Standard Chartered Bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched Intelaq, an annual Emirati induction program. The inauguration was held at the Emirates Banking Institute in Sharjah where 50 UAE nationals recruited by Standard Chartered Bank towards the end of last year are undergoing a two-month induction course.
“On completion of the course the new recruits will undergo four months on-the-job training throughout the bank before being assigned positions,” said Ray Ferguson, Standard Chartered Bank’s chief executive officer. In all 50 nationals, 35 of them women, were recruited by Standard Chartered Bank in the UAE last year taking the bank’s Emirati workforce to 26 percent of its total staffing.
“This year we intend to grow the number of Emiratis on our workforce further to reach 30 percent of our total staffing complement by the end of December,” explained Ferguson. “We also intend that by the end of the year all our branches in the UAE will be managed by Emiratis. These moves are all in line with government requirements and live up to our desire to align our business with the development of the UAE.”
The Standard Chartered Intelaq Emirati induction course just launched will be repeated each year. “Every 12 months another batch of nationals will be recruited to fulfill our Emirati quota ambitions,” explained Mohammed Abdulla Al-Sayyah, head of Administration Gulf & Levant and Emiratization.
“The bank has set a target for all its department managers to be UAE nationals by 2005, so we will concentrate recruitment on junior and middle management candidates who can be developed to take on additional responsibilities.”
Al Sayyah said that banking is now a UAE national’s second employment choice after a government position. “Banking as a career is an exceptional training ground for nationals, no matter what their long-term goals,” said Al-Sayyah. “Those wanting to diversify into their own businesses will find banking gives them a solid foundation and this experience applies across numerous sectors.”
Emerging markets bank Standard Chartered has a consumer-banking network comprising seven branches and 22 automated teller machines (ATMs). Standard Chartered is a provider of cash management trade finance, and treasury products and services in the UAE.
Standard Chartered employs nearly 30,000 people in over 500 offices in more than 50 countries in the Asia Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, United Kingdom and the Americas. The bank serves both consumer and wholesale banking customers. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
