Gulf Bank’s 2nd Town Hall of 2010
by Russ Sandlin Gulf Bank’s 2nd Town Hall of 2010
August 12, 2010
Our 2nd Town Hall of the year covered the Bank’s half year performance, the results of the latest staff survey (EES) and aired our new Ramadan TV commercials.
Our 2nd Town Hall meeting of 2010
The second Town Hall meeting of the year, hosted by Mr. Michel Accad, our CGM and CEO, took place in MAK lobby on Monday 9th August.
The key topics covered were:
1. Review the Bank’s performance for the first half of the year
2. Share the results of the recent Employee Engagement Survey (EES)
3. Show our new Ramadan TV commercials (before they air officially)
The full Town Hall presentation is available to view by clicking here. You can also see pictures of the event by clicking here, which was held with a Ramadan theme with attendees receiving Ramadan sweets.
First half review
Mr. Accad provided an overview of the Bank’s performance for the first half of the year (to view the full half year results announcement, click here for Arabic or English , which was significantly better than the same period in 2009. Last year, the Bank said it would be following a conservative provisioning policy, which would probably result in the majority of our expected profits to June 2010 being used to cover potential losses in our corporate portfolio.
This is exactly what has happened. However, from the next quarter (Q3 2010), Mr. Accad expects the Bank to announce higher net profits, with less being taken as provisions as our balance sheet is now in much better shape than before. In addition, all the work that has been done with our non-performing loan (NPL) portfolio means that this now only represents 16.5% of our overall lending (vs. 24% last quarter), over 90% of which is now provisioned or covered by supporting security.
He stressed that the Bank has taken huge steps to build a ‘fortress balance sheet’, an important part of our overall Gulf Bank strategy you may remember.
Finally, Mr. Accad took a moment to answer some questions from attendees, as well as those sent to him personally over the last week. You can view a short summary of these by clicking here .
EES results
Our latest EES took place in May and analysis of the 1100+ completed surveys has recently been completed. Mr. Surour Alsamerai, General Manager, HR, explained what the results meant for Gulf Bank and what would now happen as a result.
The full details of the results can be viewed in the Town Hall slide presentation (above). In summary, 26 out of the 27 questions asked showed a positive improvement, and we also received over 600 comments (double last year). This is good news as it indicates that people feel better about Gulf Bank generally this year, compared to 2008 (the period covered in the previous staff survey).
It also shows that people are more comfortable sharing their comments as they know they will get read, considered and acted upon, as this was clearly demonstrated through all the things the Bank did as part of the 2009 Gulf Bank EES Action Plan. This included sharing the Gulf Bank Vision and Strategy, and continuing to review and upgrade our benefits.
During August, feedback is being gathered by all General Managers from their teams regarding the EES scores, both for the Bank and their business unit. This will then be collated and discussed with Mr. Accad, with a view to creating the Gulf Bank EES Action Plan for the next 12 months. This will be shared with staff during September.
A couple of Gulf Bank surprises
Mr. Alsamerai also announced a couple of new initiatives that will be of interest to all staff and which will be formally communicated in more detail very shortly:
1. From Wednesday 1st September, replacing the chocolates people receive on their birthdays, all staff will now be given the day off.
2. To support those staff members with children at school in Kuwait, the Bank will offer the option to pay school fees in instalments (similar to how we manage health club memberships currently)
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