Company: Akbank T.A.S., İstanbul, Turkey
Company Description: Akbank T.A.Ş. was established on January 30, 1948 as a privately-owned commercial bank to provide resources and support to the local cotton producers. The Head Office was relocated to Istanbul in 1954, and Akbank rapidly increased the number of branches becoming one of the biggest banks in Turkey.
Nomination Category: Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Diversity & Inclusion
 Nomination Title: Akbank T.A.S. Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominated organization since 1 January 2022, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 192 words used.
Akbank T.A.Ş. was established on January 30, 1948 as a privately-owned commercial bank to provide resources and support to the local cotton producers. The Head Office was relocated to Istanbul in 1954, and Akbank rapidly increased the number of branches becoming one of the biggest banks in Turkey.
We continue to serve our customers in the fields of corporate and investment banking, commercial banking, SME banking, retail banking, payment systems, private banking, investment services and treasury transactions. In addition to our standard banking services, we also provide services in the insurance sector through our branches.
We serve over 19 million customers through our extensive service network and technological infrastructure, with our Head Office in Istanbul, our Data and Life Center, and 19 Regional Directorates, 711 branches and over 12 thousand employees in Turkey.
As Akbank, we have been a part of many initiatives that contribute to the social development of our country, by providing financing without compromising our ethical, social and environmental values for 75 years. In 2020, as part of our sustainability strategy, we have identified four focus areas: sustainable finance, people and communities, ecosystem management and climate change.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 218 words used.
- Created an action plan and governance for our D&I efforts
- Published updated version of the “Akbank D&I Policy”
- Created CDO role that will be carried by different C-level managers
- Pay Gap results were verified by an independent audit company
- Empowered Women with recruitment and training programs
- Supporting women who have taken a break from their careers with “Second Spring” Project
- Targeted female students who want to pursue a career in technology the “Strong Women in Technology” Project
- Organized Wikimarathons with young people with the consultation of experts, for insufficient or missing concepts on social issues on Wikipedia
- Stood against violence and discrimination, ensuring psychological safety
- Published our “Zero Tolerance to Violence” policy
- Created the “Zero Tolerance to Violence Hotline”
- "Inclusive Language Guide" for our employees
- “Guide on Gender Equality in Raising Children” for parents in Akbank.
- Extended paternity leave beyond the legal obligations.
- Empowered Women SMEs with financial and non-financial support
- Collaboration with Frankfurt School & EBRD for women-owned SMEs
- Akbank Transformation Academy reached over 17K SMEs
- Accelerated disability inclusion
- “Human Rights-based Approach to Disability” e-training to front office
- Accessible Akbank Project, taking into account the survey results and created action plans.
- Helped youth in achieving development
- Akbank Youth Academy touched more than over 146K young people the purpose to equip them with the competencies of the future
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
In Akbank, we have more than 12,800 employees and when we include the outsource employees, this number exceeds 18,000. We are directly touching to these 15,000 employees and their families all over the country and with our customer this number turns into millions. As Akbank, we are aware of the impact we have and can have on these people.
This is why are not only focusing on just Akbank employees but also creating value by investing in our communities. In our extensive trainings and bootcamps we offer to young people through Akbank Youth Academy, we do not require any commitment from them to become Akbank employees. Our focus is to ensure diversity, equality and inclusion beyond Akbank. This focus makes Akbank one of the pioneers in Turkey on different actions like being the first institution to join Valuable 500 and one of the first firms to enter the BGEI. In addition, with Akbank Family Academy, we offer development opportunities with trainings and workshops on many different topics from child to adult development, to Akbank employees and their beloved ones.
We have created the Diversity Dashboard, where we track more than 40 metrics including; gender ratios of teams, departments, management roles, income generating roles, people management roles, new hires, turnovers, role changes; the ratios of employees with disabilities, their turnover rates; age distributions within the teams and the roles and many more. We are supporting our projects on this topic with transparent policies, clear KPIs and commitments.
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 189 words used.
We are constantly monitoring the numbers to ensure diversity and inclusion:
- 52% Women
- 57% of CEO’s direct reports women
- 56% Women in revenue generation roles
- 44% Women in STEM roles
We were listed in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI) 3 times in row, one of the most comprehensive surveys conducted worldwide to measure the performance of companies committed to gender equality. And became the first organization in Turkey to be included in the Valuable 500.
We were among the top 5 banks in the “Gender Balance Index” of Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), a research project that is internationally accepted as an important reference point. This project was established to encourage the best policies and practices in the global financial markets, and have been selected as the best in emerging markets.
We are supporting our projects on Diversity and Inclusion with transparent policies, clear KPIs and commitments.
Attachments
URLs
https://www.akbank.com/en-us/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.akbankinvestorrelations.com/en/corporate-governance/detail/Policies/34/10/0
https://www.akbankinvestorrelations.com/en/corporate-governance/detail/Diversity-and-inclusion-policy/614/1504/0
https://www.akbankinvestorrelations.com/en/sustainability/default/Sustainability/9/0/0
https://www.akbankinvestorrelations.com/en/news/list/2023/674/0/0
https://www.akbankinvestorrelations.com/en/sustainability/detail/Akbanks-sustainability-commitments/74/54/0
https://www.akbankinvestorrelations.com/tr/yayinlar/yil-liste/faaliyet-raporlari/317/0/0
https://www.akbankgenclikakademisi.com/
https://kariyer.akbank.com/
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