HR was keen to encourage a learning culture within the organization through training and a talent management program. HR wanted Emirate Bank International (EBI)staff to join training programs because they saw them as reluctant learners. Before this, HR had put people on training courses but half of them failed to turn up because they saw no value in the training on offer.
HR hoped that by putting the trainee at the center as the main stakeholder, the result would be a culture in which people took responsibility for their own learning and development while at the same time increasing their career prospects within the bank and strengthening their loyalty to it. This was also seen as a way of growing in-house talent and leadership and a way of convincing the bank's line managers that they should develop their own staff rather than pay a lot of money to recruit staff from other banks.
A Group Training Center (GTC) was set up with a staff of 17. Its continuing education program, offered on the Internet, was a one-stop shop for all employees, who could log on to find what courses were available, where/who to contact in order to apply, and so on.
Batches of new trainees, who were school leavers, join the Center, They followed a structured modular program in which an orientation period in GT was followed by a three-month spell of work experience, then a return to GTC until they completed their program and were certified as proficient in a specific job. A quality check got rid of those who were unsuitable. The scheme ensured that all trainees were transformed from school leavers into bankers.
Talent management was also important. Nelson D'Souza, a talent and organization development manager, recalled, 'We had a talent pool of people selected on the basis of performance...We picked some people from this and prepared them for certain areas where there were vacancies. For these we developed OJTs - on the job training modules. So, if we identified a talented person in the organization and there was a vacancy two years in the future for a branch manager, I would take this person through a progressive module for a branch manager. This would give them a vision of what the job was then the competencies needed. 'Later, the business areas of the company realized that people trained like this were better than market replacements. Noted D'Souza, 'They are home grown reliable and perform better...they understand the business better than someone taken from the market.