Sponsor spotlight Migros

Can you tell us a bit about your organisation and your role?
The pioneer of organized retailing in Turkey, Migros today offers spacious stores in a wide range of formats and locations whose vast selection of cosmetics, stationery, glass and kitchenware, electronic appliances, book, textiles, and other items along with groceries and other necessities give it the ability to satisfy the shopping needs of its customers.

Having 44 stores in Macedonia and Kazakhstan, over 2.100 stores in Turkey, Migros, with the indirect unemployment has reached 45.000 employees working under its roof; in addition, it has been the trusted name in providing its customers the best service amongst retail sector. Likewise, in our growing and changing sector, we offer services that are responsive to customer needs by adapting e-commerce implementations.

I am Ayse Deniz Yuzbasioglu, Migros HR Talent Management Manager. We bring differentiated value both to the company and employees to attract and retain talent by the main issues as Employer Brand Image, Compensation and Benefits Management, Career and Succession Planning, Strategic HR Planning, Reward Management and Employee Relationship Management.

Why is diversity, and specifically the advancement of women, so important to your organization?
With its 45.000 employees including indirect employment, we are highly aware of the fact that “diversity” is a significant subject. At first, in a culture where the number of employees is so high, it could seem to be difficult to manage the diversity issue; however, it is inevitable to see the contribution of diversity in our culture to our company’s values and its leading position in the sector.

As a company that obtains harmony from diversity, we value the importance of respecting the identity, values or competencies of every employee to create an inclusive business employment. We maintain our Human Resources processes in order to place the right candidates to the right positions. At the same time, diversity is a concern of our Employer Brand Value.  According to a survey made by Glassdoor.com, a full two-thirds (67 percent) of active and passive job seekers stated that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers. 

With having 40% women employees, we are one of the companies that create the most women employment in our country. As Migros Family, we maintain a common awareness of the value given to women employees, from our newly joined colleagues to our managers. We care about not only our women employees’ career journeys but also their private lives by providing them with career-based and educational support, as well as, special events and discount opportunities.

Which diversity initiatives do you have in your organization?
As Migros Family, we organize workshops to increase women employment, to adapt the conditions of the retail sector to the needs and expectations of women employees and to strengthen their loyalty and listen to the voice of our women managers. Our executives do always give support to each women employee on every platform.

We provide equal and strong career development opportunities to all our employees; furthermore, in accordance with Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Policy, we highly encourage women in society to adapt into the business and support gender equality. In the “100 Women Friendly Companies” survey conducted by Capital Magazine in 2018, our company was ranked in the 4th place in “Women Friendly Companies” and 3rd in “Women Executive Friendly Companies”.

As an example of the “diversity initiatives” in our company, we can give our CIO being amongst the Board of Directors of WTech Women in Technology Association. In addition, 42 percent of the participants in our “Leadership Path” program, where future leaders of our company are trained, are female employees.

Wishing women to deserve new jobs in any fields of business by means of embracing the equal opportunity policy, Migros established the butchery expertise program for women, in which 300 women in total have participated. Therefore, in Migros the percentage of women butchers in the company has reached up to %10, while in Turkey it is only %1.

What role does LEAD play in reaching your organization’s diversity goals?
As Lead Network Turkey Branch GM Ms. Aysun Zaman mentioned in the opening of meeting: 
“Research shows that discrimination in employment is the most important obstacle for economic development. Providing diversity in decision making processes will contribute directly to companies and economic development. At LEAD Network, we are working hard to encourage more female managers to choose the retail sector. We are so proud to see that LEAD Network brings diversity and inclusion to the agenda and has accelerated the retail sector. We are also happy to be part of this movement”.

Our goal is to cooperate with Lead Network and Migros in terms of increasing diversity by the help of valuable initiatives.

What would you like your employees to take away from the LEAD Network?When we consider the diversity overall Turkey, it might be not only about gender, but also differentiated cultures, social phenomenon, dialect, income distribution and further factors. Migros is developing its products and services, organizing their activities in a way that will appeal to its customers, and most importantly, considering all the factors that generate “diversity”. Migros provides its customers with a different shopping experience through its variety of formats, which set industry standards, can be considered as an example.

We believe that it will be helpful for us to synergize with Lead Network that good practices can be multiplied, various executions can be implemented and supported. We can step these achievements up, which will provide a better working environment, thanks to this collaboration.