build high-performing teams and drive their talents’ careers based on individual needs and our organization’s direction.
Launched in August 2025, the GROW Leader Channel serves as a global platform for all Olympus leaders around the globe to connect, align, and grow together. It enables leaders worldwide to exchange perspectives, strengthen networks, and continuously learn from one another.
Through the GROW Leader Sessions, we address strategically relevant topics that equip our leaders with the insights and capabilities needed to lead effectively, fostering a strong, connected leadership community that drives impact across Olympus.
Training and Education System in Japan
Olympus and Olympus Marketing, Inc. have provided educational programs and learning opportunities including e-learning programs, group specialized skills training, and compliance training programs for their employees. With advances in the online environment in recent years, we are working to develop more effective and efficient skills development systems. Specifically, we have reduced travel costs by conducting online group training programs, created new internal studios, improved the program participation rate with on-demand videos for existing programs and improved the learning effect through combining these programs with flipped learning.
Manufacturing Technicians Training Program
Skill level of Manufacturing Technicians Training Program (Manufacturing sites in Japan)
The Olympus Group regards its manufacturing technicians as an important source of added value.
The manufacturing sites in Japan provide them with functional training through the Manufacturing Technicians Training Program. In the Manufacturing Technicians Training Program, we classify skills of manufacturing technicians into 6 stages, aiming at a planned level-up. Level 1 to 3 new employees are "general technicians," Level 4 and above are certified as "advanced technicians" with high technical skills. Level 4 employees are referred to as Manufacturing Advisors (MA), Level 5 as Manufacturing Supervisors (MS), and the highest level 6 as Manufacturing Masters (MM). From new recruits to MMs, we nurture our employees in a planned manner according to their level.
We implement training programs for employees aiming for high-level certification. Since advice can be received from high-level certified technicians, these programs naturally strengthen organizational capability and also boost individual motivation. As with manufacturing sites in Japan, at Olympus Vietnam Co., Ltd., which handles the manufacture of medical products, a certification system for bonding and soldering work has been introduced. This is designed to upgrade the training and education programs and contribute to the creation of a global manufacturing system.
Global Performance Management Concept
In May 2023, Olympus introduced a global performance and goal management system to integrate performance management systems worldwide. This approach, along with global talent and succession management is operated through performance and goal management system ensuring a consistent experience for employees across the globe.
Developing a healthy performance culture is an enabler to supporting our vision and drive to becoming a leading global MedTech company. Olympus is taking a unified approach to how we manage, attract and retain talent.
Global performance management puts each employee in control of their future. Ongoing conversations about development, performance and feedback are structured around skills, personal goals, and an understanding of how what employees do on a day-to-day basis contributes to the wider success of our business. The approach also focuses on fairness and consistency, as everyone will be measured and evaluated in a transparent way.
It aligns to, and works with, our Talent and Succession process, ensuring the right person is in the right role at the right time. We recognize that investing in our people is key to success and pivotal for us to achieve our goals.
Annual Process and Conversations Between Managers and Employees
Global performance management supports each new financial year. During the goal setting and agreement stage, employees and managers discuss and agree goals. About six months into each financial year, the employee and their manager(s) check in on progress, to make sure performance goals are on track. Year-end activity takes place between April and June and includes review conversations.
Managers and employees have regular performance related conversations throughout the year, to make sure everyone knows how things are going, normalizing conversations about performance, development and feedback, and making sure support is quickly put in place if things aren’t going to plan.
Performance Goals Link to the Company Strategy
Employees propose their own performance goals linked to the Three Guiding Principles—Innovation-Driven Growth, Simplicity, and Accountability—outlined in our company strategy, and are evaluated in terms of their achievements in each of these areas. As patient safety and regulatory compliance are top priorities for Olympus, we have established a common global goal designed to ensure that all employees prioritize the pursuit of quality.
The global goal ensures the focus on patient safety in everyone’s day-to-day activities, ensuring compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards, as well as understanding and adhering to all policies and procedures that govern their work. In addition, every employee, regardless of their function or role, will also identify and report any potential safety risks, hazards, or instances of non-compliance and will actively participate in related initiatives.
