Walk into Harris Battery’s Bolivar, Ohio, headquarters today and you’ll feel it: a sense of momentum. There’s an earnest recognition of the past and a bright-eyed excitement for the fast-paced future.
It wasn’t always this way.
Founded in 1979, Harris Battery has long been known as a reliable supplier of industrial and specialty batteries, serving industries like telecommunications, renewable energy, and heavy equipment. Their reputation was built the old-fashioned way: through technical expertise, exceptional service, and relationships that lasted decades. It’s a family business, helmed now by President Chris Harris, and it’s felt like one throughout its history.
But like many legacy manufacturers, Harris Battery faced a new kind of challenge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company was coming out of an intense period of supply chain pressure, customer uncertainty, and remote work disruption. From the top down, the business’s stakeholders had to be honest with themselves: Their internal systems, leadership pipeline, and recruiting strategy just weren’t built for the pace and complexity of the modern global market.
What followed was a deep, company-wide culture shift, one that began with a decision to rethink the leadership team itself.
A Legacy of Problem Solving
For more than four decades, Harris Battery thrived by doing what many great manufacturing companies do: staying close to the customer, solving real-world technical problems, and quietly doing excellent work behind the scenes.
That philosophy worked because the environment was predictable. Product cycles were longer. Hiring was more localized. Customers rewarded consistency over flash.
But by 2022, the signals were loud and clear: the market had changed. Buyers were more digital. Competitors were faster. Employees expected more flexibility, clarity, and vision. And leadership wasn’t just about experience anymore—it was about agility.
“We continue to reinvent ourselves as the market changes,” Harris says. “The business has changed a lot over the years. Our products go into units that now travel everywhere.”
Harris Battery had grown a global footprint, and the company needed the senior-level talent to meet those new demands.
A Post-COVID Inflection Point
The shift began just over two years ago. Internally, Harris leaders saw a need for stronger alignment between departments, more sophisticated sales and marketing integration, and a forward-thinking digital strategy. But that vision wouldn’t materialize without the right leadership in place.
That’s when Harris partnered with In-Finite Search Solutions to launch a targeted recruitment effort for senior-level sales and marketing talent.
“This was about reimagining what kind of leadership would help the company grow in a post-COVID world,” says Matt Burns, CEO of In-Finite.
With In-Finite’s support, Harris Battery revamped its hiring approach: from refining job descriptions and defining must-have competencies to screening for culture-forward, change-ready candidates.
The company also revitalized its internal tech stack, investing in tools that would modernize customer engagement, sales performance, and cross-functional collaboration.
Respecting the Past, Hiring for the Future
What makes Harris Battery’s transformation so compelling isn’t just the hires they made, it’s the clarity of intent behind them.
They didn’t chase fads or paper over cultural issues with flashy perks. Instead, they grounded their leadership evolution in the same values that defined them in 1979: practical problem-solving, customer obsession, and an honest day’s work.
But they also recognized that today’s market requires more. Leaders must be digitally fluent, growth-minded, and resilient enough to lead teams through volatility.
That’s why the shift wasn’t just about “hiring better”—it was about hiring differently.
Harris points out that, for years, the company more or less demanded that its employees wear multiple hats. For the executives, this meant recruitment. The problem is that recruitment is a very time-intensive process and a specialized skill set. Outsourcing the work took a small burden off the shoulders of Harris Battery’s C-suite, allowing someone else to do the work and deliver prime candidates to the interview stage.
“We can tell a good story once we get in front of somebody, but the opportunity to find a person is best left to talented recruiters,” Harris says. “Matt has the talent to look and find people. That’s a difference-maker.”
Lessons for Other Manufacturers
For manufacturing leaders looking to navigate similar crossroads, Harris Battery’s journey offers a few key takeaways:
- Culture change doesn’t happen without leadership change. If your vision outpaces your team’s capabilities, it’s time to bring in new energy.
- Don’t wait for a crisis. The post-COVID market was a wake-up call, but proactive companies will always have the edge.
- Partner strategically. External recruiting partners like In-Finite can help identify candidates who not only bring skill but the right cultural alignment.
- Honor your roots, but don’t be limited by them. Harris Battery didn’t abandon its legacy. It built on it.
Final Thought
Manufacturing is evolving, and so must its leadership. At Harris Battery, the story isn’t just about charged cells and power supplies. It’s about a company charging forward, powered by people who are ready for what’s next.
Because at the end of the day, the strongest battery is one built to last. So is the best leadership team.