Posted by By SEUN ADESIDA on
United Bank for Africa (UBA) will spend N900 million this year to re-train over 6,000 of its staff across the country.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) will spend N900 million this year to re-train over 6,000 of its staff across the country.
Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Tony Elumelu, who disclosed this Monday also said that the measure was designed to prepare the staff for post-consolidation competition.
This, according to him, will afford the staff the opportunities to attend training courses, at least once every quarter, adding that the courses have been carefully selected to meet the requirements of the post-consolidation banking.
'It is in recognition of the strategic importance of training and development that the bank is committing a total of about N900 million this financial year alone to pursue this programme. And we are prepared to increase this budget if necessary", he said
Elumelu said that the measure is in line with the aspiration of the bank to build a global brand that would be a role model in the continent and the employer of first choice. To this end, according to him, the bank has approved elaborate training programmes for the entire staff to prepare them to lead the changing competitive landscape of the banking industry.
He said that the bank has engaged the services of leading international and Nigerian consulting firms, among them Euromoney, Philips Consulting, Ken Njoku & Co, Ken Orji & Co and Restral Consulting, for the purpose of the training programmes.
Said Elumelu: 'As daunting as this may seem, especially, given our massive staff and integration cost, the bank is of the belief that the value of a well-trained workforce is inestimable. This has reinforced the determination of the bank to be at the forefront of customer service and product innovation for its customers' delight and for these, we must train our people well.
'This investment is expected to increase the capabilities of our workforce and value of the bank and the training programme is to form part of the bank's appraisal of staff performance."
It will be recalled that UBA successfully completed a complex information and communication technology integration project that gulped a total of N2 billion, which allows it to communicate easily across the over 428 branches and 6,000 employees and to deliver radically-enhanced customer-centric services across Nigeria.