READING, Pa., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sid Forrest, vice-president of human resources for EnerSys (NYSE:ENS), the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, received the HR Leadership Award for Global HR Excellence on February 17, 2013 at the 21stWorld Human Resource Development Congress 2013 in Mumbai, India. His Excellence, Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi, the minister of labor and human resources, Bhutan, presented the award.
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Forrest was invited to present at a Master Class Session at the Congress, which was attended by more than 1000 people from 88 countries. Forrest presented a Case Study on the strategic ten-year HR initiative that expanded EnerSys from a $300M private US company to a $2.2B publically traded world leader by way of 24 acquisitions over 10 years. He also joined with Citibank to speak about the implementation of a Global Rewards Program.
"This huge expansion, at such a fast pace, has made for very exciting times for our HR team worldwide, leading the strategic globalization and making EnerSys one unified company," said Forrest. "There is a high level of respect for the many different cultures of the employees worldwide who come together in a manner that encourages great teamwork and an environment of 'constructive conflict,' with 'destructive conflict' being totally unacceptable."
Forrest went on to note that the alignment of executive and senior management has been critical in making EnerSys one global company, with all the employees pulling the same way. This goal has been achieved through several human resources initiatives. First, great emphasis is placed on corporate governance, with managers signing off on compliance every year, and all the employees being trained on the EnerSys Code of Conduct and Ethics every two years.
Second, compensation is inextricably linked with performance, with "pay-for-performance" being a key philosophy. In the EnerSys Management Incentive Plan, the top 250 managers worldwide are all measured on the same two global measures: earnings per share and primary working capital. All the employees worldwide are in the same EnerSys Performance Management Appraisal process, which includes forced ranking, with the intent to enable the higher performing employees to earn more.
Finally, the company has developed a strong Succession Management program with a culture for internal promotions wherever possible. Of the company's 28 senior executives, 23 have been internally promoted into these positions. This creates great opportunities for career advancement throughout the organization.
"Our company is fortunate to have Sid Forrest leading our HR Programs worldwide," said John D. Craig, chairman, president and chief executive officer of EnerSys. "Sid's experience and knowledge has been critical to the development and implementation of a consistent and uniform global strategy. This award truly recognizes the great contribution of the whole of the EnerSys HR team worldwide."
Forrest joined EnerSys in 2002 to lead the global integration of the company. In addition to overseeing all the HR requirements of the 24 acquisitions, he has also been influential in the major restructuring of the company, streamlining operations worldwide.
EnerSys continues to expand globally as strategic opportunities arise. Recently, the company opened its green field factory in Chongqing, China. Also, joint ventures in India, South Africa and South America have expanded the company's global footprint.
ABOUT ENERSYS®
EnerSys®, the world leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, manufactures and distributes reserve power and motive power batteries, chargers, power equipment, and battery accessories to customers worldwide. Motive power batteries are utilized in electric fork trucks and other commercial electric powered vehicles. Reserve power batteries are used in the telecommunications and utility industries, uninterruptible power supplies, and numerous applications requiring standby power. The Company also provides aftermarket and customer support services to its customers from over 100 countries through its sales and manufacturing locations around the world. More information regarding EnerSys® can be found at www.enersys.com.
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Richard Zuidema, Executive Vice President, EnerSys, +1-610-208-1803, Fax +1-610-372-8613, richard.zuidema@enersys.com; or Harry Hurst, Public Relations, Harris, Baio & McCullough, Mobile +1-610-725-9600, harry@hbmadv.com