Nedbank Namibia has awarded 11 employees and three university students with bursaries worth N$350,000 as part of its annual bursary programme.
The programme, launched in 2019, has already benefitted 21 Nedbank employees with various qualifications and is one of its employees’ learning and development initiatives, which is part of the bank’s people development strategy.
The strategy aims to develop and grow new employees, retain existing employees, and ensure the right skills are in place.
“We have made it our purpose to reinvest in our personnel in order to recruit and retain long-term, talented, and self-motivated workers with marketable skills for the modern workplace,” said Martha Murorua, Nedbank Namibia’s Managing Director.
In addition to the bursary programme, the bank has also sponsored two Internal Audit Trainees through a three-year certification programme.
“Currently, they are in their senior year. Another effort that promotes a culture of continuous learning at Nedbank is inviting senior employees to participate in leadership development programmes at prestigious international universities.”
“The effort established by the Nedbank Africa Regions (NAR) Centre in 2022 resulted in four senior staff members from Nedbank Namibia completing the Executive Leadership Courses, three managers attending the Henley Business School, and another two NoviaOne Group Leadership Programmes. Two bank managers are currently enrolled in the Certificate in Transformational Leadership course offered by the African Leadership Institute (ALI).”
Murorua stresses the importance of human skills in the future of work and highlighted the need for a culture of continual learning.
“Nedbank Namibia actively seeks personnel with the potential skillset, abilities, and attitude to advance themselves and the bank. The people-development strategy is designed to support the execution of the Nedbank Namibia strategy, and it is implemented in every business unit to achieve optimal benefits for both the bank and its employees,” she said.
The Nedbank MD said the development of human skills across all work categories, including leadership, communication, customer service, cooperation, and cultural and social intelligence, will be essential in a future of growing digitalisation.
“Human skills will essentially replace hard skills, and technology will continue to expand the limits of how we work and the talents that will be in demand. For those anxious about this and what this will mean for their future employment, remember that organisations rely on human connections and other critical human skills.
“These skills cannot be automated but they do require a constant willingness to learn, and that is the culture we hope to foster through our human capital development—a culture of continual learning,” Murorua said.
