Cummins awarded the “Top 10 Best Companies for Women in India”

by Shrutee K/DNS

Pune, INDIA: Cummins India, the country’s leading designer and manufacturer of engines, generator sets and related components and technologies, has been ranked amongst the “Top 10 best companies for Women in India” presented by Working Mother Media and AVTAR. In its first year in the country, research undertaken for ranking the ‘2016 Best Companies for Women in India’ evaluated over 300 companies that endeavor to build equal representation for women employees and provide them with opportunities that help them achieve sustainable career goals. Globally recognized for over 30 years the research is undertaken by Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation (US) and AVTAR, a pioneer in the field of organizations that work to advocate the cause of working women. 

From a mere 7% female representation in 2005, today women constitute 30% of the total professional workforce at Cummins in India at all levels of the organization.  This achievement is a result of a series of initiatives and programs instituted by the Company over these years.  For example, gender focused recruitment drives and a second career hiring project targeting women on career breaks have played an instrumental role.  Having adopted a ‘Hire to Develop’ philosophy, the Company has instituted customized interventions that facilitate the development of women employees for leadership positions and in key succession opportunities.  Leaders at Cummins are expected to coach and develop talent within their line of reporting and beyond. Both formal and informal approaches to coaching and mentoring exist, which are tracked and monitored for impact.

The Growing Women Leaders (GWL) Program is one such program spearheaded by the Company that focuses on increasing women in leadership roles, through structured initiatives across multiple ranks.  The two fold objectives include ‘Talent Visibility’ and ‘Talent Development’. High potential women employees are identified leveraging the internal performance management system that allows for a) Gap assessment followed by career conversations to understand the career aspirations of the employee b) Focused development plan for functional and leadership competency building, and coaching and mentoring along with opportunities for external learning through sponsored education programs.  The Company has tie ups with premier institutes such as IIM Ahmedabad, TISS, S.P. Jain and ISB in India, and the Kelley School of Business in the USA.

Programs have been designed for growing women talent for lateral and vertical growth for both Technical and Non-Technical functions. 

Work-life integration of employees is seen critical to building an inclusive environment.  Apart from providing parental leave and flexible work hours, Cummins has also instituted onsite Child Care Centres across all its plant and office locations. 

Going beyond the workplace, Cummins has established a Scholarship Program “Nurturing Brilliance” to enable young ladies from traditionally economically and socially disadvantaged sections of society to go to college for undergraduate degrees.  The program offers full reimbursement of tuition fees and assigns its employees as mentors to the Scholarship recipients to guide and mentor the students through the entire duration of the program.  Over the last decade, 379 female students have benefitted from the Scholarship program.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vikas Thapa – Vice President, Human Resources, Cummins Group in India said, “Cummins India is humbled and proud to be recognized as one of the “Top 10 Best Companies for Women” in India. Diversity is central to Cummins' core values. We believe Diversity and Inclusion is crucial to achieving an organization’s business goals and long-term success. Cummins manages ‘Diversity’ by ensuring adequate representation and Inclusion by fostering the right working environment that is psychologically safe, inclusive, respectful and high performance. Cummins remains committed to continuing on this journey which it sees as essential for delivering superior results that will delight all stakeholders. We would like to take this opportunity to thank AVTAR for this prestigious recognition.”

This award presented by AVTAR aims at identifying, sharing, showcasing and celebrating best practices from companies spanning every major industry, geographical location and line of business. Apart from key demographics related to a company’s workforce, the study also covers comprehensively, the practices and policies an organisation has in place to attract, engage, retain and develop women workforce across all functions and roles. 

About Cummins Group in India : Cummins in India, a power leader, is a group of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Its technology and pioneering initiatives are bringing innovative solutions and dependable services at the best possible value to users across the country. Its high performance outlook is based on customer focus, integrity and capability of its people. Part of the US $19.1 billion Cummins Inc., Cummins in India is a Group of seven legal entities across 200 locations in the country with a combined turnover of ₹10,262 crores in 2015 and employing over 10,000 individuals.