Ramanika Unamboowe, the Executive Vice President – Human Resources, Nations Trust Bank shares her thoughts on the role of HR and how the Bank is preparing to be a leader in Human Resources Management.
“With our drive towards digital banking, we are looking to attract the right talent. Through our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) we wish to inspire new entrants as well as for our existing team to do bigger and better things.” \
With its commitment to digital banking, there is a need to attract a disproportionate number of people from science, technology; engineering and mathematics backgrounds (STEM fields) to spur innovation. The EVP has been designed to position Nations Trust Bank as a place that’s suitable for those from STEM disciplines to build a sound career. Recogniz- ing and rewarding employees for exceptional work, the Bank has a series of quarterly award programs that culminate in two main awards programs, the Magnus Awards that recognizes 12 major achievements and the Retail Banking Awards, especially for branch employees.
The Bank complements its digital strategy with HR through the “Nations Connect” HR app which allows employees to apply for leave, claim overtime, check salary details, update their payslips, personal information and process multiple claims online in real-time. NTB has introduced an em- ployee lifecycle based training Nations Trust HR: Evolving with the times framework that ensures re- quired skills and competencies training takes place in a structured manner based on job grade and function, dividing between core skills and soft skills.
Commenting on the changes in traditional training methods, Ramanika Unamboowe said that the Bank uses EDMs and Nations Hub on which all activities and announcements are posted. A closed Facebook group called ‘Make It Happen’, is a key method of communication with 1,800 active members. Outlook 365 and features such as Yammer, Sharepoint, Teams and Skype keeps everyone in the loop, she said. Meanwhile, the Bank is look- ing to create new work struc- tures with different, more flexible working hours and providing certain job roles the ability to work from home, especially to help women em- ployees to balance their lives.
