Our Commitment to Our People

Our people are at the core of who we are. Without their dedication, knowledge and commitment, we would not be able to manufacture thousands of premium, reliable energy storage products every day. We strive to be an employer of choice, where individuals can bring their authentic selves to work in a safe environment where they are valued and part of a team that promotes their growth and development, personally and professionally.

 

Sustainability report 2021 - PDF DOWNLOAD

 

“We aim to create an environment where our employees are excited to come to work and make an impact. Yet, I continue to be amazed by the passion and the quality of work done by the people at EnerSys®.”

Theodore Fries
Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources


 

Workforce Health and Safety

HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Protecting our employees is paramount to our operations and an integral component of our corporate culture. Our workforce health and safety management system is embedded in the EnerSys Operating System (EOS), especially in the Managing for Daily Improvement (MDI) process, where the People section is always the first to be reviewed before any Customer or Shareholder considerations. Our dedication to protecting our workers is also clearly articulated in our Safety and Health Policy. Safety and health are integral to all operations and are the responsibility of all EnerSys employees.

 

Safety and Health Policy

 

We are committed to ensuring the safety of all our employees by meeting or exceeding applicable safety and health requirements throughout the company. All employees are required to take safety and health training regularly based on their location and job function. We provide the necessary resources to prevent injuries and illness on the job, conduct regular safety evaluations, develop safeguards for our manufacturing processes and provide training for all employees. Our management team oversees the implementation of all necessary safeguards to protect the safety and health of our employees. Each location is responsible for ensuring these safeguards are in place and for working with employees to protect them from injury and illness. Our Corporate Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) team is responsible for providing counsel and guidance to management in establishing and auditing their safety and health programs.

We also have EnerSys Safety Committees across our global footprint that meet regularly to boost our employee engagement in safety and support hazard identification and prevention. For example, at our Ooltewah, TN plant, the local safety committee consists of the EHS specialist, nurse and operations and maintenance employees from the plant. They meet monthly to discuss ongoing safety topics, safety risks and any concerns brought forward by the plant team members. They also review any first-aid or recordable incidents, conduct walkarounds of the various manufacturing areas to identify or review any possible safety risks and generate EOS accountability tags to ensure that any identified hazards are properly managed and mitigated. Similar committees like this exist in our Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific regions.

We certify our facilities and corresponding management systems to international standards where appropriate. There are seven EnerSys facilities certified to the ISO 45001 occupational health and safety standard. In our Shenzhen, China facility, we received the SA8000 Standard accreditation, recognizing our management system for social and labor standards.

PREVENTING EMPLOYEE EXPOSURE

We constantly endeavor to reduce the impact from the materials used in our products. Manufacturing energy storage systems require the use of potentially hazardous substances. That is why we enforce strict measures to reduce, mitigate or eliminate hazards and eliminate exposure to our employees and surrounding communities. We actively assess and monitor the level of exposure our workers have to chemicals used in the manufacturing environment, including corrosives and lead and its compounds. We meet or exceed all required testing frequencies established by applicable regulatory agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The health of our employees is our highest priority, and our management of safety risks includes efforts to monitor and reduce acute and chronic exposures in the workplace. We conduct regular risk assessments, participate in long-term health studies, provide workers with essential personal protective equipment and consider alternative materials wherever possible. When lead is present, we have a stringent program to monitor our employees’ lead exposure levels and take immediate action if they ever exceed our policy. Our internal policy for lead exposure for our workers is much more stringent than regulatory requirements at our facilities globally.

SAFETY PERFORMANCE

EnerSys believes that to deliver innovation, high-quality production, customer satisfaction and business success for our company, we must provide a work environment that enables our people to thrive. Creating a safe work environment is paramount to that objective, which is why we focus on identifying near misses. We educate and train our employees to find and record potential hazards in our safety management system. There is a continued focus on improving the reporting and root cause analysis to prevent future recordable or lost time incidents.

As a result of our dedication to near-miss identification and employee safety, we have seen a decrease in our days-away cases and employee total recordable incident rate (TRIR).

“Safety drives everything we do at EnerSys. Our goal every day is for our employees to come to work, do their job safely and go home to their families. We work diligently to identify and correct potential hazards and empower our people to provide input and feedback so we can better make that happen.”

Randy Reyer
Senior Director, Global Environmental, Health & Safety

CONTINUING TO COMBAT COVID-19

We continued our careful COVID-19 precautions through 2021 to protect our employees, reduce the risk of workplace exposure and support their health in and out of work. EnerSys products are essential to the distribution of critical products, as our batteries supply backup power for vaccine refrigeration and power forklifts for moving essential items like food and vaccine pallets. Our operations must remain reliable so that we can continue to support the health and wellbeing of communities worldwide.

We are proud of our employees and their extreme dedication to following our COVID-19 safety protocols to protect themselves, their colleagues and their families at home. No EnerSys manufacturing facilities have needed to close during the pandemic. We continue to maintain a tracking system for all suspected and/or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our operations globally. Since the start of the pandemic, cases of workplace transmission in our facilities and offices have remained low.

Since the start of the pandemic, EnerSys has implemented policies and procedures to create a safe workplace that enables our employees to remain COVID-19 free while doing their job at EnerSys. Over 96% of office employees that responded were satisfied with management’s communication and direction during the crisis, based on a survey conducted in January 2021. We continue to monitor and measure employee engagement and satisfaction in this area so that we can implement the most effective protocols that keep our operations supporting critical medical and infrastructure organizations in this time of need.

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Continuous improvement is central to EnerSys as an organization, especially when it comes to making our facilities safer. We set specific goals at the factory level depending on individual site performance and need. We set an overall aggregated global performance goal to improve our safety metrics by 8% in 2022.


 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

At EnerSys, we believe that everyone should be empowered to be their authentic selves at work. We are energized by the excitement our employees have for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Together, we are committed to powering an organization where DEI is embedded in our business strategy and where:

Talented people of all backgrounds are welcome, and differences embraced

Everyone has an equal opportunity to progress and develop

Our working environment supports people bringing their whole selves to work and performing at their best


Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion has grown over the last eighteen months with clear direction from our senior leadership team, who are steadfastly committed and passionate about the importance of this work. This accountability applies not only to the senior leaders of EnerSys but also to leaders at all levels of our organization who are responsible for the future direction of our company and the day-to-day execution of our initiatives. It is also for employees who are encouraged to practice inclusion, be courageous in asking questions and continuously learn and grow on the topic of diversity and inclusion through everyday interactions and self-reflection. We are determined to cultivate a DEI journey at EnerSys that is both authentic and sustainable.

“I am proud of the growth EnerSys has had around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace. We have made huge strides over the years in our focus on People, and with these action plans in place, I know we will make a significant impact in the next few years.”

Nicole Goss
Global Senior Director DEI & Talent

This year, we created a DE&I Steering Committee and launched our first-ever diversity engagement survey, which included demographic questions to help us gauge the dynamics of our diverse and talented workforce. We also asked our employees to complete DEI learning courses, whether through formal development programs or online coursework. Most importantly, we spent the year understanding our current representation and defining aspirational targets we wish to achieve by 2024 in order to foster an inclusive and diverse workplace.

 

OUR ASPIRATIONS

DEI GOVERNANCE

At EnerSys, we value the uniqueness of every one of our employees. Whether that is identified by their background, culture, perspective or skillset, we strive to foster a workplace where everyone can bring their whole selves to work.

Our commitment to DEI extends to all layers of our organization, including our Board of Directors and leadership team. This year we developed our DEI Steering Committee, which is comprised of our most senior business and functional leaders, as well as a mix of diverse influential colleagues from around our business. In line with our four pillars around Commerce, Community, Culture and Talent, we formed subcommittees of strategic advisors from within the business. These committees will include employees from diverse backgrounds, as well as experts in the field. They will act as a sounding board for the DEI Steering Committee, keeping them informed of the needs, progress and impact of DEI initiatives within the business.

Our Workforce Labor Rights Policy includes more information about our guiding principles and the actions we take to ensure an inclusive working environment. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, covered veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

We recognize that employee engagement is critical to our success as a business. This year we completed our first-ever diversity engagement survey. While we included historical questions around EnerSys as a workplace, our main focus was to determine our employees’ sense of belonging as it related to inclusion for all.

Results Highlights: 

  • 45% of our employees worldwide participated; we will aim for higher participation in future surveys
  • Our scores were positive overall (68% or higher), especially amongst women & multicultural employees
  • We have the most area of improvement around career pathing, with 50% of our employees understanding next steps in their career

We were pleased with our employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) score of +4; however, the overall level of participation was 45%. As we build focus and awareness around the importance of our employee experience, we expect our survey participation rates to improve over time.

EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION

We strive for diverse representation and backgrounds in all job functions, talent management programs and levels of the organization. Similar to our other sustainability priorities, we recognize that to achieve this successfully, we must have focused efforts that are tracked regularly. This year we took a closer look at the make-up of our company and saw that 77% of our workforce is male and 75% of our U.S. workforce is white. We recognize that our industry has traditionally attracted these demographics but, as we lean into the technology side of energy storage and systems, we have an opportunity to grow diverse representation across gender, race and ethnicity in our workforce.

We have several initiatives in place to help monitor our progress with a particular focus on women and underrepresented minorities. We are also actively reviewing and updating our policies and practices to support our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Similarly, EnerSys engages a variety of internal and external resources to ensure appropriate pay equity across the organization. This includes a formal set of pay grades that are reviewed against external data sources and adjusted to remain competitive in the market for talent.


 

DEI PROGRAMS

BUSINESS RESOURCE GROUPS
One way we promote DEI in the workplace is through business resource groups (BRGs), which are networks of employees who create a community based on shared identity, backgrounds, characteristics or life experiences. EnerSys’ BRGs are voluntary and employee-led, and they aim to bring people together and provide employees with a voice and a sense of belonging.

We are very proud of the success our BRGs had in 2021. We plan to expand the focus of our BRGs further to underrepresented groups in our organization to develop the future leaders of our company. These networks all share a similar mission: alignment to our DEI initiatives and structural support backed by executive sponsorship.

 

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
As part of our efforts to support gender diversity, we launched a BRG in 2020 focused on Women at EnerSys. We are proud of the success our Women in Leadership (WiL) BRG has had in creating a support network for people, not just women, across our organization. Each month they bring awareness to a new topic through events, dialogue and resources. For example, in October 2021, the topic was mental health awareness. The BRG hosted a robust conversation around the impacts of the pandemic and remote work on employee mental health. The engagement in these sessions led to more open dialogue around mental health, meditation workshops and shared resources to help reduce stress on a daily basis. In 2021, WiL hosted a weeklong virtual symposium focused on leadership, empowerment, goals, professional development and personal branding.

HISPANIC/LATINX ORGANIZATION FOR LEADERSHIP
Another BRG we are launching is the Hispanic/LatinX Organization for Leadership at EnerSys. We expect the group will bring together EnerSys employees with shared experiences and amplify voices that bring a diversity of perspectives to our business and culture. The group will offer opportunities like networking, talent attraction, volunteerism and leadership development for its members.

“I am continuously impressed by our dedicated planning committee and all the participation from employees globally. As we continue to grow, my mission as Chair is to increase allyship and empower women to be heard and valued in the workplace.”

Jenna Gallagher-Mierzejewski
Senior Global Learning Development Manager and WiL Chair


CEO ACTION FOR DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
We are thrilled that our CEO, Dave Shaffer, committed to The CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion in 2021. This initiative is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workforce. This commitment is not driven by the fact that other companies are also prioritizing this business issue, but rather because it is a larger societal issue that CEOs can play a critical role in addressing. Please read more in the Sustainability Initiatives section of this report.


 

Workforce Training and Development

At EnerSys, we know that investing in our employees’ training and development is an investment in our business. In addition to our health and safety training, we provide our employees with both formal and informal learning and development opportunities to advance their skills and careers. While training courses like anti-bribery and corruption, compliance, code of conduct, safety and general data protection regulation (GDPR) are compulsory, employees have access to additional educational opportunities within and outside of EnerSys to advance their development. We prioritize access to foundational and advanced training for all employees. Every EnerSys employee has access to our internal learning platform, housing over 2,500 courses on a variety of topics.

EnerSys employees are assigned compulsory compliance, regulatory and safety training, with most courses recurring on an annual, biennial or triennial basis. Training is assigned based on position title and category, as some courses are specific to different job functions. Level in the organization is another major factor as well, as supervisors and managers often receive different assignments targeted at managerial responsibilities. Below is an example of a typical U.S.-based manager’s training assignment.

Employee Training

  • Workers Comp Training for Supv.
  • Americans with Disabilities
  • Making a Quality Hire
  • Leaves of Absence
  • Kronos for Managers
  • Global competition/Refresher
  • Global Contract review
  • Export Compliance Controls
  • GDPR
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Avoiding Insider Training
  • LINK for Managers
  • Succession for Managers
  • Reasonable Suspicion for Supervisors
  • Preventing Harassment for Managers
  • EEO & Affirmitave Action
  • Introduction to EOS

 

For non-compulsory training, completion rates have increased by 23% in the past two years. In 2019, the completion rate for self-assigned and/or manager-assigned training was 69.9%. In 2021, the completion rate was up to 85.6%.

We recognize that due to the nature of manufacturing work, our production employees may not have as much time for or access to our online, non-compulsory educational opportunities as our office employees. That is why, in 2021, we developed several courses to be facilitated on-site for production employee leaders, including line leads. This is just one step towards shifting the culture at our manufacturing facilities and creating opportunities for production employees to enjoy professional development opportunities with the support of their managers.

“The EnerSys Academy team’s mission remains to be an ambassador for global change and a trusted partner for our stakeholders worldwide. We strive to ensure that our goals are aligned with and support the overall goals for EnerSys. Because of our unique, global position in the company, we are well-positioned to support the development of our people and help develop an engaged, collaborative and high-achieving culture.”

Drew Krajewski
Global Director Training & Development


 

Talent Management

We encourage our employees to take ownership of their careers and we have therefore established robust talent management practices to empower our employees to continuously improve their performance and development. With a utilization rate of 95+%, the company has embraced a culture of Continuous Performance Management (CPM) in which employees schedule regular quarterly one-on-one meetings with their managers. CPM allows employees the opportunity to highlight their accomplishments, request real-time feedback, solicit support and align on near-term progress toward goals with their managers.

Our goal management approach is top-down, meaning that goals are cascaded down through the organization based on company initiatives routed in the EnerSys vision, key objectives and value metrics. Goals are set within three pre-set categories: People, Customer and Shareholder, and all are aligned with the EnerSys Operating System (EOS). Similarly, EnerSys core values - Teamwork, Energy, EOS, Customer Experience, Safety & Our Environment and Accountability - symbolize the actions, attitudes, qualities and behaviors we use every day to drive our vision and EOS culture. Through our annual performance review process, employees are encouraged to complete a self-assessment. At the same time, managers evaluate their employees based on progress towards annual goals and performance alignment with these core values.

In 2021, we launched a career development tool within our talent management system to allow employees to expand the focus of their CPM meetings beyond performance goal progress and to include career goals and aspirations. Unlike the performance goals created and owned by managers, employees can establish development goals, reinforcing their abilities to take charge of their career growth. Within the talent management platforms, employees can link and track development activities towards the progress of their goals while also leveraging learning opportunities.

Across our global organization, employees are urged to maintain their talent profiles within the talent management system to allow their managers, human resources and business leaders to have visibility to the broad range of skills and experience that our employees bring to the workplace. Using the talent profiles and performance management tools, managers have the mechanisms needed to evaluate their employees’ potential and drive development opportunities. These processes also help inform succession planning discussions, which occur annually with our global business leaders.


 

Development Programs

EnerSys employees worldwide have a multitude of opportunities to level up or learn new skills. Most, such as our award-winning Opt-In Manager Training program, are open to all employees. Others, like the innovative Communications and Collaboration Learning Campaign, are available specifically to high-performing employees. Less formal learning opportunities are also provided and encouraged to employees worldwide. Our Teams Chat Channels -- open to all employees globally – deliver access to curated, topical information, which is posted and discussed weekly.

The Training organization has implemented a new chat channel and a resource-packed internal webpage around wellness, which is available to all employees worldwide. Members of the channel receive weekly messages and have access to quarterly events such as live mental health discussions and yoga/meditation sessions. We recently organized an event-filled week in our Bielsko-Biala facilities encouraging employee wellness, including access to nutritional workshops and medical exams such as mammograms. For our Reading, PA-based employees, we work with Wellness Coaches USA to provide wellness information and counseling to our employees in the United States. This engagement includes weekly emails detailing important wellness tips and personalized, confidential video conferencing with a dedicated wellness expert.

The EnerSys Academy, which develops and leads EnerSys training programs, has developed programs to provide opportunities to foster the leadership skills of our talented employees, deepen their sense of purpose, and help to build intra-organizational relationships. The Leadership Development Program is a year-long program that includes graduate-level course work, leadership and management skills training, an overview of EnerSys products and processes and development in general business acumen. The Leadership Development Program 2020-2021 cohort included 27 participants globally, up significantly from 15 in 2019-2020.

In 2021, the EnerSys Academy partnered with the Operations Team to develop the first-ever Leadership Development Program targeting our Operations Employees. This program is designed to help high-performing and high-potential employees from our manufacturing locations develop skills and knowledge to advance their careers at EnerSys. Eleven employees have been chosen from the Americas to participate in the inaugural class, and the program was kicked off by welcoming them to Headquarters in Reading, PA in 2021. The program is being piloted in the Americas first, with a plan for global rollout.

To grow our catalog of available learning content, the EnerSys Academy developed our Level Up program, which provides training, expert guidance and support to individuals who have a desire to educate others. The internal certification process provides employees with the knowledge and skills needed to design and deliver effective training and presentations, allowing employees to educate one another and grow our collective expertise.

We also offer a Mentoring Program that provides an avenue for employees to take ownership of their professional and personal development through mentoring partnerships and networking opportunities. Participants are paired with a mentor for a ten-month-long mentoring engagement and are encouraged to participate in a variety of development activities such as regular ongoing 1:1 meetings, workshops, conferences and practical exercises. Our Mentoring Program was established in 2020 with an inaugural class of 10 women based out of Corporate Headquarters. This year the program has expanded globally to include 50 participants of diverse experiences and backgrounds.


 

Community Engagement and Philanthropy

Being an active member of the communities in which we work and live is at the core of our culture at EnerSys. Being a good neighbor and strengthening local relationships is part of how we define sustainability at EnerSys. We support our employees in their efforts to volunteer their time in their communities.

We put our most robust emphasis on educational programs in schools and colleges, community activities and supporting employees who give freely of their own time to serve on boards or committees in many organizations. A core underlying principle to our efforts is to encourage diversity, equality and inclusion within the communities we operate in.

We are proud to support communities in our areas of operation and around the globe. EnerSys is dedicated to improving the lives of people through our time and products. Our 2021 stories highlight who we are as a company and our commitment to being a good corporate citizen.

In 2021, we gave approximately $1 million to charities focused on the following priorities: 
• Community and economic development

• Education and workforce development

• Health and human services

CHARITABLE GIVING PARTNERS

We also support our communities through partnering with Charitable Giving organizations to use their expertise and systems to use the dollars in meaningful ways. Below is a select list of our charitable contributions. This list is not comprehensive, as we partner with organizations of all sizes, but includes charities that have received donations greater than $2,500.

  • Eastern Pennsylvania Scholarship Foundation
  • Clare of Assisi House
  • Reading Hospital Foundation
  • Centro Hispano
  • Greater Reading Economic Partnership
  • Hawk Mountain Council – Boy Scouts of America
  • Caron Foundation
  • Reading Area Community College
  • Olivet Boys and Girls
  • St. Leo the Great
  • Berks Business Education Coalition
  • Reading Symphony Orchestra
  • Slapshot Charites
  • Reading Royals
  • Big Brothers, Big Sisters
  • Remote Energy
  • SafeBerks
  • South Mountain YMCA
  • Embrace Your Dreams – First Tee of Lehigh & Berks
  • YMCA of Reading and Berks County

Sustainability Report 2021

Learn how EnerSys is contributing to building a sustainable future

SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT

We are meeting the growing demand for energy efficiency, reliability and sustainability solutions that provide accessible power to people everywhere.

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OUR SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY

In this report, we showcase our progress and provide insight into our baseline sustainability performance, the progress we have achieved and our goals for the future.

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PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Our energy storage and energy systems enable customers across the globe to meet their energy and carbon emission reduction goals while providing reliable and affordable energy access.

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OUR ENVIRONMENT

We are committed to acting as a responsible industry leader through our environmental management systems. Environmental compliance and stewardship are built into our EnerSys Operating System (EOS).

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OUR PEOPLE & COMMUNITY

We strive to be an employer of choice, where individuals are valued and part of a team that promotes their growth and development, personally and professionally.

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OUR GOVERNANCE

Our reputation for building reliable products and solutions is rooted in our strong corporate governance. We are committed to maintaining the trust of our stakeholders.

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LOOKING FORWARD

As we work to create shared value and success, we look forward to engaging with all our stakeholders as we progress along our sustainability journey.

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ENVIRONMENTAL DATA & REPORTING FRAMEWORKS INDEXES

For more information about our Environmental Data & Reporting Frameworks click here!

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