Tolga Gürkan // Allianz Türkiye – CEO
As Allianz Turkey, we switched to HEY!, our agile working model where life goes on fast, work is performed efficiently, and everyone in the team is empowered from A to Z, and we became the first company in Turkey to transform all branches.
Let's go back a few years. In 2017, we were faced with a rapidly changing and highly competitive market in all product groups. In order to strengthen our position and protect our claim, what needed to be done was obvious, that is, responding to changing conditions with the same speed.
In fact, goals do not change in working life. What has changed is the way you work towards that goal. Basically what we needed to do was to gain a new perspective.
The process that started in 2017, when we realized that we needed an agile working model in order to adapt customer needs to the pace of the change and to increase cooperation and transparency in the working system, also ignited a cultural change.
Allianz Turkey has a modern and innovative culture that puts people at its center and is open to change. Within two years of our decision, we had already adapted ourselves to this new business model in all our business lines.
It all starts with right strategy
The basic principle was to transition from a structure where we cannot functionally respond quickly to rapidly changing conditions to a multifunctional team structure. Determining the right strategy, building the right team and implementing the decisions strictly would bring success.
Accordingly;
- We replaced hierarchy with completely responsible and empowered teams.
- We aimed for small achievements at every step.
- We focused on a system that is open to change, rather than sticking to a solid plan that was determined from the beginning.
- We moved from the traditional function-based organizational model to the tribe structure consisting of agile squads and chapters.
- We supported the development of our colleagues with intensive training aimed for transformation.
Our agile transformation story HEY!, which also increases the satisfaction of our colleagues with the dynamism it brings, started like this. As Turkey, we are the pioneer of this transformation at Allianz Group. On the one hand, we are trying to achieve our goals in terms of growth and profitability, and on the other hand, we are trying to create the company of the future.
Where is the destination?
HEY!, which creates a flexible, people-oriented, dynamic, fun working culture without title and hierarchy, is one of our transformation projects that will make our process and business models more effective, more efficient and create more value.
HEY! is a way of working that reaches to the ideal through collective learning. In this journey, we are constantly learning and aiming to be a real digital company.
Our ultimate goal is to create an environment where all our employees can push the established patterns more and be transparent, objective and collaborative. Agile transformation is valuable not only because it offers us the opportunity to work agile, but also because it offers us the opportunity to overcome prejudices by changing our structure.
In short: Our journey from good to great continues.
We believe that the world is transforming.
We will continue to work to be the pioneer of this transformation, as we have done so far.
P.S. You can contact us by clicking here to share your experiences and ask questions about the agile working method.
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