Heidelberg appoints new global head of HR

Heidelberg has appointed Dr. Rupert Felder (pictured, left) as its new head of global human resources (HR), succeeding Klaus Hofer who left the company at the end of last year at his own request.
 
Felder takes up the position as of February 1, and joins from the Daimler Group, where he was responsible for a range of strategic and operational tasks and held various managerial positions in its HR function, most recently as head of HR at the Mannheim plant of Daimler Buses. In his new role, Felder will serve as head of HR for the Heidelberg Group and will report directly to the chief executive officer, Bernhard Schreier.
 
Heidelberg recently announced it is to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide as part of an efficiency drive, Focus 2012, that aims to help it achieve a desired operating result of around €150 million in the financial year 2013/14.
 
Felder studied law at the University of Tübingen, gained a PhD in labor law, and holds lectureships at the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden and at the Pforzheim Technical University.
 
In 1991 he had started his career in HR at the Rastatt plant of Mercedes-Benz AG. Further posts eventually led him to the position of head of HR and labor law at EvoBus GmbH in Stuttgart. At Daimler AG from September 2000, Felder worked at the interface between IT and HR in the ePeople project, which focused on the redesign of software-based HR processes. From 2003, as head of HR processes, he was responsible for the standardization and optimization of all corporate HR processes at Daimler worldwide before switching back to the operational HR business as head of HR at the bus plant in Mannheim.
 
Felder said: ‘At Heidelberg, I am particularly looking forward to taking on overall responsibility for human resources in a leading company with the prospect of adopting a global approach in a challenging market environment. The more important is innovative HR work that contributes to the company's success by optimizing processes, encouraging employee advancement, and identifying and implementing promising opportunities for the future.’

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