ATAL offers a number of internal awards designed to recognise achievements by individual employees and teams, such as the Best Project Award, Best Department Award, Best Apprentice Award, Service Star, and Outstanding Employee Award. These awards encourage outstanding performance, retain talent and foster employee engagement. “We also want to encourage healthy competition between employees and departments,” Poon says.

The Chairman’s Innovation Award, meanwhile, aims to encourage innovation at ATAL and help the company sustain its position as the preferred engineering partner for customers, Poon says. “Self-motivation is important especially on innovative projects  and enhancing individual efficiency among staff to ensure the sustainable growth of the company.”

The recent development of an automated pedestrian overpass system called “Pedarco” reflects the innovative spirit within the company. The worldwide-patented new system of pedestrian transport allows pedestrians, wheelchairs, baby strollers, bicycles and shopping trolleys to easily and safely traverse roads, railways and waterways.

Over the years, ATAL has won many external awards in recognition of its innovative projects and outstanding safety standards. Its construction-stage Tunnel Access Control System (TACS), for instance, won Best Smart Hong Kong (Internet of Things Application) Bronze Award at the 2015 Hong Kong ICT Awards in the integrated ICT solutions category, as well as receiving plaudits at the Guangdong-Hong Kong IoT Awards.

In the lifts and escalators category, ATAL’s subsidiary, Anlev Elex, won several awards in the 21st Considerate Contractors Site Award Scheme, as well as at the Construction Safety Forum and Award Presentation Ceremony. In the building services category, it won the Outstanding Contractor award for the Arezzo project in the “2015 Outstanding Construction and Renovation Project Awards”.