The entrepreneurial network Swiss Venture Club (SVC) will award the Prix SVC Central Switzerland for the eighth time on November 10, 2020. From 120 companies in the region, the fourteen-member jury of experts headed by Urban Camenzind, Cantonal Councillor and Director of Economic Affairs for the Canton of Uri, has selected the following six finalists:

• allvisual ag, Steinhausen: Based on best practice, allvisual advises and implements services and solutions in the areas of digital transformation, product lifecycle management, smart manufacturing/service and 3D visualization for companies in the aviation, automotive, mechanical and plant engineering and medical technology sectors.
• Elbatech AG, Ibach: The company installs modern tunnel radio systems for rail operators throughout Switzerland, thus ensuring uninterrupted communication for all passengers. The design and installation of traction power systems and diamond drilling are other important areas of activity.
• Gübelin, Lucerne: The company, known for its gemstone expertise, creates and produces jewelry in its in-house atelier under its own brand Gübelin Jewellery, and also sells world-renowned luxury watch brands in its boutiques.
• Renggli AG, Sursee: With over 95 years of experience as a timber construction partner and general contractor, Renggli AG offers energy-efficient and sustainable timber construction projects in modern architecture - equally for multi-storey residential buildings, commercial and public buildings as well as for single-family homes.
• Seiler Käserei AG, Giswil: As an independent, owner-managed traditional company, Seiler Käserei AG has been producing excellent cheese specialties since 1928. Seiler processes only natural raw materials without additives. The milk comes from farms with controlled agriculture, directly from the slopes and valleys of the surrounding area. Some cheese varieties are also available in organic quality.
• Shiptec AG, Lucerne: The company was founded in 2013 as a subsidiary of Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees (SGV) AG, but its wealth of experience dates back to 1931. With its shipyard and an engineering office, the company provides technical services in the fields of ship design and engineering, shipbuilding, ship overhauls, conversions and ship maintenance for professional and private shipping.

Information: www.svc.swiss

Managers should cultivate an appreciative approach to their employees that is characterized by mutual respect. "Leadership with appreciation" - this is often emphasized in leadership seminars. But in everyday work, employees often feel little of this. It is not uncommon for a rather harsh tone to prevail: especially when there is a fire in the company's woodwork - for example, because revenues are falling away - and the managers themselves are under a great deal of pressure. In such cases, even the most banal rules of etiquette that actually apply to human interaction are often forgotten.

Appreciative leadership: 14 tips

1. Before you communicate with employees, reflect on their state of mind. This is especially important in crisis situations, because these also unsettle your employees.
2. Never compose and send an e-mail spontaneously, for example, out of a feeling of anger. You will usually regret this a short time later. First save the mail in the drafts folder and then reread it once or twice before you press the send button.
3. Before communicating with employees - regardless of the channel - always reflect on your own state of mind. If you feel unable to communicate in an appreciative manner, postpone the conversation or do something to improve your mood first.
4. Accept that you too are a flesh and blood being and often do not react as rationally as you would like. Become aware of the emotions you are feeling right now that are influencing how you feel and act. Emotions are not diseases, they are a part of us.
5. If you feel insecure or even helpless in the face of the actual situation, deal with it - if possible with stable, reflective personalities from your network or a good coach. Gain as much security as possible without deluding yourself. Take charge instead of being a "victim of circumstances".
6. Try to accept the bad circumstances or general conditions as you would the weather - according to the maxim: "Change it, love it or leave it". There is suitable clothing for every weather and adequate behavior for every situation or constellation.
7. As a manager, you need to be able to control your emotional balance, because one of your tasks is to give your employees orientation and support. Make sure that you always see the silver lining on the horizon or the light at the end of the tunnel. For example, by making yourself aware of the difficulties you and your team have already overcome in the past.
8. In crisis situations, seek more personal contact with your employees. Ask them about your personal situation. Give them an insight into your emotional life. This makes you human and strengthens their relationship.
9. Take responsibility for your behavior. Apologize sincerely if you have used a wrong tone or overstepped the mark for emotional reasons. Forgive yourself for such "little mistakes", because "Nobody is perfect".
10. Be aware: Successful communication always presupposes a mutual willingness to understand the other person correctly. Therefore, you are not responsible for every misunderstanding. Nevertheless, clarify them quickly.
11. Do not be tempted to go in search of personal "culprits". That only costs time and puts you in a bad mood. Instead, look for the (problem) causes and solutions.
12. If your corporate culture allows it, also talk to colleagues in management about your feelings and concerns. Then you will almost always find out: You are not alone in having them. Consequently, they are not an expression of personal weaknesses, but are situational. If this is not possible in your company, find another forum for exchange - such as my workshop for leadership and change.
13. Make sure that people around you regularly give you an unvarnished reflection of your external impact. This is your only possibility to find out whether your behavior triggers in others what you want to achieve or exactly the opposite.
14. Take care of your mental hygiene and work-life balance, especially in crisis and stress situations - for example, by doing sports or targeted relaxation in your free time to provide the necessary balance. Otherwise, your pent-up negative emotions will suddenly burst out of you in an uncontrolled manner and those around you will be shocked into distancing themselves from you.

Therefore, as a manager, remember this in your leadership work: How much respect and appreciation you show your employees can be seen by them in many apparent little things.

To the author: Klaus Doll is the owner of Klaus Doll Organisationsberatung, Neustadt an der Weinstraße. He regularly organizes a two-day open "Workshop for Leadership and Change" in which executives jointly reflect on their personal current situation in their company, among other things (www.doll-beratung.de).

The newest member of the localsearch product family is called digitalONE. digitalONE is the all-in-one solution for a comprehensive company presence in the digital world, tailored to the needs of SMEs with little time and budget but still high demands on their digital presence, according to the company. The product combines the classic directory entry of local.ch and search.ch with a company profile on Google and Bing as well as in the leading navigation services and various social media networks. With digitalONE, the SME company profile is published on numerous services on the Internet. These include the leading Swiss directory services (local.ch and search.ch), search engines (Google, Bing), social media (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat), navigation systems (Apple, TomTom, Here and systems of most car manufacturers) and industry-specific online services (Tripadvisor, renovero.ch, anbieter-vergleich.ch).

Never again wrong opening hours and contact details

digitalONE has an integrated customer center for central data management. From it, company data such as addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, opening hours or even images can be centrally managed and updated across all connected services at the click of a button. This makes it effortless for SMEs to ensure that their company data and opening hours are consistently stored and up-to-date on all platforms and in all directories. Optionally, a social reputation function can also be connected to the customer center. This gives SMEs the ability to view and respond to customer reviews from a variety of platforms in one central location. localsearch CEO Santinelli sums it up: "With digitalONE, SMEs can be found, liked and booked directly by consumers."

All-in-one solution for growing digital requirements

With digitalONE, Swiss SMEs are meeting the constantly growing digital requirements. The free appointment booking software, which can be integrated into the product on request, also serves a very specific consumer need. It makes it possible to reserve an appointment or a restaurant table directly via the company profile. "By integrating appointment booking software, we greatly enhance the company entry for our customers. Hairdressers, physio practices, beauty salons, restaurants and other service providers can now be found, liked and booked directly via their company entry," says Stefano Santinelli. Also included in the package is a free, mobile-optimized and fast-loading mini website. With this, for example, it is now even easier for start-ups to be present in the online world with an individual company presence right from the start.

Optional product functionalities for an even stronger presence

A whole range of optional product functionalities is available in combination with the basic product. These include the reach booster (top positioning on localsearch's own platforms local.ch, search.ch and renovero.ch), an online reputation tool and the optimization of the company profile carried out by experts for an even more effective presence in the digital world. The customer has the option of tailoring digitalONE to his business needs with a wide range of optional functionalities. The overall package is supplemented as standard with individually retrievable visitor statistics.

Source: localsearch

Following the signing in July of the declaration of intent to merge the umbrella organization ICTswitzerland and the location initiative digitalswitzerland, the members of both organizations have now also confirmed the merger project at their respective association meetings. As a location initiative, digitalswitzerland has so far worked to establish Switzerland as the leading international digital innovation hub. ICTswitzerland represented selected and overarching topics of digitization to society, politics and business and placed a special focus on cybersecurity and the education and training of ICT professionals.

Joint commitment to digital Switzerland

With the merger, the two thrusts will be bundled and the two organizations will merge under the name digitalswitzerland to form the most relevant umbrella organization in digital Switzerland with a new membership of 220. The merger will enable holistic networking in the digital ecosystem of all industries and public administration. This will strengthen Switzerland's positioning as a digital and innovation location both at home and abroad. President of digitalswitzerland remains Ivo Furrer, Vice President will be the current ICTswitzerland President, National Councillor Marcel Dobler.

Digital advancement on all fronts

The umbrella organization aims to deepen selected skills and topics with which Switzerland can be credibly positioned and strengthened as a leading digital research and innovation location. Among other things, the focus is on developing and implementing measures to increase the number of STEM professionals trained at all levels of the education system, with the aim of meeting the demand for skilled workers. The expansion of the digital ecosystem will also be advanced through cross-sector collaboration to continuously enable innovation. In addition, there will be a stronger commitment to increasing the cyber resilience of the state, the economy and society and to upholding ethical standards in the digital world. Public dialog with the Swiss population is to be intensified thanks to the nationwide Swiss Digitaltage events. The startup ecosystem will also continue to be promoted so that young entrepreneurs receive optimum support in terms of growth and scaling. In the political arena, the digital topics and concerns of digitalswitzerland members will be championed. One initial joint commitment is the rapid introduction of the state-recognized and certified e-ID.

Three offices

The merger was decided on October 1 and should be completed by the end of 2020. In the future, the umbrella organization will have three offices in Lausanne, Bern and Zurich. Nicolas Bürer will assume overall responsibility for digitalswitzerland. Andreas W. Kaelin is deputy managing director and head of the Bern site. He is responsible for political advocacy as well as for the cybersecurity and ICT vocational training dossiers. Sébastien Kulling will continue to head the Lausanne site as deputy managing director. He is responsible for all activities and members in Suisse Romande.

Source: www.ictswitzerland.ch and www.digitalswitzerland.com

A total of 33,617 new companies were founded in the first three quarters of 2020, an increase of +2.5% compared to the record previous year 2019. The national analysis of the IFJ shows in which cantons most startups were created. Zug is by far the leader with 13.7 startups per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by the cantons of Schwyz, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Geneva and Basel-Stadt.

In which canton is there the greatest entrepreneurial spirit?

On average, 4.28 startups per 1,000 inhabitants took place in Switzerland in the current year. A total of 9 cantons are above the national average. The canton of Zug (13.73) is at the top by a remarkable margin, ahead of Schwyz (6.07), Appenzell Innerrhoden (5.95), Geneva (5.51) and Basel-Stadt (4.79). The Swiss cantons with the lowest start-up rates are Uri (2.11), Bern (2.74) and Schaffhausen (2.85), which found the fewest new companies per 1,000 inhabitants.

Development of the individual months in the first three quarters

The analysis of the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen shows that due to the imposed Corona measures in March (-5.4%), April (-25.1%) and May (-13.4%) significantly fewer companies were founded than in the previous year. During these three months of the shutdown, on average -14.6% fewer firms were founded than in the same period last year. However, this decline was with the subsequent months, which were strong in terms of founding made up for or overcompensated for the decline. In June, there was an increase of +24.8%, in July +11.1%, in August +17.9% and in September an increase of +18.3%. The confidence among founders in Switzerland continues and an ongoing increase can be expected in 2020.

Five industries account for 50% of all startups

About 50% of all startups occur in the five industries of skilled trades (17.4%), consulting (10%), retail trade (8.5%), real estate (7.7%), and food services and accommodation (6.5%). The least number of startups is in the activity sector of printing and publishing (0.4%), high-tech (0.6%), agriculture and forestry (1%) and education (1.9%).

In terms of the development of the sectors compared to the previous year, it can be seen that Hairdressing and Cosmetics increased by +23.6%, Marketing and Communication +17.6%, Education +16.7%, Consulting +13.1% and Architecture and Engineering +10% in the double-digit range. The largest percentage declines were in Other Services (travel agencies, professional services, etc.) -24.5%, Culture and Nonprofit -7.1%, and Finance and Insurance -6.7%.

Northwestern Switzerland on a high, Schaffhausen and Ticino still strongly in the red

The major regions of Northwestern Switzerland +9.3%, Central Switzerland +5.7%, Eastern Switzerland +5.0%, Escape Mittelland +3.8% and Zurich +3.6% enjoyed a recovery in company founders in the first three quarters of 2020 and even set positive accents compared to the record year of 2019.

Just as Ticino was hit hardest by the Corona pandemic, the decline in the number of startups in Ticino compared with the previous year is also relevant in a comparison of the major regions, at -12.6%. The spirit of entrepreneurship also declined in southwestern Switzerland, with the region recording a drop of -2.2% in new startups.

Despite the currently still adverse economic circumstances, 22 of the 26 Swiss cantons can look back on more startups in the first nine months compared to the previous year. The cantons with the strongest percentage growth are Obwalden +45.5%, Appenzell Innerrhoden +20%, Thurgau +15.1%, Appenzell Ausserrhoden +11.3%, Glarus +10.6%, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft +9.4%, Aargau +9.1%, Valais +8.2%, Lucerne +7.1%, Solothurn +6.7%, Jura +6.6%, Schwyz +5.9%, Fribourg +4.7%, Uri +4.1%, Zurich +3.6%, Graubünden +3.0%, Bern +2.6%, Neuchâtel +2.3%, Zug +2.2%, St. Gallen +1.2% and Nidwalden with +1.1%. The cantons with percentage losses are Geneva -2.2%, Vaud -6.3%, Schaffhausen -11.4% and Ticino with -12.6%.

Source: www.ifj.ch

Since its foundation 35 years ago by three HSG graduates, the St. Gallen software company Abacus Research has developed from a start-up to a company with over 500 employees, three Swiss branches and subsidiaries in three locations in Germany. Claudio Hintermann, founding partner, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors in personal union, is now handing over the mandate of Chairman of the Board of Directors to Rainer Kaczmarczyk. Hintermann will concentrate more on operational management on the one hand and on software development as chief strategist on the other. He will remain on the company's Board of Directors.

From Compaq to Abacus Research

Rainer Kaczmarczyk was Managing Director of the Abacus subsidiary in Germany from 2009 to 2017 and before that held the same position at Compaq Switzerland from 1995 to 2002 and subsequently at Compaq Germany. After the acquisition of Compaq by Hewlett-Packard, he led the Enterprise Systems division and Business Customer Sales with around 1100 employees for three years in Germany as Managing Director.

Claudio Hintermann comments on his resignation as VRP as follows: "The expected growth spurt in the digital age requires that our company adequately strengthens itself and builds sustainable structures. With his many years of experience in the management of a large company, Rainer Kaczmarczyk will help us to create an appropriate organization in our company that will allow us to continue to grow as well as be successful and thus secure the company's existence in the long term for the benefit of our customers, users, sales partners and employees."

"Exciting challenge"

Kaczmarcyk calls the fact that he is responsible for the transformation process at Abacus Research "an exciting challenge" and explains: "At Abacus, we want to continue the unique success story, expand the leading market position and continue to serve our customers with useful innovations. I look forward to working with CEO Claudio Hintermann and the Abacus employees."

At the same time as the change at the top of the Board of Directors, Abacus is strengthening its management with Philippe Bürki as the company's new CFO. Bürki worked for the Migros Ostschweiz cooperative for eight years in the finance department as Head of Controlling. Prior to that, he was responsible for the finances of the Hotelplan Group's Russian business for three years.

Source

Even though the Foreign Trade Forum in the spring had to be cancelled due to Corona, the export promotion organization Switzerland Global Enterprise S-GE will once again present the Export Award to a company whose internationalization strategy is convincing. The award ceremony will take place on October 26 in Bern. The award will be presented by Ruth Metzler-Arnold (Chairman of the Board of Directors S-GE) and Simone Wyss Fedele (CEO S-GE).

Who can best deal with export hurdles

Volatility and uncertainty increasingly characterize international business. This is evidenced by the trade disputes and political tensions of recent years, but also by the current Covid 19 pandemic, which has severely slowed down global trade. In order to survive in this environment, it is all the more important that internationally oriented Swiss companies position themselves with a clear unique selling proposition, tailor their market development strategy to the various target markets and deal with export hurdles in an agile manner - as is the case with the Berlinger Group, Sensirion AG and Storz Medical AG.

The Jury of the Export Award has nominated these three companies for the Export Award 2020 because, despite a challenging environment, they operate successfully in international markets and have made it to the top of the world market in their sector. The honorary and independent jury is made up of well-known personalities from the Swiss business, science and media worlds.

The finalists for the Export Award 2020

• Berlinger Group: Innovation meets tradition. The high-tech products of the Berlinger Group are used for temperature monitoring of pharmaceutical and medical products as well as for safe transport and storage of doping samples in elite sports. Thanks to personal contacts with international pharmaceutical companies and humanitarian organizations as well as sports federations and organizers of major sporting events, the hardware and software solutions from Toggenburg are in demand in over 180 countries. "Feel safe" is the slogan of the 155-year-old family-owned company, which trumps with continuity and innovation and plays an important role worldwide in terms of patient safety and in its commitment to clean sports.
• Sensirion AG: Taking off with sensors. As a global market leader for environmental sensors and flow measurement, the Sensirion AG Stäfa successfully defies even weighty competitors. The company, which emerged from the ETH in 1998, mainly sells standardized products that can be adapted worldwide and are used in the automotive, industrial, medical and consumer markets. Around one fifth of sales is invested in research and development at the Stäfa headquarters, where 70 percent of the value added is generated.
• Storz Medical AG: Wave of success thanks to shock wave. Shock wave technology developed by the Storz Medical AG has tradition since 1987. The non-invasive method is used for a wide variety of medical treatments in urology, orthopedics, cardiology, aesthetics and neurology. The spectrum of applications in medical practices, rehabilitation centers and hospitals ranges from the disintegration of kidney stones to the therapy of Alzheimer's disease. Around 60,000 shock wave systems from this company are in use every day worldwide - and the growth potential is enormous. Through its global distribution network, Storz Medical is represented in over 90 countries. 160 employees develop and produce at the headquarters in Tägerwilen on Lake Constance. Storz Medical AG employs a total of 210 people worldwide.

More information: Switzerland Global Enterprise

Digitization has made significant progress in the world of work. Abdullah Redzepi, lecturer at the OST - Ostschweizer Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland) and member of the advisory board of the HR Day, also underlined this in his welcoming speech. In the future, machines, technologies and artificial intelligence will be able to take over more and more activities that have so far been performed by humans. According to Redzepi, HR must accompany this transformation and become the driving force of the new working relationship between people and machines.

People and machines: Implications for the professional world

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SAP Switzerland, René Fitterer, showed that the architecture of digital transformation is efficient and desirable. The speed of change has increased dramatically, he said, and robots are being developed everywhere to replace human labor. Thus, according to Fitterer, by 2025, about 60% of our activities will be automated, and 1.5 million jobs will be lost. At the same time, however, digitization will create an equal number of new jobs. Two-thirds of today's children would then be working in a profession that does not exist today. These changes would have to be accompanied by investments in further training. At SAP, an increase in training costs of 1% would improve earnings by 50 to 60 million euros.

Originality and new learning strategies

The author Jannike Stöhr explained how organizations and thus the working world are changing due to globalization, the new role of women, demographic change and other megatrends. The world of work is moving from a hierarchical organization to a network organization. This will be driven above all by ideas, originality and new learning strategies. To achieve this, employees must learn to deal with the networked world and to collaborate. Employees should be supported with career guidance and self-discovery, with a focus on individual strengths and talents, and with the promotion of learning as a team. But space for intrinsic and self-organized training and learning by doing would also have to be encouraged.

Practitioners for the promotion of learning

In the discussion, prudently led by moderator Matthias Wipf, the practitioner among the participants, Byörn Mattle, Head of HR & Academy at Jansen AG in Oberriet, confirmed that the challenges are great and that the promotion of learning, which Jansen AG is strongly committed to, is particularly important. The greatest challenge, he says, is to manage the balancing act between man and machine. Jansen AG is trying to automate all activities that are less prone to error and thus create more time for the appreciative activities of the employees. The participants in the discussion emphasized that active listening is very important in today's organization. Employee discussions should be worked out in the company and measures derived from them.

What humans and machines don't have in common: Screwing up ...

With a unique combination of seriousness and humor, the two consultants and cabaret artists Stefan Stahl and Marco Zbinden address topics that no one wants to get their fingers burned on. According to them, the future-oriented company should stand on two pillars, namely technology and creativity. The USP of humans is "screwing up," which artificial intelligence cannot do. Human failure is unrivaled, but creativity emerges from "messing up. We should give chance a chance and see what comes out of it.

Recruiting in challenging times

The labor market, as the conference showed, has increasingly developed into an employee market in recent years. Recruiters and companies, according to Frank Rechsteiner, author, in the concluding presentation, must therefore use new methods to recruit personnel. In addition to new ideas in addressing candidates and in employer branding, it is above all important to develop a new mindset for recruiting in the future. Rechsteiner highlighted important points such as active sourcing, recruiting 4.0, content recruiting and influencer recruiting.

In addition to HR managers, business managers are also being called upon to radically rethink recruitment. Instead of continuing to produce stereotypical job advertisements, the specialist departments would have to work together with HR managers to develop job content and unique selling points with which their companies can score points as employers. To this end, the goals of the teams in which vacancies are to be filled must also be defined and linked to company-specific elements such as vision and mission statement, Rechsteiner said.

www.personaltag.ch

Griesser AG has been headquartered in Aadorf since 1882 and has long since established itself as one of Europe's market leaders for sun and weather protection for windows and terraces. In June 2020, construction work began for the expansion and new construction of the production.

Foundation laid for productivity increase

The demolition and reconstruction of a factory hall, the expansion of an existing production hall, the replacement of the existing powder coating plant, which is over 20 years old, and the installation of an automated warehouse are intended to increase productivity and improve energy efficiency. If everything goes according to plan, Griesser will be able to complete the construction project by summer 2021 and then install and commission the new equipment.

The fact that Griesser is sticking to the original timetable for its construction project shows that the company is looking boldly to the future, even in times of Corona. And it is a commitment to investing in Switzerland as a place to work and thus to the philosophy of the traditional company.

Also rooted in the community of Aadorf TG in the future

In his speech before the symbolic laying of the foundation stone, CEO Urs Neuhauser emphasized: "Griesser is represented in 20 countries. However, Switzerland is and remains our most important production site." Matthias Küng, president of the municipality of Aadorf highlighted the 138 years that the municipality has been associated with Griesser. "The traditional company is an important employer and enjoys a high level of acceptance among the population," Küng said. He is particularly pleased that Aadorf - in 1999 the second Thurgau municipality to be awarded the "Energy City" label - and Griesser are also on the same wavelength in terms of sustainability.

Construction work with challenges

Due to the location of the company's premises, through which the Lützelmurg streambed passes and runs underground at the factory building, the construction project also poses very special challenges. "In addition to the actual conversion and expansion work, permits were also required for the watercourse area and for watercourse and flood protection," explained Thurgau government councilor Carmen Haag from the Department of Construction and Environment. She praised the consistently good cooperation with Griesser during the planning and approval phase.

After the speeches, in a symbolic act, a time capsule containing all the construction plans and concepts as well as a current issue of the daily newspaper was concreted into the ground at the site of the new building by Chairman of the Board Walter Strässle.

Information: Griesser AG

The Swiss Ethics Award was presented for the 9th time by the Swiss Excellence Forum on September 23, 2020. The award honors projects that set new ethical standards in the field of business. Alternative Bank Switzerland prevailed with its project "Climate-Active ABS" against the co-nominated Arbofino AG, Forma Futura Invest AG, Reckhaus AG and Vatorex AG. The socially and ecologically oriented bank was founded in 1990 and is today supported by over 7500 shareholders.

Money flows influence CO2 emissions

ABS's winning project targets climate protection and demonstrates the significant role of financial flows. The operation of a bank causes only few direct CO2 emissions. The money flows managed by banks, on the other hand, have a massive impact.

Climate protection in the banking business

The ABS has addressed this issue and shows how climate protection can be applied and implemented in the banking business. In its investment and credit guidelines, it has defined exclusion and eligibility criteria for areas in which it does not want to invest. For example, companies that contribute significantly to climate change are excluded. Industries that are harmful to the climate are excluded. Securities from countries that disregard climate protection and do not commit to international climate targets are not considered.

Alternative Bank Switzerland ensures transparency

On the other hand, business areas that enable a positive impact on society and the environment are promoted. In 2016, ABS was the first Swiss bank to publish the carbon footprint of its investments and transparently show how it contributes to a climate-friendly economy through its investment business. For this extensive commitment to climate protection, it was honored by the jury with the Swiss Ethics Award.

Source: News Current
More information: ABS

Accounting in Swiss SMEs cannot be described as "digital", as the results of a survey by Run my Accounts and the offer portal GRYPS show. The survey took place between June 25 and July 8, 2020; 109 SMEs participated online.

Digital accounting still far from standard

One of the most important findings up front: paper receipts are still the standard. Online accounting programs are also not the norm in the SME landscape. The advantages of digital accounting, such as low costs and up-to-date and meaningful books, are not yet recognized by Swiss SMEs.

On a scale of 0-4, Swiss SMEs rate themselves at only a 2.8 when it comes to using accounting for business decisions (e.g. hiring new employees, deciding on investments). Small SMEs in particular do not use the strategic potential of the books; a glance at the bank account often has to suffice. If SMEs define important business processes without looking at the accounting, this directly increases the risk of bankruptcy.

Accounting: Preferably inexpensive - and led by the managing director

An accounting solution must first and foremost be cheap for Swiss SMEs: SMEs cite "low costs" as the most important factor. Quality and legal compliance are only mentioned in second place. It is therefore not surprising that Swiss SMEs rate the quality of their own accounting as mediocre: On a scale of 1-5, the companies give themselves only a 3.3 for the quality of their own accounting.

Do SME business managers prefer to deal with accounting than with their customers? This does indeed seem to be the case. In 47% of the SMEs surveyed, the managing director personally handles the financial accounting. An external fiduciary professional takes over accounting in only 19% of the SMEs surveyed.

Other results in the survey

More than half of the respondents (55%) estimate that the proportion of paper documents in their SME is still at least 60%. This means that digital documents have not yet arrived in Swiss SMEs. Furthermore, 60% of the companies surveyed still do their accounting on locally installed software. Small SMEs with up to 10 employees and large SMEs with 51 employees or more also prefer to do their accounting internally. Outsourcing is more common among medium-sized SMEs. Only when accounting becomes increasingly complex and formalistic are fiduciary experts called in, e.g. for value added tax (33%), annual financial statements (42%) or taxes (45%).

Conclusion: Swiss SMEs have yet to realize the benefits of digital accounting. Instead of bookkeeping, they use the SME bank account to make business decisions. In contrast to bookkeeping, this is not meaningful enough: Only clean bookkeeping recognizes and avoids liquidity bottlenecks and bankruptcies in the long term.

Source: www.gryps.ch and www.runmyaccounts.ch

Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is rightly regarded as the most important of all human qualities...for it is this quality that guarantees all others." The only unfortunate thing is that the most important qualities are not necessarily the most widely shared. And certainly not courage.

Lead courageously

Do you know what I miss most in the executive suites of many companies? The courage to think big, to tackle the most challenging goals, to push through important decisions and to exemplify courageous leadership.

There is a huge difference between people staying in their comfort zone and thinking and acting on a much larger scale. Truly great things are only ever created when the distance between a vision and the current state is as great as possible.

This requires courage. Because growing 3% feels safer than trying to double the business in 3 years. Keeping our team mediocre is easier than creating a top team. The latter will create resistance, fears, complaints. But also the chance for real change, for real excellence.

Three tests of courage

So here's my appeal: Show more courage! You can practice it. Here are three "tests of courage":

1. Targets. At the next budget meeting or strategy workshop, don't settle for the normal. Instead, say, "I think we should dare to do more. We can do a lot more good for a lot more customers. Let's go for it." And then announce your bold goal statements. In pursuing these goals, of course, you must be careful not to let your courage leave you. That's your choice.
2. Decisions. Show courage to make small decisions immediately and larger decisions after brief consideration. Most of the time you will be right (or it doesn't matter). And if not, correct. This is almost always possible. Only evaluate the really big decisions more carefully. I see leaders struggle with the simplest decisions all the time. You have to change that.
3. Change. I've written about this before: Make it a habit to do something different every now and then. Fight mental rigidity and dare to do something new. Be it cancelling meetings or changing habits. By doing so, you show yourself and everyone else that change is normal and inertia is unacceptable.

One last reminder: We have only a limited time on this planet. At the end of life, few people complain that they were too brave, but many complain that they didn't dare enough. So go ahead, what are you waiting for? Courage!

To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch