Akbank has announced its new working model, making flexibility permanent after the pandemic
In a statement on the developments regarding Akbank’s post-pandemic working model, Akbank CEO Hakan Binbaşgil stated, “As a result of the period we have been going through, the world has entered a brand new era in every aspect. The rapid changes in customer behavior and business models in recent years have further accelerated during the pandemic. The rapid adaptation of institutions to the changing environments with agility and courage is essential for success. In this context, we are moving to a brand new working model in Akbank after the pandemic. We are taking a bold step into the future of work and making flexibility a permanent part of our working model.”
“With our new working model, Akbank is everywhere”
Highlighting that Akbank has designed the post-pandemic working model in three different groups, namely; ‘remote working’, ‘hybrid working’ and ‘working from the office’, Binbaşgil said, “We have adopted a ground-breaking model in working life as we do in our innovative banking activities. With our new working model, Akbank is everywhere. This new working structure will also bring new initiatives to our bank. The change in service quality, efficiency and agility will set our bank apart, also contributing to the increase in the bank's customer acquisition and growth rates. We are very excited to implement the working model of the future at Akbank today."
“I wholeheartedly believe in my colleagues and the power of our technology”
Thanks to our strong technological infrastructure and highly skilled employees, our bank's service quality, transaction numbers, productivity level and employee loyalty have significantly increased. We are making this visionary move relying on the high performance of our colleagues and the power of our technology. At Akbank, we work with Turkey’s best bankers, who are highly disciplined and skilled. No matter where they work, I believe that my colleagues will provide the best banking service to our customers, keep our culture alive, and deliver important achievements as usual. Our successful performance in the pandemic process is a clear indicator of this.
"We will have the opportunity to have the most skilled people in the 81 provinces of our country to join the Akbank Family"
Binbaşgil continued, “Our new working model supports our sustainability strategy as well. In this context, we attach great importance to inclusion in our operations. We will have the opportunity to bring the most skilled people in the 81 provinces of our country to the Akbank Family, without geographical barriers. Within the scope of our new approach, we will also have the opportunity to reach employees with different preferences, such as those who seek to work in different time periods or part-time. I believe our new approach will lead to new openings in our country in terms of employment generation.”
"We have the right conditions to take innovative and bold steps"
There is a visionary team at Akbank that has the ability to shape the future, and this team is making important innovations. We have the right conditions to take innovative and bold steps. On this occasion, I would like to thank Ms. Suzan Sabancı, Chairman of the Board of Directors, as well as the members of the Board of Directors, who have the same belief and enthusiasm as we do in all the steps we take to carry our bank into the future.
I would also like to thank all our colleagues. They are adapting to the changing customer behaviour, innovation, technology and working models very quickly with their outstanding competencies and preparing both our bank and themselves for the future. Relying on this strength, we will continue to develop and improve our business models and all our products and services with a customer and people-oriented approach.”
“We created the post-pandemic remote working model with the input and views of our colleagues”
Akbank Executive Vice President of People and Culture, Pınar Anapa said, “Akbank has managed the pandemic period successfully, listening to employees at every stage and taken actions accordingly. We have experienced remote working for nearly a year. It has always been our focus to quickly adapt ourselves to changing conditions in line with Akbank's vision for the future and to be one of the leading institutions in the sector. In line with this vision, we made a detailed evaluation with our teams and determined our post-pandemic working models. In the meantime, at the beginning of the pandemic, we created a feedback mechanism to listen our employees’ opinions on the working model and we kept paying attention to their views regularly with surveys. We created the post-pandemic remote working model with the input and views of our colleagues. The feedback also showed that flexibility is now adopted as part of the working structure at Akbank.”
“With three different working models, we are ready for the future”
“As Akbank, we are ready for the future with our three different working models: Our branches, where we serve our customers one-on-one and face-to-face, will continue to operate from their existing locations. 52% of our headquarters teams will work remotely, 36% will be hybrid-working and 12% will work from the office.”
Noting that while creating the new model, they have taken the experiences and learnings of the pandemic period into account, Anapa continued, “As a team, we grow through working together and sharing. We are focusing our efforts on maintaining this quality in the most effective way, making sure that Akbank’s culture is felt and embraced by all our employees, and establishing a work- life balance during remote working. We design platforms for all our colleagues working with different models, which will allow them to come together in physical spaces provided at the bank locations.”