Hitit Named Turkey's Happiest Workplace in the Software Industry
Forex - Hitit, one of the world's three largest companies in the aviation and travel technology sector, represented Turkey as the happiest company in the country in the Custom Software category at the Happy Workplaces Awards Ceremony, which rewards companies that demonstrate extraordinary success and good human resources practices in the business world.
Successfully representing Turkey in the aviation and travel technology industry globally, Hitit has won the Happy Workplaces Award in the software sector in Turkey. During the CEOTalks event organized by Happy Place to Work, where leaders of happy workplaces shared their insights on successful work environments, Hitit’s CEO Nevra Onursal Karaağaç stated, “First, we earned the right to receive the Excellent Employee Experience Certificate, and then it was verified that we are among Turkey's and the world's happiest workplaces. As Hitit, we have won the title of Turkey's happiest workplace in the software sector. We represented our country alongside global technology giants in the Custom Software category, and we received the Happy Workplaces Award.”
“We are the sole exporter in Turkey's aviation and travel technology sector,” Karaağaç noted, adding that this is the first time she is speaking at such an important Human Resources-related event on behalf of the company. “Hitit is an airline and travel technology company. In fact, many of you experiencing flight today have used Hitit technology at many points of your travels, from making reservations to buying tickets and check-in. You touched us without realizing it. Companies like us, being B2B, are inherently less known.”
Karaağaç highlighted that Hitit is Turkey's only exporter in the aviation and travel technology sector, the second largest in Europe in booking systems, and the third largest in the world. “Today, 75 different airlines from 49 countries operate thanks to the technologies we produce. This means our technologies are utilized in over 750 airports across approximately six continents. Being able to showcase such success, especially in an area where our country’s track record is not very bright, namely in technology, is very valuable for us. As the CEO of the company, I take great pride in talking about this achievement everywhere.”
“We have not compromised on the principle of equality for 30 years,” Karaağaç stated. “When Hitit was founded 30 years ago by two women, there were significant gender barriers. It was rare to see many female employees in both aviation and technology. These challenges paved the way for a company culture of equality of opportunity, where women and men work together, shoulder to shoulder, rather than implementing positive discrimination practices for women in the company. This sense of unity has fostered a genuine team spirit at Hitit.
Currently, when looking at the gender distribution of employees, you can easily see this equality. 50% of our Board of Directors is female, nearly 60% of our top management is female, and 38% of all employees are also women. For 30 years, we have not compromised on the principle of equality in terms of gender, and we have reflected this equality principle in the area of employee rights as well. This fact, deeply ingrained in our company’s DNA, has not experienced any adverse breakage over the long period of 30 years, despite the structural changes and major events occurring both in our country and around the world. We have always worked to provide better conditions for our employees. During challenging times like the pandemic, we did not make layoffs or salary cuts. We implemented an equal pay for equal work policy.”
“The architects of our success are Hitit employees,” Karaağaç emphasized, noting that they are approaching a workforce of 500, with nearly 70% being engineers. “I am here to represent the Hitit employees, who are the architects of this success, and to express my tremendous gratitude to them. Technology companies are known for their high employee turnover rates worldwide. While the turnover rate in technology firms averages around 18%, the rate at Hitit is approximately 7.2%. The average tenure of middle and upper management is nearly 10 years. I am also an example of this, having worked at Hitit for over 18 years. A significant portion of our employees are engineers. They have high academic achievements, and it is somewhat challenging to satisfy these intellectual minds with numerous job opportunities both in our country and abroad. However, we have succeeded in doing that. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Happy Place To Work for giving us the opportunity to see just how satisfied our employees are with the environment we have created at Hitit. An individual working at Hitit does not feel overwhelmed between the requirements of their social life and the intensity of their job. Thanks to our flexible working arrangement, they have the freedom to complete tasks whenever they want, adhering to project or job delivery deadlines.”