Page 64 - MetalForming October 2013

Special Report—Women in Manufacturing
Ingersoll Rand’s Cynthia Farrer shares her management philosophy:
“Lead calmly and with a sense of urgency,” she says. “Early in my career I had a role model and mentor who led this way. I learned from her, and watched how she conducted herself. ...She taught me to focus on the five ‘whys’ of problem solving rather than the ‘five whos.’ Don’t ask who is responsible for a problem; find out why it happened.”
Ingersoll Rand, a major initiative I wrote about in my editorial in the Sep- tember issue of MetalForming. I learned of the Ingersoll Rand PDI pro- gram during an interview with Cyn- thia Farrer, the firm’s security technol- ogy sector vice president, operations–Americas. Farrer recently took home one of the inaugural Women in Manufacturing STEP Awards, spon- sored by The Manufacturing Institute, along with Deloitte, Society of Manu- facturing Engineers and University of Phoenix.
Farrer describes her company’s diversity initiative as “much more than just recruiting and retaining talent. It’s about creating a culture where peo- ple feel respected. We celebrate cul- tural heritage, and are strengthened by the diverse perspectives of our employees.”
Unleashing the potential of women —and in fact of the entire breadth of a company’s workforce—undoubtedly increases a firm’s opportunities to grow
and prosper. Consider this statement from a Harvard Business Review blog describing research from the Center for Talent Innovation:
“Leaders who make sure women get equal airtime are 89 percent more like- ly than non-inclusive leaders to unleash women’s potential. Leaders who are willing to change direction based on women’s input are more than twice as likely to tap into winning ideas. And leaders who make sure each female member on the team gets con- structive and supportive feedback are 128 percent more likely to elicit break- through ideas.”
Going Where Few Women Go
Obviously Ingersoll Rand falls into this category, and has elicited numer- ous breakthrough ideas by leveraging its focus on diversity across all levels of the organization. Before joining the firm in 2006 as director of global qual- ity and operational excellence, Farer worked in a variety of roles with Gen-
62 MetalForming/October 2013
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