Third Cycle Of Crown’s Forward Initiative To Begin Accepting Applications In 2018

Career acceleration program provides candidates with skills to become future leaders
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Friday, December 22, 2017

Philadelphia, PA December 22, 2017. Crown Europe, a division of Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) (Crown) (www.crowncork.com), a leading supplier of metal packaging products worldwide, will begin accepting applications for the third cycle of its FORWARD Initiative in January 2018. Developed to train qualified engineers for future leadership positions within the Company, Crown is seeking 10 qualified candidates with experience in operations/engineering, supply chain management and sales. Prospective candidates can apply via the Careers section of Crown’s website. Application details will also be promoted via Crown’s LinkedIn page.

Designed to identify, recruit and train candidates that possess key foundational skills, the FORWARD Initiative aims to help prospective employees grow their professional network, accelerate their career and learn the inner-workings of a leading manufacturing company. Program applicants will be formally assessed during a meeting in France in April 2018, and selected candidates will begin the program in June 2018.

“We are thrilled to announce that the FORWARD Initiative will return for another program cycle and to begin the process of assessing and identifying Europe’s leading talent for a chance at becoming a future leader of Crown Europe,” said Sjoerd-Jaap Schaaf, HRD Recruiting, Succession Planning & Functional Support at Crown Europe. “To ensure candidates are well prepared for these management roles, we’ve designed the program to be immersive in various environments where candidates will learn the skills needed to succeed in jobs before they have to perform them. By laying a strong foundation for the future now, our goal is to provide long-term stability for our customers and to maintain the agility we need as a business as we continue to expand our technologies and services.”

The program exposes participants to various assignments that span different countries and disciplines over a 24- to 36-month period. Each selected participant will be given three assignments in at least two countries and will be exposed to at least two operations departments including continuous improvement, quality, manufacturing and engineering. Throughout the program, a mentor and local “buddies” will help participants adapt to new roles and environments. As done in previous program cycles, Crown will work with each candidate as they complete their rotation to select a permanent destination based on performance and vacant opportunities.

“After three years as a Manufacturing Engineer, I realized that I wanted to experience a broader set of challenges and different industrial environments. The FORWARD Initiative has given me all of this and more,” said Vito De Leonardis, a FORWARD Engineer based at Crown’s CMB Engineering facility in Shipley, UK. “It offers an accelerated growth path and development opportunities that no other position would have given me.”

As of December 2017, Crown Europe employed 11 full-time staff members who are former FORWARD Initiative participants and have been hired as a result of the program and their respective efforts.  

"The FORWARD Initiative offers the experience of an international working environment, which ultimately provides opportunities for continuous improvement,” said Magdalena Katoufa , a FORWARD Engineer based in Crown Food Europe facility in Nantes, France. “It is a great learning process and it makes you think "outside of the box." This is what keeps me motivated and I can't wait to discover more!"

About Crown Holdings, Inc.

Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading supplier of packaging products to consumer marketing companies around the world. World headquarters are located in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, visit www.crowncork.com. For employment opportunities at Crown, please visit www.crowncork.com/careers.

For more information, contact:

In Europe: Sjoerd-Jaap Schaaf, HRD Recruiting, Succession Planning & Functional Support at Crown Europe ; Tel: +41 41 759 10 00 ; Email: Sjoerd-Jaap.SCHAAF@eur.crowncork.com

For editorial inquiries: Maria Ciubotaru, ABI, a Finn Partners Company, Tel: +44 207 014 3319; Email: maria.ciubotaru@finnpartners.com