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If you've been in a car, it's almost certain you rode with Federal-Mogul. The venerable, 106-year-old company operates from almost 200 locations on all five continents. It has a number of divisions that make and distribute globally a wide range of automotive parts and components. They include bearings, pistons, engine parts, fuel pumps, chassis, ignitions, lighting, and household names like Champion spark plugs and Anco wipers.
The company's own name is less well known to consumers. "When I started working here sixteen years ago, people would say, 'Oh, you get the government discount,'" says Pamela Mitchell, director of global HR development. But of course the company is a private enterprise, not a government agency.
"Federal-Mogul is the biggest small company I've ever worked for," Mitchell reflects. "It's really big, but it's like a small company in the pleasant relationships you have here and the range of friendly people you meet."
Another small-company characteristic, Mitchell notes, is "what we consider cross-training. Long-time employees have typically done a lot of different things. Our IT and engineering employees are involved in project management, process thinking and strategic planning." Mitchell's own career at Federal-Mogul includes logistics, customer service, corporate training and human resources.
"We have rich careers here for design, engineering and IT," Mitchell says. "Since we're not the best-known corporate name, we have to come up with clever ways of getting to professionals and students so they'll at least want to take a peek at us.
"Once they try us, people love working here," she adds.
In one innovative move, Federal-Mogul is working with motorsports star Len Miller, a member of the Black Athletes Hall of Fame. In his autobiography, Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial and Class Barriers in Motorsports, Miller documents his forty-year career as a racer, then owner and manager of African American motorsports teams.
From 1972 through 1982 Federal-Mogul's Champion spark plugs sponsored racing teams owned and managed by Miller. "Champion was the longest-running supporter/sponsor of black racers in America," Mitchell notes.
Now Miller and Mitchell are teaming up to recruit at top engineering schools among the HBCUs. The company also uses resources like Menttium, an organization that helps talented women develop by connecting them with mentors from other companies.
The techies Federal-Mogul is looking for typically have ME, IE, ChE, manufacturing or IT degrees or backgrounds. The company offers a rotation program for recent grads consisting of eighteen-month to two-year rotations through two manufacturing facilities, which may be anywhere in the U.S. or in another country.
As a multinational company, Federal-Mogul has assembled an HR diversity committee with representatives from Germany and England as well as the U.S. "In Germany, their biggest concern is the aging of the workforce," Mitchell reports.
"At Federal-Mogul our top priority is, of course, hiring the best-qualified people. And our goal is to always have a diverse pool of candidates to choose from."
Employee referrals are valued and a number of technical recruiters work with the company in various parts of the automotive industry. "If you're looking in the industry it's a lot easier to recruit," Mitchell adds with a laugh. "Everybody has heard of us there!"
The company's website is becoming an increasingly important recruiting tool, Mitchell notes. "We're looking to see if we can get a more diverse pool faster by going through the Web."
D/C
Federal-Mogul Corp
www.federal-mogul.com
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Headquarters: |
Southfield, MI |
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Employees: |
45,000 worldwide |
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Revenues: |
$6.17 billion in 2004 |
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Business: |
Automotive equipment |
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