‘Strategic Competencies Development Program’ continues at SOCAR Turkey

SOCAR Türkiye announced the achievements of the Business Acumen Program in 2023, which is an important part of the Strategic Competencies Development Program. Stating that they have initiated the ‘Strategic Competencies Development Program’ as SOCAR Turkey, SOCAR Turkey Refinery and Petrochemical Business Unit, Business Excellence Vice President İbrahim Kadıoğlu stated that the human-oriented approaches and practices in the program make a great contribution to the personal and professional development of the employees.

Could you briefly tell us about the Business Acumen Program carried out within SOCAR Türkiye?

In order to constantly learn and gain from our experiences, we, as SOCAR Türkiye, launched the ‘Strategic Competencies Development Program’ in 2021. The Business Acumen Program currently continues as part of this program. The program includes skills to understand the complexity in the business world, strategic thinking, financial literacy, effective decision-making and business process development. We construct the program, which we designed with interactive trainings and simulations, as a team game played in a virtual environment. With the Business Acumen Program, we want to encourage our colleagues to develop their competencies while at the same time becoming a reference point in this field in the world.

What successes did your employees and your company in general achieve in the 2023 Business Acumen Program?

The 2023 Business Acumen Program achieved significant success with the participation of 71 of our colleagues. Our 9 teams competed fiercely with the companies they founded on the CESIM simulation platform for 8 semesters. The program focuses on improving strategic thinking and decision-making abilities by encouraging competition and cooperation among teams. In this context, our managers from different departments of SOCAR Türkiye group companies also provide training. Additionally, participants have the chance to become CEOs in the simulation game by taking turns managing the companies they created in the virtual environment. Thus, they gain the chance to develop their leadership and communication skills.

What are the human-oriented approaches emphasized during the Business Acumen Program and the impact of these approaches on your company culture?

The human-oriented approaches and practices in the program contribute greatly to the personal and professional development of our colleagues. Participants develop their leadership and communication skills by taking on a CEO-like role during the program. This approach strengthens company culture and encourages collaboration. Thus, the potential of each colleague is maximized. This ensures that the company has an innovative and dynamic atmosphere and allows employees to seize new opportunities in their careers. Additionally, by using the simulation game, participants have the opportunity to better understand the business world as well as general economic dynamics.

Your project also has a social responsibility aspect. In this context, what kind of contribution do you make and how do you collaborate?

As SOCAR Turkey , we offered a total of 76 students from Ege University, 9 Eylül University and Izmir High Technology University the opportunity to participate in the business simulation game in 2023, in order to provide young people with business world experience. With this social responsibility project, we aim to make a valuable contribution to the career journeys of young people. We plan to continue similar collaborations in the future.

What are the Business Acumen 2024 Program plans and what are the strategies to be followed to achieve these goals?

In our program in 2024, we will further enrich our educational content and implement projects that encourage innovation. We will continue to support continuous development by increasing the leadership potential and problem-solving skills of our colleagues.