Global functions
Implenia realigned its Group-wide functions in 2019. These now provide their services via business partners in the divisions. This ensures quick and easy communication with the operational parts of the business and allows agility when shaping efficient overarching processes and when defining Group-wide standards.
The functional heads of Finance/Procurement, Human Resources, Legal/Compliance, Strategy, Group IT and Marketing/Communications, as well as the Project Excellence & Services competence centre (PES) all report directly to the Group CEO. Controlling, Insurances, Finance & Tax, Treasury & Investor Relations and Procurement all report to the CFO. This new organisational structure relieves the burden on divisional management levels, shortens communication paths and improves functional management of employees.
Highlights of 2019
Operational Excellence as a claim
Numerous different measures and initiatives were launched and executed within the global functions in 2019. Many of them are described in other parts of this report, including in the chapters on “Employees”, “Health and Safety”, “Sustainability” and “Strategy Update”. Highlights include the establishment of a global innovation organisation and a Sustainability Committee, the introduction of a Group-wide Value Assurance initiative and the creation of a proper basis for standardised and integrated processes as part of Project INSPIRE.
Implenia is pursuing an “Operational Excellence”programme designed to secure profitable growth, higher margins and greater market share. Supplier relationships are one of the main focuses of this programme; these were strengthened and developed in 2019 at a series of special “supplier summits”. Implenia makes clear demands on its suppliers and partners in order to ensure high quality in the execution of its projects.
New, integrated communications platforms
Readers of this Annual Report may have noticed a change. We fundamentally redesigned Implenia’s financial communications in 2019, and already took a step in this direction with the 2019 Half-Year Report. With the publication of the 2019 Annual Report, we are now taking a systematic “online first” approach, with a clear focus on an integrated online report combined with a functional PDF and “print-on-demand” extracts that can be ordered by investors, analysts and other interested stakeholders.
The Group-wide Intranet and the corporate website (www.implenia.com) were both given a fundamental relaunch in 2019. The relaunch of the Intranet marked an important step towards an integrated real-time communications tool for all employees, including those who joined us when Implenia acquired companies in countries outside Switzerland. As well as state-of-the-art design and a consolidation of the different content management systems, the relaunch of the corporate website also brought useful new functions for the user, including an overview of Implenia projects and agencies that can be filtered according to individual criteria.
Outlook for 2020
Ensuring profitable growth – with the help of financial management
In 2019 the Finance Department laid the foundations for a consistent financial management system throughout the whole of Implenia, implemented and supported at the appropriate levels by internal business partners. This “Performance Management” will be initiated in 2020 and rolled out in 2021. The “centre” concept (profit centre – service centre – cost centre) encourages a consistent focus on the divisions, functions and strategy. Objective measures will be used in future to assess what different centres contribute to the success of the business from a strategic point of view.
In 2020, we will also continue to pursue multi-year initiatives and measures developed by the global functions, including the comprehensive Group IT-driven ERP integration project “INSPIRE”. Another initiative is the Value Assurance process, which is being introduced systematically to ensure uniform, end-to-end, transparent assessment and processing of projects of all sizes.
