Siemens

Siemens was founded in 1847 by Werner von Siemens and precision mechanic Johann Georg Halske, who created Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske (Telegraph Construction Company of Siemens & Halske), a 10-man Berlin company that manufactured electrical telegraphs.

Since then Siemens has grown into a global engineering and technology powerhouse with 343,000 workers in 190 countries, including 46,000 employees in the US alone.

Siemens uses its expertise to address numerous business and human needs such as energy and power efficiency, utilities, city infrastructure, transportation, digitalization of factories and manufacturing, and medical diagnostics. Head of Leadership and Talent Development Fabienne Bressot told us the company’s reach is so extensive “you have the impression that wherever the Earth is hurting somehow, or society is hurting, Siemens has an answer.”

Effectively addressing such a broad variety of challenges requires Siemens to champion innovation. Bressot noted, “It doesn’t have to be a product innovation. Sometimes it’s a process innovation, (just) a different way of doing things.”

That flexibility also applies to careers. According to Bressot, you “don’t have to become a manager to be successful at Siemens. There are many other ways to move—horizontally, vertically, and across borders of industry and function…And the nature of the dialogue you have across the company is just very different than back a few years ago…If I work in Wind Power, for example, I (can) reach out to someone in Digital Factory to try to understand what is cooking there that could be really interesting.”