Turk Telekom of Istanbul, Turkey won a Stevie® Award for Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event in the live event awards categories of The 2011 International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards program. (The 2012 IBAs are now accepting entries. Download your entry kit here and begin submitting entries by the 16 May entry deadline.) Here we look at the how Turk Telekom strengthened their management team's leadership through their event of the year.
The 2011 event awards winner is a leading communication and convergence technology group in Turkey which provides its customers with integrated telecommunication services from PSTN and GSM to broadband internet. With nearly 30,000 employees all over Turkey, the organization was challenged to motivate their leadership when the company transitioned from being a public company to being a private company. To help ease the transition, Telekom's internal communications department organized an internal motivation event. Hosted at Turkey’s tropical Mediterranean paradise, Antalya, the event focused on ‘game playing’ to foster high level team building and strengthen leadership.
The key communications objectives were to:
Bond the managers from all 81 cities in Turkey as a team in and of itself,- Create a family feeling, like a big team,
- Stimulate enthusiasm for the new company structure, and
- Foster harmony amongst various departmental managers and geographies.
To meet the communications objectives, the best event award winner's internal communications team created a series of “games” lasting over the 3 day event. The highlights included:
- Turkey’s Biggest Stage:
An impressive 480 square meter was constructed as the centerpiece of the event, mimicking a game board. The participants themselves would become the “pattern” at certain times, which were the “stuff” of compelling photo opportunities. - Smart Street:
A lounge area was built where participants could interact with state-of-the-art communications and entertainment products under development. - Games Arena:
A lively place where managers could play an amazing variety of games – traditional and new - in pairs or teams, such as table tennis, bowling, backgammon, soccer, basketball, go karts, PS3, WII, Xbox Kinetic, ginger, zorp ball, IQ Cup and more. There was even a caricaturist who drew humorous pictures of the managers. There were various workshops and activity areas where participants could interact, develop skills through game playing. - Strategy Sessions:
Several sessions were conducted in which managers presented strategic objectives and how to bring the key message to life: “People make companies, people are our biggest asset.” In workshops, executives shared tools and techniques about how to strengthen leadership. In soft skill sessions between workshops, participants engaged in entertaining hands-on activities, role-playing, and anonymous ideation pursuits to discover ways to communicate more effectively. - Entertainment:
Weaving the “Games People Play” mood throughout the sessions, there were performances on the main stage by popular Turkish singers and stand up comics. - Branding:
There was no shortage of motivating signage and accessories to keep the theme alive: new logo “We exist to add value to life,” luggage tags, bus signs, welcome and farewell banners, desk flags, name tags, flyers, field flags, T-shirts, pens, shirts, and more. These were displayed at the airport for the majority who traveled from Turkey’s 81 cities, in the hotels where they stayed, and at the venue reception areas, activity rooms, stages and fields.
Telekom executives disclosed top marks for content, value, accommodation, and team spirit from the attendees in a post event survey.
About Turk Telekom
Türk Telekom Group is a leading communication and convergence technology group in Turkey which provides integrated telecommunication services including PSTN and GSM to broadband internet. Turk Telekom has nearly 30,000 employees all over Turkey. Türk Telekom group companies have 16 mn Fixed Access Lines, 6.7 mn ADSL Connections and 11.6 mn Mobile Subscribers. To learn more information, visit www.turktelekom.com.
