The award in the Business Innovation category (Best innovation) went to the Dimension Data Company, which successfully centralised technical support from 47 countries into two service delivery centres in Prague and in Bangalore last year. It was required to recruit 160 technical experts, who speak seven various languages and serve a total of 13,000 customers worldwide, in Prague in just 9 months. The centralisation project, called PACE 1.0, is one of the biggest transformation projects in the company’s history.

The project by the Anheuser-Busch InBev Czech Company deserved the award in the Customer Initiative category (best customer project). The aim of this company was to increase the transparency of additional costs incurred during over-seas shipping and subsequent reduction of these costs. To make it happen the company developed the Accessorials Risk Management Dashboard in just 3 months capable of working with information from the carriers‘ systems and predicts the value of fees for delays, demurrage or storage of goods at harbours. Thanks to this initiative the company managed to reduce additional costs related to over-seas shipping by more than 50 % between 2017 and 2018.

The award in the Education category (best project in the field of education) went to the Siemens Company for its complex educational programme, which it uses to develop its employees throughout their career path. The Siemens Company created and implemented the Shared Services Academy, which includes over 200 educational activities provided by a 70-member team of internal trainers, in the form of in-class training courses, webinars or by means of e-learning.

The Atlas Copco Company won the Employer Branding category (best project in employer branding area) by realising a successful rebranding campaign focusing on existing and potential employees, partners and local communities in relation to changing its name from Edwards Services to Atlas Copco Services. The chief motif of this campaign was the motto: “First in Mind – First in Choice”. As well as major social events in celebration of the change in name, and regular sports, leisure or education activities for employees, the Atlas Copco Company also focused on establishing awareness of the brand among students and potential employees.

The KBC Group, Shared Service Center CZ Company won the Business Excellence category (best project in the field of quality) when it used an innovative method to reduce operating costs considerably. In 2018 the company focused on the possibility of using RPA at its business services centre in Brno. As well as reducing the error rate and increasing effectiveness (robots work up to 10 times faster than humans) the KBC Group, SSC CZ also managed to reduce the work load. The robots can do the work of 27 full-time employees, who can then use their time to carry out more complex processes thanks to this automation.

The Johnson & Johnson Company received the award in the Innovative Workplace category (innovative work environment). Last year this company moved its offices from three various locations in Prague into a new modern space, the appearance of which the employees themselves were able to influence. The goal of the entire project was to offer employees an innovative work environment, which promotes collaboration and creativity and also offers employees facilities for relaxation, well-being and leisure time activities. As a result, emphasis was placed on smart and effective work methods, a healthy life style, ecology and health when creating the offices in which over 1,200 employees are based.

The Zebra Technologies Company received the award in the Value Creation category for its project focusing on the development and motivation of employees. As confirmed by many renowned companies, the investments into the education and development of the employees yield greater effectiveness and employee satisfaction. For that reason, the Zebra Technologies Company created several opportunities for developing the skills of their employees. The results of this two-year experiment are very positive – employee attrition has fallen by 50 % and is significantly below the market average. At the same time the satisfaction of both the internal customers and the employees increased.