Sterling Bank: Building positive work place in face of economic uncertainty

The implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has adversely impacted the earnings of most banks. Rising inflation, forex management challenges and elimination of commissions on turnover (COT) are some of the hitches issues by the lenders. Despite these hurdles that have raised cost of doing business, Sterling Bank has in the last 11 years, established itself as a good work place contributing to economic growth, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

For most banks operating in Nigeria, these are not the best of times. From the drop in crude oil prices, huge loan exposure to the oil and gas sector, tough regulation and the rising cost of doing business, most lenders have experienced drop in earnings.

However, Sterling Bank Plc is looking beyond the current realities, focusing on the bigger picture ahead by making life better for its workforce, budding entrepreneurs and supporting the economy. The lender has in its 11 years of operation built a reputation as an institution that is an employee’s delight.

Stakeholders insist that for those looking for an institution that cares about its people, Sterling Bank is it. The bank, they said, has continued to build its staff into the best they could be and recognises their contributions to its success.

A Lagos-based economist, Michael Silvanus, said: “The harsh economic environment and the increasing cost of doing business in the country have taken its toll on institutions with resultant effects on employees as well as investors. This unfortunately has led to downsising by some institutions, while return on investment for investors has reduced drastically. The challenges facing banks in the country are hydra-headed. Currently, the economy is faced with what could best be described as a weakening oil sector, leading to reduction in earnings”.

He explained that the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which has depleted the earnings of almost all banks; inflation- now in double digits; the foreign exchange crisis, which has adversely weakened the naira against the dollar; phasing out of commissions on turnover (COT) which has cut lenders’ earnings and other economic headwinds have adversely impacted the fortune of banks significantly.

He said the unfortunate situation is not helped by the high exposure of banks to the oil and gas sector, which contributes over 70 percent of government revenue and 90 per cent of all exports.

“Indeed, Sterling Bank is managed as a business that cares about its people though operating in an industry that is unknown for empathy towards employees. Apart from competitively remunerating its staff, Sterling Bank has an outstanding record of giving employees an incredible opportunity to grow and develop. It is worthy of note that capacity building sessions are creatively woven into the weekly activities of the institution as staff bank-wide get the opportunity to increase their knowledge base and skills set mandatorily on a weekly basis driven by the bank,” he stated.

In a statement, the lender said it has an excellent retirement plan, a good healthcare facility and an almost free daycare/crèche facility for staff children between the ages of two weeks to 18 months at the bank’s head office.

“A novel initiative which we recently established is the flex time and place which enables staff to choose the preferred time and place to discharge their responsibilities. Under this initiative, staff can work from home and resume at 10am which has never been a practice in the Nigerian financial services industry. This promotes work-life balance and some staff get to drop their children off at school promoting family bonding also,” the lender said.

Besides, to build capacity for its people, the lender has instituted excellent training and developmental programmes such as the Sterling Graduate Associate and the Sterling Management Associate programmes targeted at identifying, grooming and developing young talents for leadership positions in the bank.

“By extension, we also provide staff opportunities to give back to society and help them achieve their self-actualisation goals. These opportunities include the Sterling Volunteer Programme (SVP) where interested workers get to impart knowledge and teach pupils and students in both public and private schools across the country relevant subjects and financial literacy topics to give the students a better financial head start in life. Apart from this, interested staff also get the opportunity to donate in cash and kind to the less privileged and to internally displaced persons,” it said.

Moreso, in line with the global clamour for environmental preservation, the workers of Sterling Bank regularly join street sweepers across the country to sweep the streets, giving them fulfillment that monthly remuneration could never give them.

“The Made-in-Nigeria national drive also provided a platform for staff of Sterling Bank to make impact. For the first time ever in the Nigerian financial services industry, staff of the bank adorned clothing Made-in-Nigeria to work on a Monday morning. This spanned the entire week and has never been done before by any financial institution in the country. It was done to promote locally made attires, patronise locally manufactured goods and align with the national drive to grow the economy and ensure consumption of domestic manufactures,” the bank said.

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