JUNE
15TH 2023
LE CHÂTEAU
Join us
JUNE 15TH 2023, LE CHÂTEAU
Join us
ABOUT ABSL GALA AWARDS
The time has come to look back on 2022 and the many accomplishments of our members that continued to adapt to the new challenges, adjust the way of working, connecting, and delivering high-standard services. Our industry continued to grow with new clients, new scope with the same clients, or with the complexity of the services, generating added value. The geopolitical and economic context, the challenges of the hybrid work environment determined us to be resilient and find new ways of adjusting and thriving in our business. Having the ABSL community, sharing best practices, learning from each other, increased our chances of success, of taking advantage of opportunities and continue to grow.
In 2023 we mark the 8th edition of the ABSL AWARDS GALA, and we want to celebrate the ones who contributed to keeping our industry among the most successful ones, and maintaining Romania between the most attractive markets.
We encourage our member companies to become a voice of the industry and take part in our competition by enrolling their most innovative, impactful, and valuable projects and initiatives.
The outstanding ones will be applauded and awarded during the ABSL Gala, that will take place on June 15, at Le Château, Bucharest.
ABSL Awards Gala inspires the business services community to continuously strive for excellence and by this, to strengthen the sector’s position within the Romanian economy.
8th EDITION CATEGORIES
BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
Business Leader in BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
In today’s Business Services sector, the ability of our companies to continuously improve operational capabilities and financial performance lays at the heart of our business. This category seeks to recognize the projects that brought the highest productivity, significant improvement in results and contributed to achieving business excellence through enhanced process quality, reduction of operational costs and therefore overall contribution to the enterprise. We look at projects driven either through continuous improvement, innovation or business process re-engineering.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Timeline of the project
- Project goal & scope
- Original approach to process management
- Operational improvements & cost savings
- Process streamlining/replication
- Recognition of the project
BUSINESS INNOVATION
Business Leader in BUSINESS INNOVATION
Over the last few years, the Business Services sector has moved from transactional and fairly simple operations to more advanced, complex and even automated activities and processes. Companies needed to continue finding innovative solutions to cope with the new environment (challenged at geopolitical and economical levels) and maintain the business to its efficiency and performance, striving to reach the higher echelons of innovation.
This category focuses on rewarding the development of innovative solutions or a successful delivery of complex or advanced services. Either of them should be considered means to further enhancement of business services capabilities. Your success story needs to demonstrate how your organization gained competitive advantage or improved its performance due to implementation of the innovative solution.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Timeline of the project
- Project goal of the innovative solution
- Impact for the company and the business
- Innovativeness
- Recognition of the solution
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Business Leader in CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
The post-pandemic context maintained a partially virtual relation and interaction with our customers and partners and a hybrid style of management, while preserving the same level of communication and engagement. Moreover, we deepened the partnerships by working together to achieve the same goal.
Building trust and sustaining Customer Intimacy lead not only to improved business performance, but also to an uninterrupted high-quality delivery of services in these times that met new challenges (the geopolitical turmoil, as well as the looming economic recession). The award in this category recognizes the most compelling success story of building customer intimacy, continuing to deliver high- quality services, and improving customer satisfaction in 2022.
The aim is to identify and reward the company-wide project that has delivered concrete solutions and achieved tangible results through delivery of superior customer experience.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Project goal & scope
- Impact on stakeholders
- Financial/business gains for the Customers
- Customer’s feedback, references
- Recognition of the project
CSR
Business Leader in CSR
This CSR Award is designed to inspire, to give a higher visibility to CSR excellence and raise awareness on the positive impact that businesses can have on society. Last year brought an unexpected challenge (the war in Ukraine) that required a continuous adaptation of CSR programs to the new conditions and needs of their stakeholders. This category aims to recognize the initiatives that allowed involvement at grassroot level, that brought together humanitarian commitment, that improved the lives of the employees, or changed for the better the community in which the company activates. We are looking at projects that found solutions and responded rapidly to the community’s real needs, that use resources efficiently and transparently and bring sustainable changes for the people.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Relevance of the project
- Involvement of relevant stakeholders
- Impact
- Efficiency
- Originality of the action
TALENT DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION
Business Leader in TALENT DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION
The business sector has a major role to play in Education and is directly affected by the quality of the labour force. Therefore, companies can choose to be directly involved in the development of the necessary skills and competencies needed in their future employees.
We are looking for projects that continued to invest in education and supported the educational system, companies that took an active role in educating the workforce by either investing in their own training programs or in collaborating with education institutions or other educational partners for building the capabilities needed within the labour market.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Program goal & scope
- Design & Dimension
- Impact on the stakeholders
- Recognition of the program
VIBRANT WORK ENVIRONMENT
Business Leader in VIBRANT WORK ENVIRONMENT
The way we work and interact was among the firsts aspects that changed in our working life in the last years. But a lot of things remained the same: the company’s involvement in employees’ holistic well-being, in offering them the best working ecosystem possible, in keeping the company’s culture and team spirit, and preserving diversity and inclusion.
All these became crucial in order to continue attracting new employees, delivering world-class services, keeping the clients happy and inviting new projects. Performance lies in employee’s engagement and correlates with work satisfaction, which contributes to the company’s success.
This award seeks to appreciate and promote companies that creates working environments that are inspiring and vibrant, referring not solely to the décor or location, but also to the whole working atmosphere that became even more important with hybrid work and WFA in place.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Original elements of the program
- Employees’ feedback
- Impact on the company, the business and the employees
- Evidences of improved employee engagement and satisfaction and results
AWARD
COLLEAGUE OF THE YEAR AWARD
In every company, there are people whose positive energy is contagious, who mobilize resources and make things happen, who are mentors, always volunteering and open to embark in new challenges. Last year they maintained the spirits up, teaching us new things, creating real communities around them, especially needed in the hybrid working environment, when colleagues don’t see each other regularly, while also helping the others to overcome the new challenges (the war in Ukraine etc.).
This award aims to recognize people who are willing to go the extra mile in supporting their colleagues and teams achieving results and perform better. They are the ones who hold strong personal values, have a natural preference to help and mentor others, a can-do attitude, and the ability to create the right environment for the people to be the best versions of themselves.
NOMINATION LETTER
- Describe the person that you are nominating in terms of personal qualities that make her/him a great colleague. Offer as many details as possible. (500 characters)
- Describe her/his professional achievements, by giving examples of specific behaviours and actions that differentiates your nominated colleague from the others. (500 characters)
- Explain what makes her/him valuable and what is she/he recognised for within the team. (500 characters)
- Please support your nomination letter with 2-3 testimonials from other colleagues. (2000 characters)
BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
Business Leader in BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
In today’s Business Services sector, the ability of our companies to continuously improve operational capabilities and financial performance lays at the heart of our business. This category seeks to recognize the projects that brought the highest productivity, significant improvement in results and contributed to achieving business excellence through enhanced process quality, reduction of operational costs and therefore overall contribution to the enterprise. We look at projects driven either through continuous improvement, innovation or business process re-engineering.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Timeline of the project
- Project goal & scope
- Original approach to process management
- Operational improvements & cost savings
- Process streamlining/replication
- Recognition of the project
BUSINESS INNOVATION
Business Leader in BUSINESS INNOVATION
Over the last few years, the Business Services sector has moved from transactional and fairly simple operations to more advanced, complex and even automated activities and processes. Companies needed to continue finding innovative solutions to cope with the new environment (challenged at geopolitical and economical levels) and maintain the business to its efficiency and performance, striving to reach the higher echelons of innovation.
This category focuses on rewarding the development of innovative solutions or a successful delivery of complex or advanced services. Either of them should be considered means to further enhancement of business services capabilities. Your success story needs to demonstrate how your organization gained competitive advantage or improved its performance due to implementation of the innovative solution.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Timeline of the project
- Project goal of the innovative solution
- Impact for the company and the business
- Innovativeness
- Recognition of the solution
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Business Leader in CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
The post-pandemic context maintained a partially virtual relation and interaction with our customers and partners and a hybrid style of management, while preserving the same level of communication and engagement. Moreover, we deepened the partnerships by working together to achieve the same goal.
Building trust and sustaining Customer Intimacy lead not only to improved business performance, but also to an uninterrupted high-quality delivery of services in these times that met new challenges (the geopolitical turmoil, as well as the looming economic recession). The award in this category recognizes the most compelling success story of building customer intimacy, continuing to deliver high- quality services, and improving customer satisfaction in 2022.
The aim is to identify and reward the company-wide project that has delivered concrete solutions and achieved tangible results through delivery of superior customer experience.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Project goal & scope
- Impact on stakeholders
- Financial/business gains for the Customers
- Customer’s feedback, references
- Recognition of the project
CSR
Business Leader in CSR
This CSR Award is designed to inspire, to give a higher visibility to CSR excellence and raise awareness on the positive impact that businesses can have on society. Last year brought an unexpected challenge (the war in Ukraine) that required a continuous adaptation of CSR programs to the new conditions and needs of their stakeholders. This category aims to recognize the initiatives that allowed involvement at grassroot level, that brought together humanitarian commitment, that improved the lives of the employees, or changed for the better the community in which the company activates. We are looking at projects that found solutions and responded rapidly to the community’s real needs, that use resources efficiently and transparently and bring sustainable changes for the people.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Relevance of the project
- Involvement of relevant stakeholders
- Impact
- Efficiency
- Originality of the action
TALENT DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION
Business Leader in TALENT DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION
The business sector has a major role to play in Education and is directly affected by the quality of the labour force. Therefore, companies can choose to be directly involved in the development of the necessary skills and competencies needed in their future employees.
We are looking for projects that continued to invest in education and supported the educational system, companies that took an active role in educating the workforce by either investing in their own training programs or in collaborating with education institutions or other educational partners for building the capabilities needed within the labour market.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Program goal & scope
- Design & Dimension
- Impact on the stakeholders
- Recognition of the program
VIBRANT WORK ENVIRONMENT
Business Leader in VIBRANT WORK ENVIRONMENT
The way we work and interact was among the firsts aspects that changed in our working life in the last years. But a lot of things remained the same: the company’s involvement in employees’ holistic well-being, in offering them the best working ecosystem possible, in keeping the company’s culture and team spirit, and preserving diversity and inclusion.
All these became crucial in order to continue attracting new employees, delivering world-class services, keeping the clients happy and inviting new projects. Performance lies in employee’s engagement and correlates with work satisfaction, which contributes to the company’s success.
This award seeks to appreciate and promote companies that creates working environments that are inspiring and vibrant, referring not solely to the décor or location, but also to the whole working atmosphere that became even more important with hybrid work and WFA in place.
NOMINATION CRITERIA
- Original elements of the program
- Employees’ feedback
- Impact on the company, the business and the employees
- Evidences of improved employee engagement and satisfaction and results
AWARD
COLLEAGUE OF THE YEAR AWARD
In every company, there are people whose positive energy is contagious, who mobilize resources and make things happen, who are mentors, always volunteering and open to embark in new challenges. Last year they maintained the spirits up, teaching us new things, creating real communities around them, especially needed in the hybrid working environment, when colleagues don’t see each other regularly, while also helping the others to overcome the new challenges (the war in Ukraine etc.).
This award aims to recognize people who are willing to go the extra mile in supporting their colleagues and teams achieving results and perform better. They are the ones who hold strong personal values, have a natural preference to help and mentor others, a can-do attitude, and the ability to create the right environment for the people to be the best versions of themselves.
NOMINATION LETTER
- Describe the person that you are nominating in terms of personal qualities that make her/him a great colleague. Offer as many details as possible. (500 characters)
- Describe her/his professional achievements, by giving examples of specific behaviours and actions that differentiates your nominated colleague from the others. (500 characters)
- Explain what makes her/him valuable and what is she/he recognised for within the team. (500 characters)
- Please support your nomination letter with 2-3 testimonials from other colleagues. (2000 characters)
Upload your nomination
DEADLINE: Submit your nominations until April 07 (EOD), 2023.
How to apply?
Step 1
Download the editable nomination pdf via the “Download nomination form” button in your respective category
Step 2
Complete the nomination pdf with the relevant data
(We strongly recommend using latest Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Step 3
Upload the nomination pdf via the “Upload nomination form” button in your respective category. If needed, you can upload documents/photos supporting your nomination
JURY
The Jury gathers representatives of high-profile companies, connected with the business services industry. The aim is to ensure expertise in various connected fields and fairness in the process of evaluating the projects enrolled into the competition.
It is our pleasure to introduce the 2023 ABSL Awards Jury:
Andreia Stanciu
Head of ACCA
South-Eastern Europe
Elena Ardelean
Dealer Business Manager
Central Europe, Steelcase Inc.
Maria Florea
Key Client Director
JLL Romania
Andreia Stanciu
Head of ACCA
South-Eastern Europe
Elena Ardelean
Dealer Business Manager
Central Europe, Steelcase Inc.
Maria Florea
Key Client Director
JLL Romania
Madalina Vilau
Managing Director
Marketing Insiders
Madalina Vilau
Managing Director
Marketing Insiders
Francesca Postolache
Partner
PWC
Alina Alpaslan
Finance Director - Skanska's Commercial Development Business Unit in CEE
Catalin Micu
Partner
ZRVP
Raluca Binder
Head of Corporate Account Management
REGINA MARIA – The Healthcare Network
Mihaela Udriste
Regional Director
COS
NOMINATION PROCESS
Member companies can enrol one of their projects under each Award Category, a total of 7 projects, by completing the requirements within the Eligibility & Rules. The only exception is Colleague of the Year category where companies can submit 2 nominations. The applications need to highlight the innovative and value-added aspects of the project, as well as the impact on bottom-line performance of the business and the impact and investment in the community at a larger scale. All business applications should only refer to registered quantifiable and demonstrable results starting from the 1st of January 2022 until the application date.
One winning project per Category will be selected by the Jury after a thorough evaluation process and these will be announced during the Gala event, on June 15, 2023. In a dedicated event, each category award winner will be announced, and will be invited on stage to address a few words.
In addition to the Winners, the 2nd & 3rd places will receive the recognition of ABSL community. The communication and promotion of the ABSL Award winners and finalists will continue in media through consequent press releases, articles in ABSL Newsletters and website, as well as social media posts on Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
The ABSL Awards are open only to ABSL members.
Applying for ABSL Awards is free of charge.
Before submitting the nomination forms, please download and read
the Awards’ Eligibility & Rules.
The deadline for submitting your nomination is April 7 (EOD), 2023.
PROGRAM
ABSL Awards Gala is the celebration event where the ABSL community gather to honour the companies, their people, and their meaningful contribution to making the Romanian business services industry performant, attractive and competitive.
ABSL Awards Gala aims to bring them on the stage and offer them a well-deserved public recognition. This is a special occasion for the entire Outsourcing Industry to network and most importantly to learn about those initiatives that push business services forward, so non-members companies are welcome too.
18:30
Welcoming Guests
19:00
Welcome message from ABSL President
19:15
- Dinner
- Business Leaders Awards, presented by the jury
21:45
Closing Speech
Dress code: Black Tie
EVENT
SPONSORS
If you want to support the best projects of the business services community, the development of our industry, please request the partnership package at absl@absl.ro.
REGISTRATION
& TICKETS
If you have any questions or you are interested in buying tickets, please contact us at: absl@absl.ro.
- ABSL companies have a number of free tickets according to their membership type (Core members – 3 passes, Associate members – 2 passes, Supporting members – 2 passes). If the case, ABSL companies can buy extra entrance tickets;
- The first 10 finalists within Colleague of the year category will be invited to the event by the organizers, free of charge; they will be invited on stage, will be offered diplomas, and one of them will be declared “Colleague of the year”;
- Non-member companies can also join the event by purchasing entrance tickets;
- If you have projects nominated in a category, please be advised that in case of winning, someone from your company will be called on stage by the moderator and asked to address a few words.
If you have any questions or you are interested in buying tickets, please contact us at: absl@absl.ro.
PARTNERS
EVENT VENUE
LE CHÂTEAU
Strada Turturelelor, nr. 11, Bucuresti, Romania
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