The pillars in the Maximilianeum in Munich, which the 200 invited guests passed by at yesterday evening's gala event, are 140 years old. The guests' attention, however, was focused on four special pillars of a different kind: four trophies, in the form of columns, which Josef Pschierer, the Secretary of State for Business, Media, Energy and Technology, presented to the four winners at the Bavarian Mid-Sized Company Award prize ceremony. BFFT won the service sector category and was honoured, together with three other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for their responsible and innovative business leadership as "pillars of the Bavarian economy".
BFFT is an automotive engineering developer with a focus on electronics. The company was previously nominated for the Bavarian Mid-Sized Company Award in 2012 and 2013. At this year's competition the jury was particularly impressed when assessing the 32 nominated companies, by the Ingolstadt SME's employee orientation programme. In paying tribute to them they noted that: "A company can only achieve success in the service sector with the support of its employees. For this reason, effective employee orientation is a vital qualification for this award. Almost every week, BFFT holds a staff event (...) to ensure a genuine sense of loyalty between people at all levels. All employees, from trainees to directors, are on first-name terms, and do business with a word and a handshake in the old Bavarian tradition. And, in return for valuing them so highly, the employees have thanked the company by voting it 'Best Employer 2014' (ranked by Focus magazine). And so for this reason the jury gave the Bavarian Mid-Sized Company Award 2014 to BFFT."
The 2014 European Economic Forum played host to the Bavarian Mid-Sized Company Award for the eighth time, honouring successful and exemplary SMEs in Bavaria. Only businesses which have been proposed by key figures from business, politics, the media and science can take part. A panel of the winners of previous years then selects four winners in the categories of service sector, crafts, retail and manufacturing companies, based on a comprehensive questionnaire. The winners are those who stand out due their special achievements in the categories of customer relations, personnel, resource planning, innovation, internationalization and CSR.
BFFT is an automotive engineering developer with a focus on electronics. The company was previously nominated for the Bavarian Mid-Sized Company Award in 2012 and 2013. At this year's competition the jury was particularly impressed when assessing the 32 nominated companies, by the Ingolstadt SME's employee orientation programme. In paying tribute to them they noted that: "A company can only achieve success in the service sector with the support of its employees. For this reason, effective employee orientation is a vital qualification for this award. Almost every week, BFFT holds a staff event (...) to ensure a genuine sense of loyalty between people at all levels. All employees, from trainees to directors, are on first-name terms, and do business with a word and a handshake in the old Bavarian tradition. And, in return for valuing them so highly, the employees have thanked the company by voting it 'Best Employer 2014' (ranked by Focus magazine). And so for this reason the jury gave the Bavarian Mid-Sized Company Award 2014 to BFFT."
The 2014 European Economic Forum played host to the Bavarian Mid-Sized Company Award for the eighth time, honouring successful and exemplary SMEs in Bavaria. Only businesses which have been proposed by key figures from business, politics, the media and science can take part. A panel of the winners of previous years then selects four winners in the categories of service sector, crafts, retail and manufacturing companies, based on a comprehensive questionnaire. The winners are those who stand out due their special achievements in the categories of customer relations, personnel, resource planning, innovation, internationalization and CSR.
