"One Year with the Pandemic: Business World Experiences" Discussed

The panel "One Year with the Pandemic: Business World Experiences" was broadcast live from BAU Future Campus. Organized by the BAU CO-OP Directorate and moderated by BAU President Prof. Dr. Şirin Karadeniz, the panel brought together senior executives from the business world, who described how they managed the year spent with the pandemic.

The panelists were Münir Kundakçı, Deputy General Manager Responsible for Marketing and Operations at Microsoft Türkiye; Özlem Salur, Head of People at Getir; and Ali Tuğrul Uzun, Senior Director at KPMG.
 

NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME WHEN THE PANDEMIC ENDS

BAU President Prof. Dr. Şirin Karadeniz opened the panel by asking how companies were managed during the pandemic and what differences they encountered.

Münir Kundakçı spoke about more than one hundred thousand employees suddenly moving from Microsoft offices to their homes and said: "We gave four very basic technologies free of charge to everyone who did not have them. We acted on our mission, which told us to support every person and organization on the planet." He also summarized the three-stage plan they applied for the pandemic and beyond: "Respond, recover and re-imagine. First, respond quickly to the crisis; then organizations adapt to gradually emerge from it; and then, when the pandemic is over, nothing will be as it was before, but nothing will be as it was during the pandemic either. We started the work needed for this transition period."

THOSE WHO WISH COME TO THE OFFICE

Answering the question of how companies managed the situation during the pandemic, Ali Tuğrul Uzun responded from KPMG's perspective. First, as a company that uses Microsoft, he thanked Microsoft for taking decisions that made things easier for users and companies during the quarantine. He underlined that the company adapted to change very quickly. He explained how employees have been divided into three groups since they started coming back to the office: "Since June, those who wish can come to the office, but in three shifts. It is still not mandatory, and those who have work at the office and colleagues who are required to be on site can only come within their own group."

RAPID GROWTH INCREASED RESPONSIBILITY

Özlem Salur assessed the situation for the Getir app, whose use increased greatly during the pandemic. She said that Getir succeeded in turning the process to its advantage, was not badly affected unlike some businesses, and took action quickly. She noted that this rapid growth also brought many responsibilities: "When your work has meaning and you do it with passion, fatigue doesn't show. We distributed 3,300 thousand aid packages. We organized ourselves for people with low incomes."

Continuing the panel, BAU President Prof. Dr. Şirin Karadeniz asked where the business world is heading and what young people should do to prepare for this changing business world. All three panelists agreed on the most essential qualities for young people: Being curious, courageous and agile. It was also noted that the changing business world will move to a hybrid order in which data is at the center of everything.

The panel also drew attention to decisions taken to manage possible anxiety among employees and to the importance of people's social needs. Salur said Getir offered psychological sessions to its employees, and Uzun said KPMG celebrated special occasions with its employees online.

Prof. Dr. Şirin Karadeniz closed the panel with these words: "When building your career, you need to know very well that there is no linear path. Professions change every five years in the world. The core skills, curiosity, courage, self-confidence... When you develop these, you can actually make your mark in any career."

BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY:

Bahçeşehir University, one of the universities in Istanbul, is a foundation university. It has campuses in Beşiktaş (North and South), Göztepe, Galata and Kemerburgaz. Bahçeşehir University's ÖSYM scholarships are awarded at 50% and 100%. In addition, with ApplyBAU, a university admission method applied for the first and only time in Türkiye at Bahçeşehir University, students can be placed in the department they want with their talents or dreams before taking the exam. With ApplyBAU, students can receive scholarships at rates of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%.

CO-OP:

The "CO-OP Education Model," successfully implemented by Bahçeşehir University (BAU) for 12 years, is a model that aims to combine higher education with professional life and fill the gaps between the business world and the university. University students doing CO-OP gain work experience by actively taking part in working life while continuing their university education.
The CO-OP Directorate, which runs the CO-OP education model, is Bahçeşehir University Career Development Application and Research Center. The CO-OP & Career Center carries out work to support students' career development, and to help them get to know themselves and find the right field, from the time they start university until graduation. Through different and innovative practices, students are given opportunities to experience professional life and meet professionals from the business world. Thanks to strong relations with the business world and existing partnerships with companies and institutions, students are offered opportunities that make a difference, while companies gain access to young talent. Through one-to-one communication with company human resources professionals, developments in human resources are closely followed and programs are continuously updated to give students the new competencies required in the business world.