Employee engagement in the Banking Sectors

 

Employee engagement makes workforce actively engaged in work. It also uplifts employee morale and improves the innovative capabilities of employees.  Keeping employees engaged is equally important to all industries. It is because your employees’ engagement ensures that they work to the best of their abilities. Employee engagement has become one of the most important priorities for human resource managers in all businesses. (getbravo, 2020)

The Importance of Employee Engagement in the Banking Industry

There are several reasons why employee engagement is important in any industry and organization. But with a high rate of attrition and disengaged employees, it becomes a necessity in the banking sector. Let’s look at a few of the reasons why banks can benefit from having an employee engagement strategy: 

Teams can go from being good to exceptional when employees are fully engaged.

Employees that are engaged are more likely to stick with their current employer. They commit themselves to the development and success of the company's bottom line while also becoming advocates for the bank’s services.

They tend to perform better and are self-motivated.

Profitability and employee engagement are strongly correlated.

Engagement fosters an emotional bond between employees and their employers, which raises customer satisfaction and service standards.

Increases employees' trust and loyalty in the cutthroat banking industry

It transforms your workplace into a vibrant and exciting place to work.

An employee that is highly engaged will consistently go above and beyond.

Employee Engagement in NDB Bank

NDB believe in fostering an open culture, where employees are encouraged to put forward their suggestions on improving the organization. Our open culture is reflected by the high level of engagement we maintain with employees, facilitated by numerous formal and informal mechanisms. These include, performance appraisals, multi-level staff meetings, cross functional team engagement and a year-round calendar of sports and cultural events. All employees are encouraged to engage with senior management through regular Town Hall meetings and multi-level staff meetings. The CEO also communicates with employees through email and shares important news, achievements and strategic changes of the Bank. The Bank regularly conducts Q&A sessions, where employees are given the opportunity to voice any concerns regarding a process, policy or practice in place at the Bank.

Recreational events are organized by the NDB Staff Recreational Club (NDBSRC) and include multi-religion celebrations, staff trips including families, NDB kiddies party and the annual NDB dinner dance. The annual trip, NDB annual dinner dance and the NDB kiddies’ party is open to family members of employees. This year, the NDBSRC went an extra mile and organized an overseas trip for the employees. Around 1800 – 2000 staff had the opportunity to select one destination out of 3 countries (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand) to spend their weekend with their families. The annual dinner dance this year was organized in a grand scale at the Shangri – La hotel, Colombo accommodating a total of 700 employees and their spouses. During the year, the Human Resources Department also organized logistics for the staff to view the Nawam Maha Perahera of Gangaramaya Temple, within the comforts of the office premises.

To harness personal development which results in professional excellence, the Bank inaugurated the NDB Toastmasters club in 2013 and joined the Global Toastmasters fraternity. This has helped many to improve their oral communication while giving them confidence to participate in professional forums. The Bank shows recognition of employees for the special skills and commitment displayed in non – job related areas. Thus, annually a recognition programme is organized on a grand scale by the Human Resources Department to appreciate and reward the commitment shown by the NDBSRC members, NDB Toastmasters, our very own NDB “Skillart” music group and the talented photographers of the Bank. In the same programme, employees who represented the Bank in the mercantile arena and brought glory to the Bank through their achievements were also recognized. (ndbbank, 2017)

References

Anuradha. (2022, 04). researchgate. Retrieved 04 26, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360910108_EMPLOYEE_ENGAGEMENT_FRAMEWORK_EMPERICAL_EVIDANCE_FROM_BANKING_SECTOR_SRI_LANKA

getbravo. (2020). Retrieved 04 22, 2023, from https://getbravo.io/the-future-of-employee-engagement-in-the-banking-industry/

ndbbank. (2017). Retrieved 04 23, 2023, from ndbbank: https://www.ndbbank.com/annual-report/2017/management-discussion-and-analysis.humcap#:~:text=OUR%20APPROACH%20TO%20HUMAN%20CAPITAL%20MANAGEMENT&text=Employees%20are%20also%20governed%20by,conflicts%20of%20interest%20among%20others.