Burcu D.

From HR operations locally to developing concepts globally

I have 20 years of experience in the area of human resources. Started my HR career as a generalist, advanced to the Country HR Manager role, led the merger process with Siemens, simultaneously took an active role in regional & global projects, and joined the global HR team where I gained experience in talent attraction, employment policies, Mergers and Acquisitions, organizational development, culture transformation and finally inclusion & diversity.

I drive various global inclusion & diversity initiatives

I am currently working as Program Manager for Global Inclusion & Diversity initiatives within the People Direction organization where I work on ensuring that all we do is human-centric, experience driven, inclusive, and business driven. In my role, I work on the conceptualization of key initiatives such as the Global Allyship Program and work in the design of company-wide inclusion-related developmental programs targeting managers and other key target audiences. I also collaborate with other teams to make sure our policies and practices are inclusive. I ensure we are working on achieving our inclusion targets which are around improving the inclusion experience of our employees, diversification of our workforce, and is the preferred choice for customers & investors by role modeling best inclusion & diversity best practices. I am a Nokia coach as well as a Nokia mentor and practice mentorship & coaching internally and externally.

Opportunity to impact overall inclusion experience

In my role, I have the opportunity to develop key initiatives that would impact the inclusion experience. This role provides me the opportunity to collaborate with a wide network of people from employee resource groups, businesses and central functions, and countries who are all working on making Nokia more diverse & inclusive. Learning new topics, communities, and cultures every day, and getting to know people across a wide range of diversity spectrum is very engaging and inspiring.

Be open to exploring and trying new things!

Our lives are dynamic and we keep on learning something new each day which helps us explore what is out there but also what is in us that we have not necessarily realized otherwise. Keeping an open & growth-oriented mindset helps you overcome your fears and extend your accomplishments. Integrity, respect, trustworthiness, and accountability should be foundational and not be compromised. In my career, every time I stepped into unknown territory, I first tried to educate myself as much as possible, and when I struggled I also internalized it as part of the journey.

My concept became the global solution across the company

I advanced from a country role directly to a global role in one step and it has been a huge shift regarding the scope of work and level of responsibilities. In my very first assignment, I was asked to develop the Onboarding solution for an acquisition which later became the Global Onboarding solution for the entire company which made me very proud. I felt also very proud developing new concepts such as the Global Allyship program for Nokia which I believe is very instrumental for progressing the culture of inclusion.