Meet Faik Alkan Altinyayla, Gum Section Manager

Monday, October 28, 2024

How did you start your career at Mondelēz International, and how did your career journey lead you to your current position?

As a mechanical engineer, I have worked in sectors far from the snacking industry – generally as a maintenance manager. After this adventure with machines, I started working as a Utility Maintenance Engineer at Mondelēz International Gebze Plant and entered the magical world of Mondelez.

Later, I moved to the line leadership position in the chewing gum department to reinforce production dynamics and team management. After developing my maintenance, production, and team management skills, I decided to improve myself in project, process, and budget management. I then moved to the Engineering team as a Project Engineer. I had a chance to work on infrastructure, facility, construction, and packaging projects, and I left this position as a Senior Project Engineer. I was promoted to the Chewing Gum department as a Section Manager, which is my current role.

Which tasks in your daily workflow do you enjoy the most, and can you tell us a bit about them?

I enjoy everything that I achieve with my team. That is why whenever we achieve something, all of us feel satisfied—and I am grateful to have a great team.

We follow many targets in production, and the most critical of these are those related to work safety, quality, waste, and performance. When we review the previous day’s performance evaluations at a certain time every morning, every point that is on target increases my team’s motivation and happiness. I think this motivation and happiness I see in them increases the part of my job that I enjoy the most. Another one is zero stories. It is incredibly enjoyable to watch all the losses put on the dusty shelves of history and completed, never to be experienced again.

What is your favorite aspect of working at Mondelēz International?

There are many aspects that an employee at MDLZ can love. Equality, openness to change, innovation, collaboration, etc. What I like the most is that, as one of my managers said, “MDLZ is like a university.” There is always something to teach those who want to learn and there is always someone to teach those who want to learn. The philosophy of the +1 strategy is invaluable for every employee who wants to take a step forward every day. On the other hand, while trying to provide maximum performance with optimum contribution, the sensitivity to employee health, environment, social, and global events also looks incredibly stylish. While all these works continue, the bond, rewards, happy hours, and all-inclusive events are also ranked first on the list of the most loved.

Can you share a moment or experience in your career that has had the most significant impact on you or inspired you?

In fact, perhaps the biggest turning point in my MDLZ career was the motivational and reassuring speech given by the then-Gum Department Manager during a coffee hour. I started my career with the idea that I could not work in any field other than maintenance, and with MDLZ's perspective on innovation and development, the first seeds of mental and cultural change were planted in me. That day, my change of course, which started with Mustafa's sentence, "I want to benefit from your competencies in production," combined with MDLZ's support for development and change, brought me to my current position.

What advice would you give someone looking to build a career at Mondelēz International?

MDLZ is a community ready to provide the necessary conditions for the development and happiness of its employees within the scope of the principle of equality, regardless of any concepts such as gender, language, religion, race, or culture. With the principle of servant leadership, it teaches those who do not know, shows those who do not see, and announces those who do not hear. All you have to do is want to know, see, and hear following the values of MDLZ.