Milliyet Executive / 'Turkey's experiences has come to the forefront abroad'

What did you add to your experiences in 2022?

After the pandemic, uncertainties have increased both in the world and in Turkey. The experiences for developed country and developing country are intertwined. In particular, the dynamics of inflation have gone far beyond the limits to which we are accustomed lately. As such, we have seen that the Turkish experience has come to the fore even more in the foreign markets. It has been a year with a lot of persons looking to understand our practices in the different fields.

Which developments challenged you the most in 2022?

Inflation has had a huge impact on our business conduct as a finance function. In accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, hyperinflation reporting was started in Turkey. That's why both targets and realizations were highly affected. We have restructured our business in order to manage this new world efficiently. Precise management of all our works, from financing to purchasing and human resources processes, has become important. Together with our leadership team, we managed the year as effectively as possible by following our long-term plans with shorter-term and agile alternative scenarios.

What major trends have you observed in your field for 2022?

For this year, apart from, but including, the financials, one of our two strong focuses was ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), while the other was digitalization. I believe that these trends will be permanent and determining the success in the upcoming period. Globally, we have the “Diageo Ecosystem 2030: Soul of Progress” program. We have goals that we set for ourselves under 25 main headings. As Turkey Diageo / Mey|Diageo, we are progressing with the comprehensive programs both in environmental fields and in the field of inclusion and diversity. Accordingly, we adopt this perspective in all of our activities, including the innovation and investment. The percentage of women in our leadership team is 50 percent. 10 years ago, we achieved the target of 50% representation balance at the management level, which is among the Ecosystem 2030 targets that Diageo delivered to us. We are also a UNGC signatory in Turkey, and we have been publishing our Sustainability Report regularly for two years. As of March 2022, we obtained the certificate of zero waste to soil in all main locations. Also, I would like to share as an example: We initiated a joint work with the municipality in the Sahyar region of Alasehir. As part of this project, we will replace the flood irrigation in the vineyards with the drip irrigation infrastructure, and we will save 50 percent water accordingly. This year, 59 hectares of vineyards were reached, and 15 thousand m3 of water was saved. Also, thanks to this system, the vineyards will be more resistant to the drought, and the quality of the grapes will be higher. We implement this project in all vineyards, regardless of whether we make any procurement or not. We are rapidly putting into practice digitalization, which is our other focus area, in all of our processes. I am also responsible for digitalization at our organization. We complete nearly 70 projects, 20 of which are large, per year. We have updated and strengthened our processes in our sales channel, production facilities, and product forecast planning with the artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. We have relieved our employees of the repetitive and routine work with the robotic process automation, and we have enabled them to canalize into the high value-added jobs. We have designed processes that increase the employee experience.

Did you adopt hybrid working model during the year? What were the positive or negative effects have you observed about it?

We have adopted hybrid working model for most of the year. The hybrid working model has both advantages and disadvantages. Working at home in a place with heavy traffic like Istanbul is a big time saver. On the other hand, the advantages of working face-to-face in the office are, of course, indisputable. It is also very beneficial for new hires to spend time together at the office.

Can you share the book you have read, the movie you have watched, the places you have visited, which most impressed you during the year, with the reason why?

I love biographies/autobiographies or works inspired by the real life stories. I think they include a lot to learn. To give examples of the books that I have lovingly read in 2022, even though they were not published this year, one is Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson, and the other is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami. Both have reminded me once again of the importance of passion and pursuing your goal in life unrelentingly.