The onset of the pandemic in 2020 brought with it some uncertainties and unfamiliar working conditions. As employees who are open to social interactions, we prioritized efforts to strengthen our social bonds while working remotely. In that context, we’ve been holding monthly online meetings to give all the employees a chance to come together under the heading “Even Though We are Far, We are Still By Your Side”. In fact, we have just held our 20th meeting in the series. In these meetings, we made general announcements, introduced newcomers and shared in a transparent manner the financial and operational course of affairs within the organization.

We also held an event called “Online Happy Hour” where the employees met and socialized outside of work. We planned themed competitions and games for every meeting to alleviate stress and consolidate the culture of socialization.

Remote working model has introduced an endless flow of meetings into our lives. To help overcome time management problems and create the ideal work/life balance, we switched off the calendars of our “Focus Mode On” employees on Wednesdays and Fridays before noon. This practice got a 60+ NPS (Net Promoter Score) from the staff and improved their concentration. We measured that improvement by the increase in the number of the projects which were completed on time in location-independent contexts. Under the motto “FunTogether”, we organized online game nights, culture and arts activities, movie/theater nights, outdoor meetings, online yoga and other activities. We socialized and had fun.

How does the project contribute to the organization’s digital transformation journey?

We have rapidly adapted to unfamiliar global conditions and continued our work while maintaining our organization’s core values. Getting through this difficult and uncertain period, the atmosphere of mutual support was our strongest ally. Our projects were really instrumental in motivating our co-workers to work more effectively and improving their engagement. In the mid-term, we helped the IT staff strengthen their social bonds, perhaps more than ever, and discover common interests. We also helped the new employees, who started to work during the pandemic, adapt to their new environments. In the long-term, we are aiming to prepare the ground for more effective works and practices by sustaining the Group’s corporate culture and enhancing employee engagement.

Our project aims to contribute to efficiency, and more specifically, to our Group’s digital transformation journey. It is an integrated system that facilitates the online management of governance processes such as continuous improvement, risk management, sharing of ideas, audit management, supplier management, interconnects all components with equal access to strategies, uses dashboards to track them and provides an integrated framework for traceability.

Based on the findings of audits and best practices in line with the principle of continuous improvement, we achieved integrated governance and transparent reporting by providing an integrated platform for the traceability of actions and projects. Our project was actualized through effective teamwork, and we are thankful to Eczacıbaşı IT and Holding governance teams for their contributions.

How does the project contribute to the organization’s digital transformation journey?

In Eczacıbaşı IT, we were seriously challenged when it came to collecting data from other departments and generating adhoc combinations of this data, especially during audits. Thanks to this new integrated structure, we are now able to digitally access all data using a single system. In this way, we cut down the number of audit days and the amount of pre-audit preparations by 25 percent at the least. Group-specific ideas are now shared on an incentive platform, and that is our contribution to the innovation process. Also, we made sure that all the governance factors, which were mentioned above, are now online and transparent. It means that they are now traceable by our governance team and accessible to all Group employees.

With the Balya Energy Management (BEY) project, our objectives were to achieve energy efficiency and reach Esan’s sustainability goals by tracking and controlling the energy infrastructure under and above the ground, analyzing energy-consuming assets and processes, and tracking and controlling water circuits and airways at the Esan Balya Lead and Zinc plant.

Through the remote control and online tracking of the energy infrastructure at the Esan Balya plant, we ensured the safety of the operation, reduced loss of energy, minimized energy-induced disruptions and reduced energy consumption in general. Remote control of the energy structure enables us to stage rapid interventions in case of possible emergencies, which contributes towards our goal of zero accidents and improves occupational safety.

How does the project contribute to the organization’s digital transformation journey?

BEY is an important milestone in our digital roadmap. It may well be described as the first stage of ESAN’s energy management projects. Armed with the lessons we learned here, we are aiming to extend the project to other lines of business and plants.

Led by Gürkan Gürpınar and managed by Abdullah Danış and Furkan Dal, the project enabled instantaneous tracking of the assets which increased visibility and data-based decision-making processes became more prevalent. It is a significant milestone in the development of the digital transformation culture.

As Turkey’s first provider of electronic certificates and mobile signatures, E-Güven provides trailblazing solutions to individuals and organizations in the field of information security and electronic signature. The Paperzero platform is the latest milestone in the history of our long-standing partnership with Eczacıbaşı. Once again, we united our forces to produce efficient collaborative results.

In what ways do you think teaming up with Eczacıbaşı IT has contributed to the project’s success?

For effective teamwork and a successful project, I believe that it is essential to have an awareness of current needs and to develop solutions in response to those needs. With nearly 20 years of experience in e-signature, I believe we have become very good at analyzing the needs of small- and large-scale companies. We run efficient studies on both the needs and the effectiveness of the solutions that already exist in the market. Thanks to the robust software and technical support provided by Eczacıbaşı IT, we built a platform that aligns with the requirements I mentioned earlier, is fast, easy-to-use, safe and environment-friendly. The harmonious, effective and disciplined working relationship between the two companies ensured the project’s success. I think it is fair to say that an accomplishment of this scale can only be the work of a strong team united for a shared cause.

The application digitalizes and accelerates the processes of signing, collecting physical signatures from multiple people, sending out contracts via couriers, and storing documents. With Paperzero, documents can be signed with an electronic or mobile signature and delivered to the parties in 10 seconds. The innovation also offers advantages for individual use, which make daily life much easier. For example, it brings quick results in contracts where the image of the signature suffices. The application does not require membership for contracts that arrive to be signed and one of its greatest advantages is that the signed documents are automatically saved and archived to be accessed at any time, with a periodical reminder for contract renewal times. With Paperzero, we digitalized and simplified laborious signature processes.

With the Office 365 Migration project, we aimed to provide Eczacıbaşı Group employees with high efficiency and possibilities for cooperation through the use of Information Technologies’ productivity services and cloud platforms. Our objective was to give the employees uninterrupted access to Microsoft 365 services from anywhere and any device, with optimized performance and the latest technology. In only two months, we completed the migration of all employees and the Project itself was completed in the first quarter of 2021. Evaluation surveys for the IT services showed a record-breaking increase (32 percent and 120 percent compared to the previous year) in the use electronic mail and video conference services, marking them with the highest NPS (Net Promoter Score) points.

How does the project contribute to the organization’s digital transformation journey?

As the Project provides the Eczacıbaşı Group employees with increased efficiency and fresh possibilities for cooperation, it opens a new door. The insights based on the data provided by the platform gave the employees ideas about how to work more efficiently. Going forward, we are aiming to create value in the areas of meeting efficiency, time management, agile working methods through other ongoing projects.