Aygaz of Istanbul, Turkey, received the Stevie® Award for Human Resources Team of The Year in the HR awards categories of The 2011 International Business Awards. (Entries are now being accepted for The 2012 International Business Awards, the world's premiere business awards program. Get your entry kit here and submit entries by the April 11 early-bird deadline for discounted entry fees.) Here we look at the steps the HR Team took to pull Aygaz and its subsidiaries together under a “one company” vision.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Aygaz is the main provider of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in Turkey, and is one of the largest LPG providers in Europe. In addition to producing and selling gas appliances, Aygaz has a subsidiary portfolio ranging from liquid petroleum gas trade to electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and maritime logistics. Led by Yagiz Eyüboglu, Aygaz's General Manager, the HR team was charged with adopting a single management policy to accommodate their numerous subsidiaries.
Integration 
The human resources awards winning team at Aygaz seized the single-management policy as an opportunity to derive extra benefits through an integrated HR management within the new structure. The aim was to create synergy in HR through a shared vision and to provide benefits for all the new group’s stakeholders.
“One Company” Approach
The Aygaz Group’s HR processes were overhauled with the participation and contribution of all its subsidiaries. The resulting “One Company” shared vision of HR processes followed five steps:
1. Recruitment Process
The first step was improvement of the recruitment process. Interviews were integrated for similar vacant positions. This saved time for the HR team and provided candidates with information about different positions within the Aygaz Group. (The HR team also integrated their recruitment process with an internal job-posting system within the Koç Group of Companies, of which Aygaz is one.) This has allowed employees to manage their own careers, and in turn led to reduced employee turnover and increased employee motivation.
2. Training Program
Costs were significantly reduced through an integrated training program, while the average training time per employee increased. (In 2009, the average number of training hours per employee per year was 18; in 2010, this increased to 21 hours; and the current training time per employee is 25 hours.)
The HR team also designed an orientation program that provides information about all the group’s companies to more rapidly integrate new employees into the company.
3. Performance Management
The integration and “one company vision” necessitated an overhaul of the performance management system. This system now enables top management to share its objectives with all employees—and at the same time recognizing their achievements. Since 2009, all personal scorecards have been prepared in conjunction with Aygaz Group goals.
4. Compensation
Compensation management policies were also reviewed. New adjustments meant that Aygaz determined salary levels of employees by considering similar positions at other companies in the group. An “Equal Pay for Equal Work” policy was adopted.
5. Internal Mobility
Internal mobility has been actively encouraged and employees are now given the opportunity to move to other positions in the group without losing any of their rights. A Social Activity Club was also launched to increase interactivity between Aygaz and its subsidiaries.
A Better Place to Work
By 2010 employee turnover at the Aygaz group had dropped to 2.5%, compared to the average rate of 9% in Turkey.
The steps taken by the human resources award winning team to serve the bigger picture have resulted in Aygaz winning the Turkish Personnel Management Association’s Best Practice Award in Human Management in 2010.
About Yagiz Eyüboglu:
Yagiz Eyüboglu is the General Manager of Aygaz. Eyüboglu started his professional life as a Management Trainee at Arcelik in 1991. In 1993, he was transferred to Koç Holding Headquarters, where he worked for more than 10 years, finishing as a Financial Coordinator. Between 2004 and 2009, Eyüboglu assumed several different responsibilities within the Koç Group including CFO of Arcelik, CEO and Board Member of Beko Elektronik, and Human Resources Director of Koç Holding. Eyüboglu is a member of several boards, including the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations and the Turkish Employers’ Association of Metal Industries. He is also the Chairman of LPG Assembly at The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey and is Vice President of the World LPG Association.
About Aygaz:
Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, Aygaz manufactures and sells LPG devices and distributes LPG as auto gas, cylinder gas, and bulk gas to customers in 81 Turkish provinces as well as exports LPG devices to 22 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Listed as Turkey’s 7th largest industrial company by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Aygaz delivers gas cylinders to over 100,000 homes, and more than one million vehicles travel with Aygaz’s auto gas product, Aygaz Euro LPG+ every day. Aygaz has more than 15,000 personnel working at its headquarters and at its facilities and dealerships around Turkey. The organization sees these employees as key to delivering its promise to consumers to provide quality products and services—and to the community to use sustainable business practices.
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