Through Turkey’s dynamic and often tumultuous business environment, companies are realizing that operational resilience does not begin with products, technology, or even strategy—it begins with people. As industries react to inflationary pressures, regulatory changes, and digital transformation, the worth of human resources is being redefined at its core.
More and more organizations are bringing in HR consulting organizations not just to staff job openings, but to unlock organizational value, transform their organizations for speed and agility, and build the kinds of employer brands that will engage and retain top talent in a competitive talent economy.
Talent Economy Is Changing
The jobs market in Türkiye has changed dramatically over the past five years. The new businesses added annually increased by over 35% between 2020 and 2024 (TOBB statistics), while career mobility among young talent has never been greater. Remote or hybrid working is now business as usual in finance, tech, and creative industries, and employee expectations around flexibility, purpose, and career growth have picked up at an alarming rate.
Meanwhile, problems continue to persist. A recent İŞKUR labor force report discovers a disconnect between openings available and talent pool available, primarily in technical fields such as engineering, supply chain, and software programming. Retention is increasingly becoming a problem, especially in sectors where wage inflation and cross-border opportunities are enticing technical professionals abroad.
From Problem-Solving to Strategic Transformation
Turkish HR consultants are no longer just bridging recruitment gaps—they’re redefining how companies are operating, measuring, and motivating people. Best companies are helping customers restructure departments, develop succession planning, install HR technology platforms, and stay compliant with evolving labor regulations. They are also driving leadership coaching, post-merger integration, and employer branding initiatives.
For example, a mid-market retail company recently hired a consultant to revamp their entire performance management system, and as a consequence, had employee engagement scores increase 23% over one year. Another fast-growing SaaS company employed HR advisory to create a hiring process that allowed them to expand from 30 to 150 employees—without losing team chemistry or culture.
The Hugent Approach: 14+ Years of Building Talent-First Organizations
One of the leading HR consulting services in Türkiye, Hugent has been serving businesses across Türkiye for over 14 years. Praised for its strong market presence and cross-sector exposure, Hugent offers integrated HR services like executive search, recruitment, organizational development, talent mapping, and HR process consulting.
What sets Hugent apart is the mix of strategic thinking and practical execution. The firm works with both multinationals and domestic companies with the capability to adapt its services to enterprises in all sizes, from large holdings and family firms to entrepreneurial start-ups.
“Turkey’s business environment is tough, fast-moving, and full of opportunity,” says a Hugent spokesperson. “Our role has always been to assist our clients in developing people strategies that not only resolve today’s talent challenges, but construct them for the next five years. HR is no longer an after-the-fact function—it’s front-end, fact-based, and business-critical.”
Beyond Recruitment—Total People Strategy
Hugent’s work extends far beyond recruitment. Their experts provide:
Executive Search Services for hard-to-fill senior roles, most notably finance, operations, and technology.
Organizational Diagnostics to identify structural limitations and productivity issues.
Employer Branding Strategy to help businesses develop compelling value propositions that resonate with Turkish pools of talent.
Compliance & Policy Advisory on documentation, work permits, and telecommuting policies.
Talent Market Intelligence, helping clients benchmark salaries, identify regional talent gaps, and predict attrition risk.
In one example, Hugent helped a factory firm in Kocaeli restructure their factory management team following a major investment in automating production. By re-defining the roles and leadership development for supervisors, the company increased production efficiency by over 15% as well as reduced turnover of key employees.
Adapting to Türkiye’s Legal and Cultural Conditions
Operating in Türkiye comes with its own regulatory, legal, and cultural considerations. HR consulting firms are central to helping companies negotiate:
SGK and İŞKUR incentive models
Managing Turkish labor code (4857) compliance
Shifting expectation regarding remote work, flexible hours, and employee rights
Family business relationships, succession planning, and intergenerational leadership transition
Most firms—especially new market entrants—find it difficult to manage the administrative task of employing in Türkiye. HR consultants ensure that policies are compliant, but also culturally sensitive and legally robust. Those firms with a global business, in the meantime, also employ consultants such as Hugent as an in-market HR capability, bridging global policy to Turkish practice.
Creating Data-Driven HR Functions
While analytics and automation are storming every corporate function, human resources is not exempt. Innovative companies are becoming more and more reliant on data to improve hiring outcomes, predict personnel needs, and monitor levels of engagement.
Hugent helps its customers deploy digital HR technology, from applicant tracking systems to performance dashboards. Their consultants help leadership make sense of these insights in deciding workforce decisions—where to hire the next 50, how to build bonus schemes that actually deliver.
One of Hugent’s financial services clients used a customized engagement monitoring system during a period of hypergrowth. The data allowed the leadership team to identify burnout hotspots and shift workloads between teams—preventing what could have otherwise been a costly exodus of talent.
Executive Search: The Next Leadership Matters
Executive recruitment is still among the most mission-vital Turkish business issues. The correct executive will drive change; the incorrect one will stall it. Hugent’s executive search service specializes in securing C-level and top leadership talent who match the firm’s values, goals, and long-term strategy.
With focused outreach, confidential evaluations, and proprietary pools of talent, Hugent places crucial positions that demand technical savvy and strategic vision—be it a CFO to spearhead an IPO initiative or a COO to expand operations throughout Anatolia.
What to Expect When Working with a Consultant
Effective HR consulting collaborations hinge on clarity, cooperation, and mutual objectives. In selecting a firm, firms should seek:
Established track record in the target industry or category of job
Regional knowledge and regulatory skills
Flexible services that grow with the organization
Clearly defined reporting and follow-up process
Firms like Hugent begin with a comprehensive discovery process, revealing not only talent gaps but process inefficiencies and leadership-workforce misalignments. The result is not just a list of candidates but a comprehensive roadmap to long-term organizational health.
Shaping Better Workplaces Across Türkiye
The future of HR in Türkiye is one of intentional, forward-looking design—of teams, culture, performance, and development. As companies face new pressures from their people, markets, and regulators, HR consulting firms will play an increasingly important role in shaping who comes out and how quickly.