Unlocking The Potential of Businesses And People for Growth

It’s human nature to resist change as much as we can. We gravitate toward the familiar, the known, the comfortable. Any disruption is a threat to our stability and routine. Change is difficult, and yet it’s one of the only constants in our lives. This is true in business, and even more so today in the power and transportation industries as we transition toward smarter, cleaner power solutions.

As Vice President of Power Systems at Cummins Inc., change is a familiar friend and foe. In 2023, the Power Systems business began a critical transformation, one that we continue to navigate today.

What worked for our business and our people for the past 100 years was not working anymore, nor was it going to be what worked for us over the next 100 years. We were eager to build a new bridge to the future that would unlock the potential that our business and people possess. Such a transformation was our path toward sustained growth.

The way we approached this transformation, however, needed to change as well, and we believe it made all the difference.

Bring people into the conversation

The most impactful part of our transformation process was including the voices, perspectives and ideas of our employees. After all, who better to identify and help fix the challenges in our business than those experiencing them every day?

Too often, business transformations take a top-down approach: leaders identify issues, relay the changes and solutions to address those issues, and all other employees execute. There are two major fallacies to this approach for our business. The first: while top-down approaches work for companies seeking short-term solutions with instant impact for minor challenges, our business was seeking long-term solutions for enduring growth. When challenges are complicated and multifaceted, a top-down approach often doesn’t stand the test of time.

The second fallacy is this: while psychology says that we humans resist change, it does offer one, key condition to the rule. Humans are more receptive to change if they feel that they’re in control. For our transformation, it wasn’t about letting employees feel like they had control as the business transformed but rather encouraging them to take control and participate in shaping our new path forward.

Transformation involved employees across the world – literally. All 8,900 of them. Traveling from country to country, from one manufacturing plant and Cummins office to another, I met our colleagues where they were to host in-person collaborative sessions. These sessions fueled how our transformation took form.

Employees brought their expertise and knowledge of the challenges at hand to the table, pitched ideas, provided solutions and voiced concerns. As a team, we were able to set goals, targets, objectives and the long-term vision together for our business.

Employees brought their expertise and knowledge of the challenges at hand to the table, pitched ideas, provided solutions and voiced concerns. As a team, we were able to set goals, targets, objectives and the long-term vision together for our business. Participating in the process and influencing what change was going to look like made embracing the path forward for our business  much easier for our employees.

Empowered people power greater growth

Not only are our colleagues more motivated, enthusiastic and driven to do the work, but now they have also delivered the results to show it. Since 2022, we will deliver $1B in revenue growth, and a 6% improvement in EBITDA on our total revenue. Over 1,000 new initiatives have been implemented in under a year and a half, improving our business’ profitability and enabling new growth. Sales have increased across our generator technologies, industrial engine and aftermarket, and most significantly in power generation due to increasing demands across North America, Asia Pacific and China.

As a leader, the expectation is to know everything about your business. But the reality is that a leader can’t and won’t know everything, especially if you’re enacting transformation that will endure for decades.

Cummins Power Systems business is large. Our diverse portfolio of power generation, engine and alternator technologies is driven by employees across the world, spanning from the United States, Romania, Nigeria, China, India and many countries in between. Previously, each only knew a fraction of what the other was doing. As a result of the transformation, our employees are not only more connected with one another but also more aligned than ever before with the strategy and mission that lies before us.

Growth is a collective effort, one that requires honesty, trust and determination. All parties must lean in to open discussions and making difficult decisions. By including all employees in the conversation – giving them a voice, visibility and an opportunity to lead, ideate and implement improvements – we are helping our business reach its potential and empowering our employees to reach their potential. The two, ultimately, go hand-in-hand.

What can’t stop: momentum and recognition

Transformation is hard work that doesn’t ever truly end. Every day is an opportunity to reflect and grow. How to continue the momentum of our business transformation is a question I often ask myself. While I don’t have the crystal ball that tells me exactly what maintaining momentum looks like, I do believe that ensuring people feel they can thrive in our power systems business and are recognized for their contributions and successes helps keep us engaged in the strategy forward.

What has been one of the most rewarding parts of this transformation for me has been witnessing the thousands – yes, thousands – of recognitions employees post to our kudos recognition platform every month. Together, power systems has not only begun a successful streak towards unlocking our business and people’s potential but more importantly has become a space where we push each other to perform at our best and empower each other along the way. And that continues to make all the hard work, unknowns, trials and errors, and successes worth it.