Atmospheric celebration and a worthy winner

The Esprix Swiss Award for Excellence has been awarded since 1999. Reason enough for the Esprix Foundation, which is responsible for selecting and judging the award winners, to celebrate its 20th anniversary in a dignified manner. And they succeeded: At the Bürgenstock, the guests were not only offered an interesting framework programme, but there was also a deserving winner of the Esprix Swiss Award for Excellence. The Sursee Campus came out on top, ahead of Tamedia Publishing Services Printing & Logistics (winner in the category "Actively Managing Change") and Stif- tung Rodtegg (finalist). Regardless of their ranking, all three nominees were equally delighted to receive their awards from ski racer Marc Gisin.

Successfully tackling change
In fact, it is ultimately the employees who make the main contribution to successful continuous improvement processes. Even if the EFQM model is prescribed "from above", implementation must nevertheless be bottom-up. The management bodies of the three nominated companies have succeeded in translating the topic of Business Excellence in a way that is appropriate for the various levels. Only in this way was it possible for the Publishing Services Printing & Logistics division of Tamedia AG to successfully face up to the changes in an overall shrinking industry, as jury member Heinz Fischlin acknowledged in his laudatory speech. And the Sursee campus, probably Switzerland's leading training and seminar centre for the construction industry, has also managed to open up new target groups through a turnaround. A new sports arena and the award of the "2000-Watt-Areal" status are beacons of corporate development. This courage to invest in a quasi-anti-cyclical manner was particularly emphasized by the Ju- ry. The joy of working in such a company, which is optimistic about the future, was evident among the Sursee Campus crew present.

Thinking errors, spectacle and punchlines
The awarding of the "Oscar of the Swiss Economy" was framed by interesting, spectacular and also humorous speeches and contributions. For example, book author Rolf Dobelli pointed out common mistakes in everyday thinking. Fred Fu- gen and Vince Reffet alias Soul Flyers showed spectacular pictures of how they succeeded in jumping from the Jungfrau in wingsuits and catapulting themselves into an airplane after a short flight. This breathtaking stunt was only possible thanks to years of preparation, blind trust in a team, the highest concentration in the decisive moments as well as a sustainable risk management. The cabaret finale was provided by comedienne Helga Schneider. Successful gags about growing older in the age of digitalization provided numerous hearty laughs in the audience.

The next 20 years?
The atmospheric gala ended with an anniversary party. It remains to be seen whether there will be another Esprix Swiss Award for Excellence next year. Esprix Managing Director Priska Wyser, who together with the current President of the Foundation Board Reinhard Ahlborn and her predecessor Heinz Liedtke looked back on the 20-year history, left it open in any case. The fact that there will be a future for the Foundation was indicated by video clips of former and current award winners and other members of the Foundation Board. Perhaps a representative statement by Foundation Board member Florian Wieser: "Future challenges can only be mastered through cooperation ...".