Cummins Power Generation Reviews in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Area

Pros

Good work environment, people are friendly.

Cons

Management was somewhat disorganized.
Performance Review system needs work.
Information sharing and Training needs work.

Advice to Senior Management

None.

Pros

If you like a rather laid back... slow moving..... secure job..... then this place is for you.
Cummins does provide a good work /life balance to their employees.

Cons

Not the place to be if you want to be on the cutting edge of technology.

Highly structured.....and process oriented. Feels like creativity is shunned a bit with all the structure. Cummins seems like it is a company that spends more time talking about doing something (proposals, procedures, presentations) than actually doing the work!!!

At Cummins, your hands are so tied with what you can do.... and it seems everyone has a very narrrow job scope.... and they don't cross over into anyone elses.

Advice to Senior Management

I don't know how you'd accomplish this, but some type of restructuring where people are more cross-trained might help the present work environment.

Pros

Good compensation package and easy to move around from position to position.

Cons

High turnover rate. Disorganized chaos everyday. Poor communication. Poor recognition. Everyone works independently. Pay is fair.

Advice to Senior Management

Needs better middle management.

Pros

stable company
you can hide yourself and never be noticed
don't try to change the status quo and you will be ok

Cons

no sense of urgency,
followers
little to no innovation

Advice to Senior Management

no point

Pros

Discount at local NPower Service Center. Good training program. Plenty of work to do. Good people at the lower levels, usually leave after a bit of time in the company.

Cons

Paid 15K less than market. Poor opportunities for promotion. Unfriendly work environment that is slow and foreign to change. Frustrated workforce, stuck in current positions due to weak economy. Poor management, no leadership is evident.

Advice to Senior Management

This management group is unable or unwilling to take any advice. Not there style. This is not an inspiring group of people.

Pros

A very diverse environment and great people to work with. Also very hard working people

Cons

Lack of support from management and the push, push, push to get stuff out of the door. IT department is 100 years behind in technology and computer systems are not sophisticated at all. People who get promoted are not promoted based on competence but based on the darn Six Sigma projects. If you have done this BS, then you can move up and make lots of money.

Advice to Senior Management

I don’t were to begin. Management lives on a different turf, never listen and they never care all that matters is $$.

Pros

All in all, there a number of good things to say about the Fridley site:

Cummins affords some high levels of latitude in project work.

Colleagues, make for friendly work environment.

Helpful and honest colleagues.

Company supports employee professional growth.

Competitive salary.

Cons

Unfortunetly, there are a number of things very unsettling about the site and organization from a management level:

Top down (Senior & Corporate level) management is well communitcated, and in theory, are some good principles. Unfortunetly, it gets lost somewhere in the middle management level. I truly think several of these people are clueless on how to transcend the principles, or interpret them to fit there department.

New software or update launches never go smoothly. Support is made available, but you'll spend more time talking with these people in the first 2-3 months of implementation, than you will on your own job!

The review system in place has improved, yet, you never know where you stand against others in the same position. Even when you ask! Expect a closed-ended performance review, from a peer-to-peer basis. Makes for one spooky tenure, in any position.

Like a lot of companies these days, layoffs are common, however I can think of a lot of better ways to handle departures; unless you like being escorted out of the workplace like a common criminal.

Advice to Senior Management

Test, test, test your software, BEFORE implementation!!! Make sure the data load you plan on pushing through your network infrastructure can handle the load.

Stop repositioning middle managers, before they actual learn something about their position, and their employees. I truly think they are afraid to speak up in opposition of senior management.

Pros

Market leader in its field, Fortune 500 company, opportunity for growth, reasonably good compensation and benefits. I have been here for more than a decade and am thankful for the career I've had. I've had some great mentors who have given me opportunities. They have supported my education, allowed me to move between locations for career growth and let me get time off for personal reasons.

Cons

Comes with the bureaucracy of a large company and one needs to be able to handle it. Middle management moves in and out of positions too fast. They don't stay long enough to implement initiatives.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't put people in positions they are not ready for, or provide solid mentoring if you do.

Pros

The pay is good and the people at the same level are terrific.

Cons

Constant management changes. Managers that are hired are trained by those under them and then review them according to what they "think" is acceptable performance with no knowledge of what the employee is really doing.

Advice to Senior Management

With all the management changes job expectations change that make it difficult to perform. I have had 5 different bosses in 5 years. None of them knew what I did. Reviews were seldom done correctly with the information needed to perform.

Pros

Work and applications are fantastic and top notch

Cons

Politics, poor management, inadequate pay after 2-3 years of work experience

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management needs substantial reorganization