Learning and Development at Garanti BBVA

Viewing its human resources as a valuable investment, Garanti BBVA carries out its learning & development activities with the vision of raising the best human resources of the financial sector and ensuring that the development of its employees is permanent.

The high performance and career development of Garanti BBVA employees, as well as the Bank’s sustainable performance, are supported through training solutions that are tailored to personal needs and competencies.

Garanti BBVA’s learning & development strategy is based on five tenets:

Pays attention to differences and offers equal opportunities

Garanti BBVA pays attention to differences in learning styles, and diversified training channels/methods are used by integrating current approaches and practices into training activities according to them. Coaching and rotation practices, action plans and the sharing of experiences are the means which support and perpetuate Garanti BBVA employees’ training process and lead them to transfer their learning into their work environment.

Supports business results

The Bank views its Learning & Development Unit as its strategic business partner and it designs development activities within the framework of its business needs. Learning & Development Strategy Committees, consisting of representatives from different units of Garanti BBVA, full-time internal instructors specialized in training and professional instructors who share their own experiences in business life, contribute significantly to the creation of learning & development solutions that comply with the Bank’s dynamics.

Believes in employees’ potential

Established in 2005 and aiming to improve the managerial skills of Garanti BBVA managers and to create a joint management culture, the Garanti BBVA Leadership Academy applies a selection and development system based on competencies. In Garanti BBVA Leadership Academy, participants’ development process is supported by the common efforts of the HR, Learning and Development Departments and managers. 84% of the current managers at Garanti BBVA are the graduates of the Garanti BBVA Leadership Academy.

Keeps up-to-date with the latest technology

Effective use of technology plays a key role in the success of Garanti BBVA’s learning & development activities. Garanti BBVA also supports the development of its employees through in-class training sessions and different training technologies.

• Web-based training sessions that include video, animation, text and visual content
• Webex, a web conference system set up within the Bank which facilitates audio and video remote training
• Simulation Branch which allows participants to view critical issues concerning customer experiences in real life and to experience possible risks in advance in a safe environment
• GET TV, a live broadcast portal allowing customers to quickly access information
• GBTube, a video sharing website aimed at enhancing the learning process via experience sharing
• Mobile Learning – used for instant notifications through mobile instruments, such as mobile phones and tablet computers
  

Develops long-term cooperation with the academic world

As well as the many academics among the instructors serving Garanti BBVA, the Bank has agreements with Turkey’s long established universities and educational institutions in regards to a variety of subjects. Training sessions are designed by bringing theory and practice together by combining the academic knowledge of universities with the sectoral knowledge of the banking industry. Meanwhile, employees of the Bank may participate as guest students in university lectures within their academic schedules in order to obtain training on specific matters.

Garanti BBVA Managers Summit

Held annually, the Garanti BBVA Managers Summit, which brings together managers of Garanti BBVA and its subsidiaries, is a special sharing and a common learning platform.

Addressing participants every year with a special concept of the period, the Summit concentrated on the theme of “Sustainable Growth” in 2011 and “New Customer Era” in 2012.

While the themes of the Managers Summits are consistent and linked to each other through years, the theme of the summit is determined particularly in accordance with the priorities of the Bank in line with its strategies, as well as the recent global developments. The decision is made for the summit theme by following trends in abroad, financial projections, cultural changes and consumer behavior