2017 Activities
In an intensively competitive sector in which there is a significant international capital presence, Ziraat Bank advances its stature as the biggest and strongest nationally-owned bank year after year. Ziraat Bank recognizes that it owes its unique and distinguished position in the sector to superior human resources whose unrivaled market knowledge and experience enable them to supply customers with the right value, at the right time, and through the right channel.
Continuing to apply the modern human resources management system in 2017, Ziraat Bank employed a total of 24,554 employees at the end of the year. The average age of the employees in the Bank, where 456 people were recruited in 2017, was 35.3 with each employee having completed an average of 11.2 years of service. As of the end of the year, 87% of the Bank’s employees had a graduate, undergraduate or doctorate education.
The total number of employees in the Ziraat Finance Group at the end of 2017 was 34,089, with the inclusion of domestic and foreign partnerships and foreign personnel.
As in previous years, in 2017 Ziraat Bank once again continued to seek and recruit young people wishing to pursue a career in banking. The recruitment exam was conducted on 6 August 2017 in order to meet the personnel needs of the companies within the Ziraat Finance Group and the Bank’s needs for legal staff, and the interviews were held between 23 October and 6 November 2017. As a result, the following were recruited;
- 11 Assistant Specialists at Ziraat Leasing,
- 70 Assistant Specialists at Ziraat Participation,
- 19 Assistant Specialists at Ziraat Yatırım-Ziraat Portföy,
- 50 Lawyers at Ziraat Bank,
- 50 Assistant Specialists at Ziraat Teknoloji,
- 42 Service Personnel at Ziraat Sigorta-Ziraat Emeklilik
with a total of 242 personnel joining the Ziraat Finance Group family.
In keeping with the transparent career management approach to which it adheres, Ziraat Bank trains its own managers itself as much as possible. 3,129 existing employees who successfully took the written promotion exams that were conducted in 2017 were promoted to a higher job category. The average pass rate on these exams was 55%.
Ziraat Bank gives great importance to its employees’ job satisfaction and it provides its personnel with career-path opportunities that allow them to advance themselves in different aspects of banking. For example to meet its requirements for internal controllers, interviews were conducted among banking staff on 9-10 May 2017 and twenty people were transferred from their existing positions to Internal Controller position.
292 personnel were recruited to the pool of the management candidates following interviews for the Executive Candidate Program, which were held in 2017 with the aim of preparing staff with the title of Director for the positions of Branch Manager / Manager. More than 100 personnel who had successfully completed the course programs were assigned to branch offices/units in executive positions.
Following the planning for the transfer of some personnel within the scope of Support Assistant to permanent positions 135 drivers who had served for the Bank for at least 3 years and 253 private security guards who had served for at least 5 years were formally recruited in the 1st quarter and on 29 December 2017, respectively.
The Fin@rt Transfer Request program is conducted twice a year to increase Bank personnel motivation, minimize operational workloads, and ensure that transfer processes are carried out quickly, effectively, and methodically. Applications to take part in this program are accepted in December-January and in June-July. Last year 889 transfer requests were submitted in the first round and 945 were submitted in the second. Of these, 64% and 74% transfers were approved respectively.
Within the scope of the regulation published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security on “Maternity leave and partial-time work to be done after free leave”, implementation principles for both types of leave were determined and the legislative arrangements and necessary system studies were completed. As of 31 December 2017, 243 staff (formerly 38 staff were working part-time) are allowed to work part-time and 13 employees are allowed partial work.
The 2nd term collective bargaining agreement was signed between Ziraat Bank and the Öz Finans-İş Trade Union with effect from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018.
Within the scope of Ziraat Finance Group project, harmonization of the legislation of career paths, wage matrices and human resources in domestic participations with the Bank have been completed and implemented. Within the framework of joint IT infrastructures with the Bank, domestic participation fees are monitored on a common wage module.
For the expat personnel and local personnel commissioned by the Bank in foreign branches and agencies, wage matrices have been created based on the conditions in each country, in accordance with the Bank’s career practices, and put into use.
Ziraat Bank Individual Performance Bonus System
Created in 2013 to be compatible with the Bank’s new marketing and sales-focused organizational structure and strategy and informed by the principle that earnings should match success, the Ziraat Bank Individual Performance Bonus System was designed so as to reward employees who demonstrate superior performance and productivity by paying them more. Determined and paid on the basis of periodically conducted individual performance reviews, individual performance bonuses are intended to strengthen the Bank’s customer-focused business model, to promote a marketing and effectiveness-focused approach to work, to increase company loyalty by motiving personnel, and to provide tangible benefits to those whose individual achievements are compatible with the Bank’s corporate objectives.
A current bonus budget is being implemented taking the Bank’s profitability and operational results into account with the proviso that the budget’s total amount not exceeds 8% of the Bank’s aggregate monthly salary payments. This allocation is paid out to recipients as an individual performance bonus at three-month intervals along with their February, May, August, and November salaries based on objectively defined and numerically expressible specific criteria. In this system, which has been set up to focus mainly on marketing in line with the Bank’s strategies and targets, bonuses are paid so as to enhance the earnings of those who contribute more to the realization of those strategies and targets.
Branch segment and scale group rankings that have been determined according to individual performance report cards in line with the numerical performance measurement results at three-month intervals are notified to employees based on their performance bonus coefficients.
The different coefficients that are used when calculating bonuses are determined jointly by business units according to branch segment and scale, individual performance ranking, and job position criteria. Marketing group personnel bonuses are calculated in direct proportion to the numerical performance points in each section. The bonuses of counter personnel are calculated based on the performance of the counter to which they were assigned.
As is the case with other banks in Turkey, the Ziraat Bank Individual Performance Bonus System has been designed to reward superior performance and essentially to increase the productivity of sales personnel. However individual performance bonuses are also paid to operational personnel in branches and to headquarters employees in line with stipulated criteria.
The fourth competency evaluation was initiated across the Bank as of year-end 2017. The results from the competency evaluation are intended to be taken into consideration in the individual performance system training planning and career management in the future.
2018 Outlook
Ziraat Finance Group will continue to offer career opportunities fitting the relevant positions and contemporary working conditions both at the Bank and at the subsidiaries also in 2018.
It was observed that staff in the position of Supporting Assistant adapted rapidly to the Bank’s culture and practices, and the overall impression of such staff was positive. Therefore, a significant proportion of these personnel are planned to be transferred into permanent positions in order to meet the Bank’s personnel requirement to be established in 2018; furthermore, in order to ensure the rapid availability of personnel, the outsourcing of staff is planned to be gradually rolled out to the Bank’s cadres.
Promotion exams will be held for existing employees in the second half of the year as prescribed by the Bank’s human resources principles, procedures, and practices.
Employees in the management candidate pool will continue to be assigned as Branch Managers or Managers, as required.
