2012 Annual Report
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Together, to a Better Future...

The efforts carried out under the project of change and transformation that Ziraat Bank launched with the slogan "Together, to a Better Future" in a bid to transport its deep-seated corporate values to the future are drawing near completion.

Approximately 100 diverse but synchronous projects, which have been formulated upon six basic principles, are put into life, utilizing the Bank’s own resources.

Principle 1: One-to-one Customer Relationship Management


The activities carried out in relation to one-to-one customer relationship management are summarized below:

Shift from a “Product Customer” Approach to “Ziraat Customer” Approach
Placing the customer in its focal point, the Ziraat Customer approach is aimed at fulfilling all financial needs of customers. Designed accordingly, the “Bank Customer Service Model” was started to be rolled out at branches from April 2012.

With the transition completed at 857 branches until 31 December 2012, the new service model is planned to be disseminated across the entire branch network by April 2013. The ultimate goal of the Bank is to satisfy all financial needs of its customers under the Ziraat Finance Group roof. The first steps towards this goal have been taken by way of the revisions made to the organizational structures and business models of partnerships and international branches during 2012.

Customer Segmentation
Customers are categorized as follows in accordance with their financial needs:


This lean segmentation allows referring the customers to the branches and employees that are aligned with their needs.

Branch Segmentation
In an effort to realize customized service delivery, the Bank’s branches have been diversified as follows in line with the type of customer serviced:


This initiative helped ensure that every customer receives service from the branch that is relevant to his/her need.

During 2012, a total of 109 Corporate/Commercial/Entrepreneurial Branches were opened.

Agriculture Concept Integrated with Customer Segments
Representing Ziraat Bank’s key business line, agricultural banking has been integrated into all segments instead of being managed on the basis of a product concept. This approach disseminated the service delivery over a broad range from farmers to agribusiness.

Portfolio Management
Customers to be serviced by each employee in branches have been identified; thanks to this practice, employees closely monitor the financial status and needs of the customers assigned to them, and offer them service at the right time through the right channel.

Formerly a bank with an operational focus, Ziraat Bank reached a “customer relationship” team of 7,880 people at 1,490 points of service on the back of the initiatives finalized during 2012, and was transformed into the most extensive bank with customer-focus in Turkey.

Principle 2: Institutionalized Risk Appetite
Credit risk management at Ziraat Bank is the pivotal building stone with respect to effective transfer of lending policies to the field and establishment of a shared credit culture at all branches.

Within the frame of the efforts to create enterprise risk appetite, the Bank launched major decision support systems including “Retail Loans Assessment Module”, “SME Assessment Module” and “Company Assessment Module”. This enabled uniform conditions of lending to retail customers or commercial business customers irrespective of the Bank branch they apply.

Along this line, centralized allocation of retail loans began as of May 2012, and vast majority of branches were incorporated under the central allocation structure by the end of 2012. During the reporting period, 84% of retail loan applications have been assessed using this system.

Principle 3: Efficient Information Technology and Productive Operational Infrastructure
In 2012, Ziraat Bank took important steps towards becoming the leader in the area of technology, as well.

A substantial part of the Information Technology (IT) projects was brought to completion during 2012, which aimed to offer efficient service to customers also through non-branch channels, provide uninterrupted service, and correctly identify customers’ needs. On another front, efforts are underway in relation to process management system based on operational productivity, which were initiated in 2012. Steps have been taken to make sure that all actions for the fulfillment of the Bank’s technology needs are taken in a way that is centralized, planned, visionary, and integrated with its partnerships.

An Operations Center was set up for the purposes of ensuring productivity in operational transactions, alleviating the operational workload on branches, and thus allowing the branches to allocate more quality time to customers. Operational transactions were started to be moved to this center gradually.

In the last quarter of 2012, the number of transactions handled by the center averaged 41,368 on a daily basis. The centralization ratio of operational transactions rose to 51% by year-end 2012.

Principle 4: Objective and Transparent Human Resource Management
Pursuant to Ziraat Bank’s HR policy that places the human at the core, it is of the utmost importance that employees work at positions that suit their competencies and enjoy job satisfaction. To this end, the Bank moved from the title-based vertical organizational structure to the job position-based horizontal organizational structure during 2012.

Efforts are in progress, which are intended to support the Bank’s employees with any tool that reveals their potentials and to assess their performances objectively. The work in relation to the Individual Performance Appraisal System has been brought to completion as at year-end 2012. Competencies have been identified on the basis of job positions and relevant behavioral patterns have been formulated, while work was initiated for career and talent management systems.

In line with the Bank’s transparency principle, employees are informed of any development concerning the human resources.

Principle 5: Robust Shareholders’ Equity
Sustainable profitability and growth make up a key objective of Ziraat Bank’s project “Together, to a Better Future”. Despite the rising performance of the Bank’s assets that have displayed remarkable expansion in the recent years, the ratio of shareholders’ equity to the balance sheet diminished. For this reason, the Bank began working to attain a balance sheet structure that is aligned primarily with the shareholders’ equity.

Significant distance has been taken in efforts launched at Ziraat Bank for the following purposes:


Principle 6: Effective Communication
Within the scope of the “First Step Meetings” that lasted approximately five months, Hüseyin Aydın, Ziraat Bank’s General Manager, got together with 22,500 employees in 21 cities and explained the reason why the Bank needs transformation, sharing the details of the project “Together, to a Better Future”.

Internal communication channels have been created to communicate the innovations and changes carried out under the project “Together, to a Better Future”, and the employees were given access to information on the project through the Together, to a Better Future Sharing Platform and the weekly bulletin.

Together, to a Better Future Sharing Platform is a platform accessible from the portal and serves to internal information sharing. Using this tool, employees take part in questionnaires regarding the project, convey their ideas on innovations and changes, and access important information and instant news about the project. Every Tuesday, the changes and innovations realized during the preceding week are emailed to employees in the form of the Together, to a Better Future Bulletin.

In order to facilitate communication between the Head Office and branches and to convey project requirements to all employees, a team of approximately 300 people was set up under the name Transformation Volunteers, which is participated by employees working in different cities of Turkey. The team is responsible for quick completion of preparations at branches that will shift to the new service model, and for swift resolution of the issues of branches by the right units. Thanks to the team, the project was efficiently finalized.

Forging ahead with its change and transformation initiatives, Ziraat Bank advances “Together, toward the Target”.

The common goal of all these initiatives is to be “More than a Bank”.
Ziraat Bank is different from other banks; it is a special bank for Turkey.

Always bearing in mind that it is “more than a bank” for its customers, the Bank aims at becoming

while remaining strictly adhered to its corporate values that set it apart from its peers.

Ziraat Bank targets to be a;
Morale Bank
A bank that offers banking services to everyone in the future just as it has done in the past, that all segments of the society is pleased to be working with, and that stands by its customers in bad times, as much as in good times,

Global Bank
As an institution possessing the necessary infrastructure to deliver global service via its domestic and overseas partnerships and branches, capture a uniform service quality and level in all countries where it has a presence and become a competitive bank enjoying high market capitalization and engaged in world-class banking business,

Leading Bank
Not be content with being Turkey’s biggest and strongest bank, but support its scale with its profitability and promote Ziraat Finance Group to a leading position across the globe.

In the 150th year, “Together, toward the Target”
To achieve these objectives, Ziraat Bank will proceed “Together, toward the Target” in 2013 and carry on with activities geared at change and transformation, and will continue to work at full speed to be “more than a bank” in its 150th anniversary.