Kärcher, Covestro, Heraeus, Otto Group, and PSD Bank Nürnberg – yesterday in Frankfurt, these five companies were recognised for their outstanding corporate culture with the Corporate Culture Award. The winners were judged foremost among 153 entries in the categories "Digital Culture", "Shared Value", "Change", and "Best Story", and in the special category "Best Innovative Culture". Yesterday's event marked the first presentation of the award, which was founded by Serviceplan Group, culture analysts Deep White, HR and transformation consultants Promerit, and ZEIT Publishing Group.

Frankfurt, 16 November 2018 — A proactive approach to fostering a professional culture is the cornerstone of lasting success when it comes to making changes in any company. This is the firm belief of the founders of the Corporate Culture Awards (CCA). And it's not only them: studies show that the corporate culture factor accounts for up to 30 percent of a company's success. After all, this factor is the key to implementing strategies and attracting employees.

A high-calibre jury, including Global Digital Women founder Tijen Onaran, Editor-in-Chief of Manager Magazin Steffen Klusmann, and Professor Walter Brenner, specialist in digitisation and information at the University of St. Gallen, awarded the first CCA in five categories.

The winners are:

Best Story – Kärcher

Change – PSD Bank Nürnberg

Digital Culture – Heraeus

Shared Value – Otto Group

Special "Innovative Culture" Prize – Covestro

Statements from the Winners:

Kärcher

Hartmut Jenner, Chairman of the Board at Kärcher: "I'm delighted for our company to have received this recognition, which is about the heart of who we are: our culture. What employees and corporate culture mean to me can best be described as follows: Legal provisions oblige us to see employees in accounting terms not as an asset, but rather as an expense. And yet it's obvious that the actual value of a company isn't measured in its machinery, buildings, or financial resources, but in its people. That's because machinery and buildings without people are worthless, whereas people without machinery and buildings don't lose any of their value. It isn't simply a matter of common decency to put people at the heart of matters, therefore, but also a basic requirement for sustainable corporate governance.

PSD Bank Nürnberg

Johann Büchler, Chairman of the Management Board, PSD Bank Nürnberg: "The market is changing. Underlying conditions like progressive digitisation or new customer needs demand that we always keep developing. That's why we've reworked our brand positioning – in close cooperation with customers, employees, and managers. Now we're taking a step further together, and translating this into very concrete USPs for our customers, as well as into concrete measures for our employees. We are making this change together, and implementing our corporate culture in interaction and communication on a daily basis. I'm extremely proud of our employees and managers, and would like to thank the jury for recognising the path that we have taken." Claudia Kratel, Head of Digital Marketing, adds: "With our new positioning, we are seeking to establish a strong corporate culture and brand that is also reflected in a unique customer experience. This is about genuine added value, the best service, and the best products. It pleases us all the more to see our efforts bear fruit in our winning the Corporate Culture Award in the "Change" category!"

Heraeus

"Our employees are our most important asset. Because it is our employees who are responsible for the success of Heraeus, their training and further development is extremely important to us. Our digital training platform, "train the team", lays the foundation for continuous learning in the workplace, and for an exchange-based culture," HR Business Partner at Heraeus Quarzglas in Bitterfeld, Stefanie Schmidt-Pforte, explains. "As a technology company, we were driven in our efforts by the question of how we can best gather and evaluate knowledge, as well as how we can best distribute it throughout the company and retain it in a sustainable way."

Otto Group

Dr. Johannes Merck, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Otto Group: "For over 30 years, Otto Group has combined ambitious economic objectives with responsibility towards people and the natural environment. This fundamental principle is firmly anchored and strategically integrated into our corporate culture, together with a strong values system. We are extremely happy to have won the Corporate Culture Award in the "Shared Value" category for our "impACT" CR management approach. This process determines all of the effects of our business activity and derives objective-led activities from it. In this way we give sustainability added value. Receiving this distinction is a welcome recognition of our long-standing commitment in the fields of sustainable management and social responsibility. It strengthens our conviction that, even in highly digitised and complex companies like Otto Group, value-oriented activity can and must be pursued."

Covestro

"At Covestro, innovation is a key concern for each one of our more than 16,000 employees – not only for those responsible for research and development," says Markus Steilemann, Chairman of the Board at Covestro, one of the world's largest polymers companies. "To this end, we have established a culture of openness and appropriate tolerance for errors, as well as a comprehensive infrastructure for ideas, which includes an Internet platform, regular international innovation festivals, and a new, internal start-up competition. For us, innovation means working together every day to push the boundaries of what is possible. That's why we're especially proud to have been recognised in this way."

Copyright Pictures: Andreas Henn