staffers in a swoop.
And the affected workers have come out to expose internal
crisis threatening the bank's operations.
Here is a reproduction of report trending report detailing the
development.
'Union Bank, on Monday, sacked another 137 staff in
continuation of the ongoing downsizing of its workforce as a
result of the current reform in the banking sector. The
affected staff were disengaged, following Union Bank decision on outstanding disciplinary cases, while some were sanctioned for various acts of misdemeanour.
Meanwhile, the bank has recruited another 150 graduates to
reinvigorate its workforce. The newly employed staff, which
include about 70 of the bank's current temporary/out-sourced
staff, were selected after recruitment procedures and they are
to undergo a five-week induction programme at different
locations across the country.
This will prepare them for the challenges of banking and to
integrate them into the bank's culture of professionalism and
best ethical practices.
The bank had earlier employed 500 fresh graduates as part of
the efforts to regenerate its human capital, while the
management reassured customers and other stakeholders of
its commitment towards positive and progressive
transformation of the bank to maximise the opportunities
presented in the industry.
From my experience as a staff of Union Bank PLC, I think
the following should be added to the several factors that
could cause the fall of a brand:
1. Poor staff welfare
2. Poor or zero capacity building
3. Chauvinistic management
Poor staff welfare – THE UNION BANK CASE
I have always held the notion that if you must kill a
community, you must first kill its core values. The same
thing applies to any organization. There is no need debating
the fact that human resource is one of the core values of any
organization especially in the banking sector.
In the case of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, its human
resource (staff of the bank) cannot at the moment be
classified as part of the values of the bank putting into
cognizance the bigotry approach in which management of the
bank ensure or provide basic staff welfare.
Health of mind and body they say is wealth. The story is not
the same in Union Bank of Nigeria PLC as far as its staff is
concerned. Instead, health of mind and body is rare to staff
of the bank. There are lots of factors that engender good
health of mind and body; family, finance, positive
endearvours, job satisfaction etc. When all these factors are
mixed in the right proportion, there is bound to be good
health of mind and body. All these factors do not mix well
for current staff of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC no thanks to
poor staff welfare in the bank.
Yes there is the saying that the grass is not green everywhere
but in Union Bank of Nigeria PLC with its current
management and staff welfare, there is no grass at all. When
the current management of the bank was installed by the
Apex bank on August 14th, 2009 took charge of affairs,
there were hopes that the new management will help fast
track the change project that was started before they came on
board. Part of the objectives of the change project was to
change the perception of every Union Bank staff through the
provision of top notch staff welfare programs, second to
none in the industry. This was in the view to motivate
personnel for business productivity and growth. This same
change project brought about the induction programs for
graduate trainees in 2009, the first of its kind in the history
of the bank which I was privileged to be a part of.
Today, the opposite is the story as far as staff welfare is
concerned. I would like to go into several salient areas where
the current management of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC have
failed in terms of staff welfare but I am going to focus on
just one of the areas.
I don't know why I am focusing on this area alone, perhaps
it's because sometimes it reminds me of the fact that it is an
act that is unheard of anywhere in the world or just because
it makes me laugh and shake my head in dismay every time
it strikes me again that what I am about to share with you is
one of the several myopic management policies in Union
Bank of Nigeria PLC.
Currently in Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, when staff go on
leave, they are only entitled to 80% of their leave
entitlement. The remaining 20% is payable on one condition.
The condition is that the staff on resumption of duty after
leave, must provide the HR department of the bank with
documents including Basic Traveling Allowance BTA, air
ticket, hotels ticket etc, just to prove that they traveled
abroad. Anything short of these and the remainder part of the
staff's entitlement – what is rightly theirs in the first place is
forfeited forever. Even if the 20% of the leave entitlement is
1naira; for heavens-sake, it is an appalling situation, day
light robbery as you may like to call it.
Now I don't want to even go into details or questions of what
happens to such monies that are forfeited in the case where
staff on leave do not travel abroad because I can beat my
chest that only a few staff travel abroad for vacation. Of
utmost concern to me is the degrading scenario where staff
have to travel to just Ghana in order not to forfeit what is
rightly theirs. I mean, if I tell this story to my unborn
children, they will scream "MODERN SLAVERY
DADDY!"
Nigeria is a richly blessed country in terms of natural
endowment. From the north to the south, east to west, there
are beautiful places to visit and the finest of festive activities
to be part of. Imagine that as a Nigerian, you have not even
explored one tenth of the tourist attractions in the country
only for you to be compelled to travel to another man's
country so that you won't lose what is yours. I think I am
going to go by the way of my unborn children – "MODERN
SLAVERY!"
This is a painful thing to bear, but what is more painful is the
fact that this policies don't affect staff high up in the banks
hierarchy. Whether they travel or not, they collect their full
entitlement and allowances. Even when they travel abroad, it
does not deplete the 80% part of their entitlement. The staff
that bear the brunt are staff down the hierarchy whose 80%
part of their leave entitlement cannot even afford a good
vacation in the first place.
Goodness me!, which organization does a barbaric thing such
as this to its staff in this jet age? Of all the factors that could
bring about the fall of a brand, poor staff motivation is one
dreaded factor and I don't think you get a lot of A+ in that
aspect when you dictate and subject your staff to modern
slavery by stealing what is rightfully theirs by way of
prejudiced policies.
By this singular act, the current management of the bank is
killing staff morale, and if you kill staff morale you are
indirectly killing the staff and whatever belief the staff have
in the bank. When you kill the staff you kill one of the core
values of the bank, in fact the most important value of the
bank and when you start killing the values of the bank, you
are indirectly killing the brand no matter how beautiful you
may paint it on the outside.
'Poor or zero capacity building – THE UNION BANK CASE
In 2009, Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, cashed in on a good
number of good hands when it carried out series of induction
program for graduate trainees cadre probably for the first
time in the history of the bank considering the manner in
which the recruitment exercise and the induction program
proper was organized.
I don't want to go into details of what may have become of
these graduates in terms of personal and professional skills
but with the current approach of the bank in rebuilding
capacity, I don't think the best will be gotten out of it.
Union bank used to pride itself as the trainers of other banks'
staff with its training school spread across the federation.
During the era of the management before the current
management, I meet Union bank staff especially from their
IT department at training centers for short/crash courses.
Today it is not exactly the same anymore.
When I inquired I discovered that rather than send staff on
training, the current management has thought it wisely to
subject all staff to what they call e-learning. For those who
don't know what e-learning in a working environment may
entail; it means from time to time, the bank will nominate a
staff to take a course on the e-learning platform and of
course there is always a window allotted for such exercise.
At the end of the course, you are also expected to either take
an exam or not depending on the volume of the course.
The ugly head in this situation is that you are expected to
meet the deadline for the exercise which of course means
you are compelled to find time within working hours to
finish up your e-learning course without affecting your job in
any ways.
Now I may not fault this policy in anyway, but let us face the
fact; in as much as this approach of capacity building may
suit staff from some department depending on the
background of their discipline, it may not suit some
department very well for example IT.
We all know that some departments are more practical
oriented than others, but compelling an IT staff for instance
to take courses on some e-learning platform is obviously a
joke. If what I fear is true concerning IT staff and the e-
learning platform thing then I think we customers have to be
wary.
How do you intend to sharpen the technical skills of a
programmer, a network engineer and a database specialist
without practical class sessions. Even professional and more
theoretical programs like ICAN needs class session let alone
more technical ones like information technology.
Whether this approach to capacity building by the
management of the bank is a deliberate one or not, what is
clear is that it is not the best practice and it surely will affect
the brand Union bank very negatively.
Chauvinistic management – THE UNION BANK CASE
Part of management's functions is to take decisions and to
make policies and the same is expected of Union bank's
management. Whatever the decision taken by management of
any organization, it is expected that the effect is reflected in
the customers satisfaction and 100% willingness of staff to
reproduce outstanding performance.
Authoritatively more than 70% of the decision taken by the
current management of Union bank has affected the staff
more than the customers. If the ways in which it has affected
staff is positive, one would not frown much but the direct
opposite is the case as these decisions have affected staff
negatively.
'Since the current management of the bank took over the
leadership role of the bank, it has released more than ten
decisions taken on disciplinary matters. Every time
disciplinary actions are released you find more of
termination, dismissal, warning, caution than commendation.
Decision on staff promotion for instance is very far from the
plans of the current management of Union bank. They take
delight in releasing decisions taken on disciplinary actions
and other policies that make staff lives miserable.
One begin to wonder if the only thing the current
management of the bank has come to do is to attack staff of
the bank in every way they know best. Sometimes you begin
to wonder if you are in a supposedly world class organization
or you are still in a secondary school especially when the
mail signature of the head of HR of the bank almost sounds
like – "Staff who miss the deadline of this exercise would be
sanctioned"
The only language in which the management of the bank
communicate with its staff is the language of threat. When
management is expected to be taking first class decisions to
better the lives of customers, they plot ways to carry out
ridiculous transfers and truncate staff career.
Ridiculous transfers is the order of the day in Union
bank. Take for instance an IT staff being transferred to
the remotest area of the country as customer service
officers, Account officers, cash center officers, marketers,
etc. What on becomes of the person's professional career
growth path?
One expect the management of the bank to know better that
there are specialized department that means round pegs are
put in round holes. Where in the world is it heard or done
that computer engineering graduates who have gained quite a
good amount of experience in the IT department of the bank
are transferred as customer service officers, loans and
advances officers, cash center officers, marketers etc. Of
what benefit is it to the bank, the staff and the customers at
large when such transfers are made? Perhaps the current
management of the bank is trying to tell us that there was
recruitment error in the first place which also says a "lot"
about the HR department of the bank.
In most organizations around the world, there are what you
call the front line officers and the back end officers. You
don't get to see the IT officers of DHL for instance every
other day. They are at the background making sure things are
in place for peoples parcel to get delivered. If they have to
move or be transferred, they are transferred to different unit
of the same department just to expand their horizon in a
familiar territory. You don't bring a farmer to do a surgeons
job, it is suicidal.
'Whatever motive is behind the manner in which the current
management of the bank takes its decision, it is clear that it
is a purely chauvinistic management that takes delight in
stiffening the environment for staff.
Of what benefit is this kind of approach you may want to
ask, and though it is said that uneasy lies the head that wears
the crown, the owner of the head should be humble enough
to ask people around if the cap fits and seek for support
when needed. But I wonder who the current management of
the bank will turn to for support when it treats it staff with
utmost scornfulness.
In the case of union bank it is like using a sledge hammer to
kill a fly – overkill. Because you have all authority as
management don't put you in the position to ridicule staff
even when you do and get away with it, the brand suffers.
Think about it, the only two things you find in a disgruntled
staff is sabotage and tendency for fraud believe it or not.
Well I expect that the current management of the bank won't
be too myopic to know this.
There are lots of factors that could kill a brand but it is more
dangerous when you treat staff with disrespect, disregard and
exhibit a chauvinistic kind of management.
Now should the customers of Union bank be wary of the
current management of the bank? I think a resounding Yes!
Is the answer. Let the management be aware that we
customers have even more information about the bank than
they do.
Via: Societynowng
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