Company: Jonckers Translation & Engineering, Brussels, Belgium
Company Description: Founded in 1994, Jonckers has over 25 years of experience in helping organizations go global faster with our trusted translation and localization services. In 2015 we developed our own AI-powered platform, WordsOnline, which combines Neural Machine Translation technology with human expertise to provide our customers with cost-effective, fast-turnaround language services at optimum quality.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year in Europe, the Middle East & Africa
 Nomination Title: Silke Zschweigert, CEO: Strategic Vision and Employee-Centric Leadership
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Since her appointment as CEO, Silke has followed her vision of turning the WordsOnline platform outward and fully realizing its potential. When Silke saw WordsOnline for the first time, she said that she’d never seen anything like it in her more than 20 years in the language industry. Silke knew WordsOnline had the power to revolutionize not only Jonckers as a business, but also the localization process as a whole if we were to make WordsOnline public. In 2020 Jonckers created the website wordsonline.com to introduce new customers to the platform and in 2021 we announced two innovative new services within WordsOnline: an instant ordering service and a translation subscription service for SMEs and large enterprises.
As well as bringing a new vision and strategic leadership to Jonckers, Silke has also drastically improved employee satisfaction. Using the employee net promoter score (eNPS) framework, our December 2020 employee satisfaction survey returned our highest score ever, just six months after Silke became CEO. Employee satisfaction has remained high ever since. Silke broadcasts monthly internal videos, and has listened to employees’ concerns and taken steps to address them, including open communication, unlimited holidays, flexible working, and more regular performance reviews.
Ratings on the company review website, Glassdoor, also indicate high levels of satisfaction with Silke’s work. She has a CEO approval rating of 100% and reviews often mention the “great leadership” and express happiness with her appointment: “the changes in the executive team are proving to drive Jonckers in the right direction”.
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2020 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 97 words used.
https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Jonckers-TandE-Reviews-E421968.htm?filter.iso3Language=eng – Glassdoor reviews of Jonckers Translation & Engineering
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s8e11-bringing-specific-vision-to-a-business-with/id1529150414?i=1000557402056 – The Impact Multiplier CEO podcast, detailing Silke’s career trajectory and vision for Jonckers & WordsOnline
https://slator.com/jonckers-promotes-silke-zschweigert-to-ceo/ - Press release announcing the promotion of Silke to CEO of Jonckers
https://techtodaynewspaper.com/jonckers-launches-translation-subscription-model-to-meet-the-demand-for-easier-and-faster-global-marketing/ - Press release announcing the launch of our instant ordering service and subscription model in WordsOnline
https://www.qualtrics.com/uk/experience-management/employee/employee-net-promoter-score/?rid=ip& – Benchmarks for eNPS
https://industrywired.com/jonckers-bringing-advances-in-the-translation-industry-with-artificial-intelligence/ - Interview with Silke about her work at Jonckers and the power of WordsOnline
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
Silke originally joined Jonckers as Chief Revenue Officer in 2019, bringing with her 21 years of experience in the localization industry. After completing her master's degree in in translation for Dutch, English, German, and Chinese, she started out in project management at language service provider, Alpnet, which was acquired by SDL in 2002. Following the acquisition, Silke was appointed Managing Director of Germany at the age of just 27. During her time at SDL, Silke worked through various roles including VP of Sales and Operations for EMEA and Executive VP for EMEA and South America, before being appointed Chief Delivery Officer in 2016. As CDO she was responsible for 2,500 employees across 38 countries. After a couple of years in this role, Silke left this role to work freelance as a consultant, before joining Jonckers in 2019 and quickly being promoted to Chief Executive Officer in July 2020.
In 2016, Jonckers launched our proprietary translation platform, WordsOnline, which had been in development for several years. WordsOnline was initially created as a tool to improve efficiencies internally, but when Silke saw the platform for herself, she realized the potential WordsOnline could have in transforming Jonckers if we launched it externally.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Silke’s impact on employee satisfaction at Jonckers cannot be understated. Before Silke became CEO, the employee satisfaction survey results showed high levels of dissatisfaction across the company, which led to high employee turnover. However, in less than a year (November 2019 to September 2020) our eNPS scores jumped straight from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’ after Silke’s promotion. This is an incredible achievement, especially in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
The increased employee satisfaction can be directly linked to Jonckers’ increasing customer satisfaction ratings as well. These have always been high for Jonckers, but have reached stellar performances over the past two years.
The reviews on Glassdoor corroborate that the change in executive management has improved employee conditions at Jonckers. Looking at seventeen reviews written between 2017 and June 2020, the average rating for Jonckers was just 3 stars, with the majority of reviews (ten) rating Jonckers as 3 stars or less. Analyzing the reviews after Silke became CEO, the average rating increased to 4 stars, including seven 5-star and five 4-star reviews.
Silke’s work in launching WordsOnline externally has also strengthened Jonckers’ strategic positioning within the language services industry. By bringing WordsOnline to market and ensuring that all companies can benefit from our continuous localization platform, Silke has set Jonckers on a trajectory from being just another language service provider to become the language platform for all enterprises going global. The launch of our subscription service is particularly noteworthy, as this was the first translation subscription service in the industry.
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