Brunswick Corporation : Brunswick Wins 2012 Workforce Chicago Award
Excellence in Employee Learning and Development Cited
LAKE FOREST, Ill. Dec. 20, 2012 - Brunswick Corporation today announced that it
was recently honored with the WorkforceChicago Award for 2012, which highlights
companies with "exemplary employee learning and development practices."
Brunswick was chosen in the major company category. In conferring the
distinction, WorkforceChicago commended "Brunswick's comprehensive commitment to
maintaining and growing the skills and education of your workforce."
Created in 2000 by former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, WorkforceChicago aims
to position the Chicago region as the leading talent pool in the country and to
build a regional commitment to employee learning and development. The
organization was developed by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
(CAEL) in collaboration with the Human Resources Management Association of
Chicago and World Business Chicago. Its objective is to recognize, share and
promote exemplary learning strategies. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has remained
squarely behind this effort, and appeared via a pre-recorded video address
during the awards ceremony. Allstate Insurance, GE Capital, Deloitte, IBM and
Northwestern Memorial Hospital are among the previous winners.
"It is an honor in which the Company, our Human Resources function that
spearheads many of our efforts in this area, and all of us at Brunswick share
and should take pride in," said Brunswick Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Dustan E. McCoy. "For we believe that learning is a lifelong process whether it
is in a formal setting, such as continuing education or training, on-the-job, or
by one's own efforts to advance their knowledge and to keep abreast of new
developments. At Brunswick, we also believe that learning is essential to the
Company's performance and competitiveness."
In presenting the award, WorkforceChicago acknowledged several efforts pursued
by Brunswick either throughout the Company or as select programs geared to
specific needs and locations. For example:
* Brunswick University was launched in April 2012, and in just a few months,
50 percent of the leadership is already participating in the online learning
library and assigning to their team members courses on management,
leadership development, strategy, communication, conflict resolution and
more. This online platform allows Brunswick's workforce to learn together
through webinars and web courses.
* The Financial Leadership Development Program, which is a three-year program
that exposes finance department staff to all different areas of the Company,
as participants generally change jobs every six months, immersing themselves
in general accounting and financial reporting, manufacturing and product
cost accounting, treasury, tax planning, credit and collections, audit and
more. Additionally, almost every first line supervisor in the company has
participated in the two-day First Line Supervisor training program focused
on leadership development and employee engagement.
* Brunswick also offers tuition reimbursement to full-time employees.
Further, some employees are even receiving credit for past learning through
a new pilot program called the Brunswick Excel Degree Acceleration Program,
which is being implemented at Mercury Marine and is carried out in
partnership with CAEL. Using CAEL's national prior learning assessment
service, LearningCounts.org, Mercury Marine employees take a course and
build a portfolio that is assessed by faculty members for college credit for
learning gained from areas such as work training, community or volunteer
work and military experience. As Brunswick has seen, those credit hours are
often the incentive that an employee needs to return to school and complete
his or her degree. The program currently has 20 participants, and hopes to
expand to other divisions in 2013.
Russ Lockridge, Brunswick's chief human resources officer, points out that on
any given day, Brunswick may be seeking to fill nearly 100 positions. "By
'growing our own,' so to speak, we ensure talented candidates for some of these
jobs. Further, we try to develop people through challenging work assignments
over time that can lead to new learning and new development. These efforts and
others are testament to the fact that at Brunswick we recognize a key to growing
the business is developing and growing our employees."
About Brunswick
Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., Brunswick Corporation endeavors to instill
"Genuine Ingenuity"(TM) in all its leading consumer brands, including Mercury
and Mariner outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrives and inboard
engines; MotorGuide trolling motors; Attwood marine parts and accessories; Land
'N' Sea, Kellogg Marine, and Diversified Marine parts and accessories
distributors; Bayliner, Boston Whaler, Brunswick Commercial and Government
Products, Cabo Yachts, Crestliner, Cypress Cay, Harris FloteBote, Hatteras,
Lowe, Lund, Meridian, Princecraft, Quicksilver, Rayglass, Sea Ray, Trophy,
Uttern and Valiant boats; Life Fitness and Hammer Strength fitness equipment;
Brunswick bowling centers, equipment and consumer products; Brunswick billiards
tables and foosball tables. For more information, visit
http://www.brunswick.com.
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| Contact: | Daniel Kubera |
| | Director - Media Relations and Corporate Communications |
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| Phone: | 847-735-4617 |
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| Email: | daniel.kubera@brunswick.com |
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Source: Brunswick Corporation via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1666523]
Released December 20, 2012