Through the “Conversations with Our Members” series, we have the opportunity to have an enjoyable conversation with one of the members of the Woman in Technology Association family, listen to their experiences, and learn about their relationship with technology. We continue our series with another Corporate Member: Foxhr Turkey. In her interview, Foxhr Turkey’s Founder Ebru Bağran talks about her career journey, her story of getting acquainted with our association, how technology affects the evaluation processes of institutions, the most preferred competencies in the workforce, and what institutions should pay attention to in their human resources strategies.
1. How has your career journey been so far? Can you talk about those who have guided you along the way and the significant turning points in your career?
In the first decade of my career, I had experiences ranging from teaching in educational institutions to managerial roles. In 2010, with the birth of my son, I took a two-year break from active work life to dedicate most of my time to motherhood while simultaneously completing my master’s degree in Psychology.
In 2012, due to my interest in organizational psychology, I decided to specialize in the field of “Assessment”. I believe this decision marked a significant turning point in my career. By considering a job offer in this direction, I made a fresh start. Over the next decade, I gained experience in this field as a Consultant, Trainer, and Senior Executive, leading successful projects.
My second turning point was in 2021 when I left my CEO position at the Assessment company where I worked to establish my own company, Foxhr Turkey, with a new generation understanding of assessment. In our third year, we are designing Assessment Center services tailored to over a hundred leading institutions in Türkiye.
Many valuable people have guided my path in my career. I believe that there is something to learn from everyone in life and strive to find it. In this sense, I have found the most development opportunities in my professional life through these interactions.
2. How did your path cross with Wtech? Could you tell us about your relationship with the association?
We met through our mutual friend Özlem Güsar, who is a dear friend of mine whose advice I highly value. Although I have always had a warm attitude towards NGOs, it was a topic I could not focus on during the period I established my business.
In our first meeting with dear Zehra Öney, our perspectives aligned. When she explained the vision and mission of Wtech, I found their work and efforts very valuable. Therefore, the first reason for joining the association was to be able to achieve this harmony.
The complementary reason is the expertise of Foxhr in talent discovery. Therefore, there are many areas where we can contribute to Wtech. In this sense, I am very pleased to work for a structure that supports young people and women who want to improve themselves in the technology field and helps them overcome obstacles they encounter.
3. As one of the few names that create competency models for Türkiye’s leading institutions and design assessment processes, what has changed in the field of assessment? How has technology transformed the evaluation processes of institutions? What are you doing in this regard?
Companies have been benefiting from “assessment” services to make critical decisions such as recruitment, promotion, and talent discovery fairly, objectively, and with high predictive power for a long time. However, both globally and in Türkiye, the traditional understanding of assessment is giving way to a new generation understanding of assessment due to factors such as the long duration of traditional assessment, waiting for reports, and the potential for human error.
In this regard, we at Foxhr are pioneers in Türkiye. With the motto “assessment. as in the future,” we represent a modern understanding of assessment that is suitable for the business models of the era. One of the main reasons why companies prefer us over companies that have been doing traditional assessment for years is our predictive power, providing a good candidate experience, and our speed. Behind this are our methodology, content sets, highly skilled consultant team, and the influence of technology.
On the path from the conventional understanding of assessment to a more modern understanding of assessment, there is also an evaluation approach that focuses on the candidate and development alongside technology. Nowadays, the assessment approach that gives results in the form of exams or report cards causes stress. This is being transformed into a format that provides a pleasant experience for the candidate, strengthens awareness, and serves their development.
4. With the transformation of our lives by artificial intelligence, we are currently thinking about which areas we need to improve ourselves in. What are the most demanded technical and social competencies by the workforce right now?
In the age of artificial intelligence, emotional intelligence is the most valuable. I usually explain a professional’s competencies in five dimensions:
The first is the “How to think?” part. In the AI era, being able to think from different perspectives and produce creative solutions in line with this, which we call “cognitive flexibility,” is an important competency.
The second question is “What kind of communicator should one be?” The answer can be summarized as having a communication style that prioritizes listening over telling, respects differences, and is collaborative.
The third is the “How to manage your work?” criterion. In this regard, having an agile way of working that is willing to develop oneself and take action, seeing opportunities, is very valuable.
The fourth question is “How to lead a team?” Leaders who value, provide constructive and guiding feedback, offer appropriate development support, are accessible, and adopt a human-centered approach will stand out.
The fifth and final dimension is “What technical competencies should one have?” Here, professionals who learn to work with artificial intelligence in the technical skills required by their expertise and transform their existing skills accordingly will have made the right investment in their career.
5. In the age of AI, what should companies pay attention to in their human resources strategies?
In the age of AI, it is crucial for every professional to know which competencies to add to themselves and which ones to give up because they will not be useful. Therefore, we create technical and soft skill competency models specifically for many companies. This is because these are topics that need to be decided based on the institution and position.
Sustainability is a highly trending topic in talent as in other aspects of life. Every company should be able to use all the potential talent of its human resources with the motto of “zero talent waste.” This can be achieved by synchronizing well-designed competency models, an assessment that evaluates everyone’s competency level accordingly, and then upskilling and reskilling activities suitable for this.
