The Return on Investment that Shift brings in embedding new collaboration practices at CEMEX is hard to measure. With a relatively small investment, (in the low hundred thousand dollars, for a global company) Shift has brought both tangible and intangible results. The benefits that can’t be measured in dollars and cents are the most significant, since they not only increase our bottom line, but help ensure that the talent at CEMEX continues to collaborate in a positive environment that fosters innovation.

As we mentioned before, the rapid viral spread of users at Shift has been noticeable. What started with +2,000 users in April grew to 20,500 today, and the activity will continue to grow as more and more people see the value that collaboration brings. Our success is not just measured in amount of users, but on what they do with the platform. Today  we see a marked increase in blogs, and blog comments, as well as in the creation of more than 500 communities to bring people with common interests and goals together. Wikis and discussion forums are being used in each of these communities as a means to solve local problems with global talent and to store and share the knowledge they are generating.

Tangible results are starting to become evident in many items that affect our bottom line. Rapid development of new products and a considerable reduction of time-to-market have emerged from this new form of global collaboration. Cost reductions in travel, testing, and research have become possible through real-time interaction with any CEMEX location worldwide.

However, the most important benefits are not so easy to measure. They include the adoption of the latest in collaboration practices and benchmarks, visibility for employees on all levels of the company residing in the quality of their contributions, not their hierarchical position, and an overall more positive atmosphere that encourages employees to become a part of something bigger than them. Most importantly, Shift is helping CEMEX move towards a new culture of innovation through global collaboration, which is made possible for the first time by the new technologies that bring us closer to each other.  Now every employee is empowered to connect with colleagues, share their ideas, and make live interactions a part of their daily experience. The new era of collaboration at CEMEX starts now, with Shift.

Want to know more about Shift?

The collaboration revolution (254 kb)      The ROI of CEMEX Shift (82 kb)