28. EU Business News- German CEO Excellence Awards 2024 Jan24568 Founded by Lutz Hirsch in 2005 as a one-person business, digital service provider HIRSCHTEC today serves as a trusted partner that supports companies as they make the transition to the hybrid style of working that dominates industry. Increasing the digitalisation of companies and at the same time ensuring that employees can communicate and work with joy is the focus of this business. Furthermore, customers receive everything that they could possibly need in the realm of digital workplace solutions from one single, trusted source. We speak with this award-winning CEO to find out more about his business’ triumphs in this space. With offices across Western Europe, namely in Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Vienna, and Zurich, HIRSCHTEC’s clients liaise with some of the more than 120 local consultants whose international knowledge and experience in the sector is unrivalled, with the likes of Ricola, Hamburger Hochbahn, and Salzburg Airport already being supported, to name just a few. Having served as one of the 50 largest digital agencies in Germany for the last five years in a row and honoured as one of the digital champions 2024 by FOCUS MONEY (one of the most popular German business magazines), the company has come a long way since CEO Lutz Hirsch established it as sole proprietor almost two decades ago. Going back to the beginning, it was shortly after graduating from the University of Hamburg with a diploma in physics that Lutz got his first job, building the internet and groupware consulting division for a local medium-sized company. Other positions would follow in the coming years, and in his last position before founding HIRSCHTEC, Lutz tells us, “I was able to get to know the consulting business with large corporations in a global organisation.” As for what these roles taught him, Lutz explains, “these experiences helped me enormously to start as a one-man company with large clients and to always pursue the vision of building a sustainable and scalable business model.” Leveraging these experiences to this day, HIRSCHTEC prides itself on the holistic view taken regarding each and every customer and project, ensuring there is a robust link between the areas of leadership, organisation, automation, communication, and collaboration. Expanding further on this, Lutz states, “it is important to us that we work with our customers to design a hybrid working environment that precisely meets their individual needs and in which employees can enjoy communicating and working.” This approach clearly works for Lutz and the team, as approximately 95 % of their customers recommend the business to others. As for how HIRSCHTEC distinguishes itself in this space, it has its sights set beyond just technology, focusing especially on people and the benefits such technology can bring them. Moreover, a personcentric approach is embodied, extending to both clients and staff alike. From the outset, Lutz recognised that people were instrumental in growth, telling us, “a central rule for me has always been: ‘you have to enable other people to do your own job in order to scale’.” This ties in with the company’s vision for 2025, where it aims to: focus solely on digital services, possess more than 300 employees, and generate €50 million in revenue. Lutz also comments on the rise of AI, explaining how customers are increasingly seeking out support with this technology and how it can be used in the automation of work processes, in addition to requesting help with areas relating to digital leadership and hybrid working models. On the back of this, continued growth of the team is planned, with the business set to continue to foster what Lutz refers to as a “modern working environment”, so as to, “be attractive for the young talents and the leading experts equally.” Regardless of their experience, Lutz gives his employees space and time to realise their own ideas, and as such, he avoids micromanagement and encourages all to traverse outside of their comfort zones. Corresponding to this, Lutz’s everyday life as CEO is also characterized by always acting in accordance with the corporate values transparency, courage, variety, commitment and loyalty – no matter if it is the contact with his employees or his clients. As for his own future, Lutz explains, “my role will be more and more strategic and not operational […] [as] we want to develop HIRSCHTEC further from a company to a European group, in which [its] people are able to realise their ideas and plans.” Having already survived the 2008 financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, as well as all of the uncertainty that has lingered in the wake of the latter, the business model the company employs regarding digital and hybrid work consultancy is paving the way for the future, and the next steps Lutz takes regarding expansion are sure to represent similar excellence, and we wish him the best of luck with whatever is yet to come. Contact: Lutz Hirsch Company: HIRSCHTEC Web Address: www.hirschtec.eu Digital Workplace Solutions CEO of the Year (Western Europe): Lutz Hirsch Lutz Hirsch | CEO Coypright: HIRSCHTEC Photographer: Nadine Ginzel.
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