Holly Kuznicki’s connection to the contingent workforce space dates back to when her mother worked with a staffing firm to access a job she proudly held for 25 years. The way the firm restored her mother’s confidence and brought security to their lives made such a strong impression on Kuznicki that she pursued a degree in HR. “Connecting people with opportunities and each other is my passion,” she explains.

As director of talent acquisition at Cummins Inc., a global technology company that designs, manufactures, distributes and services a broad portfolio of clean power solutions, Kuznicki puts this passion to work on a daily basis. Among her global team’s recent achievements: implementing process and policy changes that reduced the contingent labor average time to fill by 50% and initiating advanced workforce solutions that have already had an impact on over 20,000 applicants and 4,000 contingent hires globally.

“Contingent workers are integral to our business,” Kuznicki says, so a central part of her work is ramping up the company’s capacity to recruit and retain the best talent. One aspect of this is extending the opportunities offered to exempt workers to hourly workers, including more flexible schedules, better access to global hiring opportunities and investment in their professional development. Another focal point is promoting DE&I. Kuznicki and her team are developing a program for recruiting talent with non-violent criminal backgrounds, and are working with Cummins’ internal procurement to reduce barriers for small local suppliers, who often are sources of diverse talent.