American ATV Firm Names New Veep of HR
By: Jason Giacchino

Despite a shaky economic climate, many manufacturers are looking to an optimistic future. To that end Polaris Industries Inc. has named Jim Williams vice president of human resources. Williams has an extensive human resources background, with top-level experience at Fortune 400 companies. Williams will be responsible for Polaris’ global human resource sourcing and will play a large role in the company’s international growth plans.

“Jim is a world-class human resources professional with broad experience globally inclusive of acquisitions and joint ventures,” said Scott Wine, chief executive officer, Polaris Industries. “Jim brings more than 25 years of experience in human resources, much of it at the executive level, to Polaris. He will play an integral role as we continue to shape Polaris’ future as a global powersports leader.”

Williams is succeeding John Corness who, after 12 years of developing a top tier human resources team, has decided to move into a part-time role that allows him more flexibility.

“John has been a big part of the success of this company in his time here, helping us steer through many changes during our growth,” Wine said. “His every-day presence will be missed, but we look forward to him continuing to provide strong counsel, based on his extensive experience, through this transition and beyond.”

For the past five years, Williams oversaw a global workforce at Cooper Industries, where he was accountable for 28,000 people in 60 nations. During his time with Cooper Industries, Williams designed and implemented the company’s first human resources agenda, specifically to support Cooper’s long-term growth goals, while also leading structural and procedural process improvement initiatives.

Prior to that, Williams led human resource efforts at Danaher Corporation, a billion global industrial conglomerate. In this role he completed a thorough restructuring of Danaher’s entire HR organization, improving procedures and processes at both a corporate and operating level.

The bulk of Williams’ experience was gained during more than a decade with Honeywell, Inc. He began his career there leading human resources at the site-level in Lawrence, Kansas; at the time of his departure he reported directly to the senior VP of Human Resources and Communications for the billion Corporation. While with Honeywell, he led a series of strategic executions to overhaul talent management and human resource operations, establishing many best practices for the company’s Human Resources division.

Williams holds a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He currently serves on the board of directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Do you think this is going to signal any changes with the Polaris Brand? Do you care? Let us know how you feel!