Serkan Deveci: Visionary in Employee Experience and Business Growth
The success of any business isn’t just written in financial reports—it’s built into the choices made about people. Who gets hired, how they grow, and whether they stay or leave all shape an organization’s trajectory just as much as product innovation or market expansion. Talent is the foundation of every breakthrough, every competitive edge, and every lasting legacy. Yet, many companies treat workforce planning as a numbers game, filling positions without considering whether they are creating the right conditions for performance, engagement, and long-term success.
This is where Serkan Deveci’s approach challenges the norm. He sees talent strategy not as a support function, but as a business driver—one that demands the same level of commercial insight, strategic foresight, and execution precision as any revenue-generating function.
Serkan brings around two decades of strategic leadership experience, blending deep expertise in HR and People Strategy with a strong commercial foundation. As a senior HR leader, he has driven strategic talent management, organizational design, and culture initiatives that drive employee engagement and business performance. Before transitioning to HR, Serkan held a prominent sales leadership position, managing a complex business landscape and overseeing a high-performing sales team. His earlier career in marketing—spanning FMCG and Banking—shaped his data-driven, customer-centric approach to leadership, ensuring that both people and performance remain at the core of his strategy.
A globally recognized keynote speaker on the future of work, leadership effectiveness and employee engagement, he holds a BA in Economics, an MSc in Neuroscience, and is pursuing a PhD in Psychology. His research focuses on leadership behaviours and its effects on employee and organizational outcomes. With a unique blend of business acumen, sales leadership, and HR expertise, Serkan thrives to create engaging employee experiences, cultivate a positive culture, and drive organizational success.
Aligning Talent with Business Objectives
Serkan’s extensive career across sales leadership, marketing, and HR strategy has profoundly shaped his approach to strategic talent management and organizational design. With a decade of experience leading sales teams and driving revenue strategies for organizations in multiple markets globally, he gained firsthand insight into the opportunities and challenges of scaling teams, driving business growth, and adapting to evolving market conditions. He exemplified how the right combination of talent, structure, coaching, and incentives could unlock performance and drive sustainable business growth.
Transitioning into HR leadership, Serkan brought a strong commercial mindset alongside a deep focus on people, believing that HR should not operate in isolation. To be truly effective, HR must understand the business, the products, the customers, and even the broader market landscape. He emphasizes that HR professionals should have a deep understanding of economic cycles and market dynamics and how these factors influence business and people growth. More importantly, he sees HR’s role as translating this understanding into a talent strategy that directly supports business success.
For Serkan, talent strategy is not just about headcount—it is about aligning talent with business objectives, anticipating market shifts, and ensuring that teams are structured for sustainable growth. His experience in commercial side of the business has given him a keen understanding of the fast-paced environment and the critical elements that enable amazing talent to excel. This perspective informs his approach to leadership development and talent management, ensuring that business impact, people, and culture remain in balance rather than focusing solely on HR metrics.
Redefining HR as a Growth Engine
Serkan approaches HR strategy with a strong focus on impact, growth, and execution, drawing from his experience leading large-scale sales teams. He believes success goes beyond hiring the right people—it requires structuring teams effectively, aligning incentives with business goals, and cultivating an environment that supports continuous growth and development for all.
For Serkan, talent strategy is about understanding both the evolving business landscape and the unique needs of people to ensure the right capabilities are in place for sustained success and growth. He views talent strategy as a real driver, not just a support function, emphasizing that business outcomes are delivered by people. HR, in his view, should operate as a strategic partner by embedding business acumen into leadership development, employee engagement, organizational design, compensation strategies, and talent planning. By aligning individual aspirations with business needs and cultivating a culture where performance and well-being coexist, leaders can drive sustainable success.
Co-Leadership: Business and HR
Serkan brings a deep engagement and growth mindset to HR. Drawing from his background in sales, business strategy and marketing, he integrates business acumen into HR strategy by focusing on delivering results, creating value, and nurturing dynamic, growth-focused teams. For him, leadership development should be tied to organizational needs and goals, while engagement strategies should foster both performance and long-term motivation. His approach positions HR as a strategic partner that embeds business thinking into every aspect of talent management, ensuring that people and business success go hand in hand.
Having worked across multiple regions and countries, Serkan understands the complexities of building a unified culture across global teams. He believes that culture should not be imposed but must resonate locally, balancing consistency with relevance. A strong core of shared values and principles provides a foundation, while flexibility allows these to be adapted to different markets. His approach prioritizes listening to teams on the ground, understanding their unique cultural dynamics, and ensuring leadership models and engagement strategies reflect these realities. He emphasizes that culture is shaped by everyday actions rather than statements, and leaders play a critical role in reinforcing it through their behaviors.
Harnessing Science to Inspire and Engage
In addition to his professional and practical experience, Serkan’s academic background in neuroscience and psychology at King’s College London, along with his PhD research at University of Warwick, deeply informs his approach to leadership and organizational culture. His research explores the intersection of leadership behaviors, employee engagement, and well-being, reinforcing his belief that leadership is not just about strategy but also about fostering trust, motivation, and growth. Understanding the science of human behavior allows him to design leadership development strategies that align natural cognitive and emotional processes with organizational goals. His focus is on creating an environment where employees feel engaged, empowered, and driven to succeed—both professionally and personally.
Fueling Engagement, Change, and Growth
Employee engagement, in Serkan’s view, hinges on fostering connection, purpose, and growth. In today’s hybrid work environment, he advocates for flexibility while maintaining collaboration and performance. He cautions against reverting to pre-pandemic models without empirical backing and stresses the importance of balancing data-driven decision-making with leadership intuition. Regular feedback and informal check-ins help maintain alignment and ensure employees feel valued. At the core of engagement is purpose, whether it stems from advancing a company’s mission, achieving personal career goals, or simply taking pride in one’s work. When employees find meaning in what they do, they engage at a deeper level.
In leading change management initiatives, Serkan has observed common pitfalls that organizations must navigate. One of the biggest challenges is viewing transformation as a one-time project rather than an ongoing journey requiring patience and long-term commitment. Successful change must be reinforced by aligned systems and processes to prevent regression into old habits. He also emphasizes that change is not solely an HR responsibility but a collective effort between HR and business leaders, who must lead by example and embed transformation into the organization’s DNA. Effective communication is critical, but scripted talking points alone are insufficient. Leaders must convey messages authentically, speaking from personal experience to foster genuine engagement and ownership among employees.
Serkan’s expertise in workforce strategy, leadership development, and organizational culture enables him to drive meaningful business outcomes by placing people at the heart of transformation. His approach positions HR as a strategic driver, integral to business success and long-term growth, rather than just a support function.
Creating a Ripple Effect of Purpose-Driven Leadership
Serkan emphasizes that the fundamentals of effective leadership lie in fostering connection, growth, and purpose. These pillars are essential for building resilient and engaged teams, regardless of market shifts or organizational changes. He highlights the importance of adaptability, stating that effective leaders must be capable of pivoting and leading with flexibility. By assessing new information, understanding external market landscapes, and guiding teams through uncertainty, leaders can make data-driven decisions while also relying on intuition to act decisively.
According to Serkan, transparency and authenticity are key components of strong leadership. High-performing teams thrive when they feel aligned with their leaders and trust their decisions. He stresses that strong messaging alone is not enough; leaders must communicate and act with genuine authenticity to establish meaningful connections. This not only builds trust but also ensures that messages resonate in an impactful way.
He also underscores the significance of engagement, stating that leaders must cultivate a culture where employees feel heard, valued, and empowered. Real-time feedback, regular check-ins, and ongoing conversations help maintain alignment and motivation. A two-way dialogue fosters growth while keeping teams engaged and fully invested in the company’s goals. Additionally, he believes that leading by example is crucial. The behaviors modeled by leadership directly influence team culture and dynamics. High performing teams require clear direction, but they also need to see their leaders embody the values, work ethic, and adaptability they expect from others. By doing so, leaders create a ripple effect, encouraging teams to adopt the same mindset.
Leadership That Elevates People and Performance
Serkan asserts that leadership is fundamentally about people, and business success depends on them. However, he cautions that focusing on one does not automatically ensure success in the other. A balanced and intentional approach is necessary to make leadership truly effective, enabling high-performing teams to thrive, grow and deliver lasting results.
He also highlights the importance of compensation and performance management in talent retention but emphasizes that talent development requires a strategic and personalized approach. Rather than adhering to rigid career ladders, organizations should focus on career paths that align with both individual aspirations and company objectives. He advocates for a career lattice model—one that includes lateral moves, stretch assignments, and mentorship opportunities—allowing employees to develop their skills rather than simply climb titles.
Serkan believes that regular, real-time feedback is a critical aspect of performance management. He argues that annual performance reviews alone are insufficient in driving meaningful development and growth. While companies may structure performance ratings annually, quarterly, or semi-annually, he emphasizes that the true impact lies in the frequency and quality of reviews and feedback. A structured, rigorous process ensures that relevant, constructive feedback is provided regularly at all levels. However, he acknowledges that balance is key—excessive feedback can negatively impact self-esteem, whereas well-timed, constructive feedback serves as a powerful tool for growth.
Balancing Talent and Well-Being for a Thriving Workforce
Aligning talent development with business strategy is another area he considers essential. He believes that organizations must identify the skills needed to achieve strategic goals and tailor their development efforts accordingly. Tracking key metrics such as engagement and retention enables companies to measure the success of their talent development initiatives. Ultimately, Serkan asserts that talent development is a shared responsibility—HR provides the framework, but leadership and employees must actively participate.
Serkan also highlights the growing emphasis on employee well-being in the workplace, stressing the importance of creating psychologically safe environments that support both performance and employee well-being. He asserts that psychological safety is not solely the responsibility of HR but a shared commitment between HR and leadership. It begins with fostering openness, authenticity, and trust at all levels of leadership. Employees must feel safe to express concerns, share ideas, and make mistakes without fear of negative consequences. He emphasizes that psychological safety must be embedded in daily practices, such as regular feedback loops, open-door policies, and supportive coaching. Leaders, he insists, should be held accountable for cultivating an environment where well-being and engagement are a priority.
Serkan concludes by stating that workplace well-being and engagement cannot be managed solely through initiatives and programs. Instead, it must be woven into the organization’s culture, leadership approach, and everyday interactions. He believes that when leaders prioritize people, they not only foster a more engaged culture but also drive sustainable business success.
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