350 basis points of outsized inflation. That’s on top of, I think, of normal inflation merit increases that everyone takes that would happen in any kind of environment, more of those 3% level. So, you’re really talking about, call it, 400 basis points plus of costs that you have to contend with within your P&L. So then when you think of the mitigation offset to that, so — by the way, so when you think of our Q1 performance and margin on the back of a 350 basis point inflationary pressure in the quarter, we’re very pleased with how we started the year, because we knew the front half was going to be kind of the more challenging times. As we progress through the back half, there’s a few things that will play out. One, it starts with our internal focus on cost improvement initiatives, simplify, whether it be Project RECODE, driving outsized cost improvement through our plants and other facilities.
We’re very focused on portfolio, whether it be driving mix. We took this bold strategic action around portfolio product exits that contributed within the quarter. And so, you don’t do this was one thing. The strong growth rate, of course, gives you natural leverage. And then as we go through the back half of the year, while we’ll still be in an elevated inflationary environment, the cost of materials will subside. You’re seeing some of that subside in certain pockets of raw materials as an example, while other areas, like labor is continuing to persist. But you should see it trend down from that 350 basis points to get to our average of over 200 basis points that we talked about. So then when you think of kind of the dynamics within the P&L between GP and operating margin and where it will play out, GP, we said would be largely in line to just a slight improvement for the full year.
And again, that goes back to the fact that we’re absorbing the significant inflationary pressures. So, you’re doing a lot of work to kind of stay flat to slightly above. And then the majority of it will end up showing up in operating margin as you think of leveraging your cost base there, some cost improvement actions we’re also taking in OpEx, and we also continue to normalize our R&D spend in the second half. If you saw in Q1, and we expected in Q2 to have more outsized R&D above 6%, so the back half will be below 6% to normalize to our 6% rate. So, I think those are the biggest puts and takes as you think of the year, but we’re very pleased again with Q1, how we started and how focused we’ve been on the margin profile.
Matt Taylor: Okay. I mean that was very comprehensive. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much.
Chris DelOrefice: Thanks.
Tom Polen: Thanks, Matt.
Operator: And we’ll take our next question from Larry Biegelsen with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.
Tom Polen: Good morning, Larry.
Larry Biegelsen: Good morning, Tom. Good morning, Chris. Thanks for taking the question and I’ll reiterate my congratulations on the nice quarter here. Chris, just one follow-up to Matt’s question. How much visibility do you have? I mean, the second half margin ramp is pretty strong. How much visibility do you have on that? And trying to calculate the numbers here quickly, but it implies, I think, pretty low OpEx growth, if I’m not mistaken. Just color on that, please?
