As part of the bank’s annual bursary programme, Nedbank Namibia recently awarded 11 employees and three university students with bursaries amounting to N$ 350 000.

The student recipients are Mubiana Masiye. a third year NUST student, studying towards a bachelor’s degree in computer science; Elifas Shivute, a second year NUST, studying towards a bachelor’s degree in computer science; and Rebekka Nambahu, a third year University of Namibia student, who is perusing a bachelor’s degree in financial mathematics.

Since the launch of the Nedbank Bursary Scheme in 2019, 21 employees with various qualifications, including Bachelor of Accounting, Bachelor of Commerce (Law), Higher Certificates in Banking and IT, and Bachelor of Economics, have benefited from the program.

The Nedbank Bursary Programme is one of the bank’s employee learning and development initiatives. Nedbank Namibia's people development strategy aims to achieve several objectives, including developing and growing new employees; retaining existing employees; ensuring that the right skills are in place; positioning the bank as a caring employer of choice; and ensuring that all employees develop to their full potential and meet their own career goals.

Nedbank Namibia Managing Director, Martha Murorua, asserts that in order for a company to survive in the modern day, it must view its personnel as assets to be invested in. ‘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.’

In addition to the bursary programme, the bank has also sponsored two Internal Audit Trainees through a three-year certification program. 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 programs 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).

Human capital development (HCD) in Nedbank Namibia maximizes overall business success by prioritising personalised career advice, growth opportunities, and creative guidance programs. HCD is essentially about investing in your employees and assisting them in developing their abilities so they may become more productive and efficient members of an organisation. Research has shown that companies that prioritize HCD have far better performance than those that do not. A recent study by Deloitte showed that ’organisations with highly developed human capital outperform peers by 30% over five years.’ Investing in HCD also helps improve staff engagement and happiness within the workplace-two key factors for boosting employee loyalty and morale. 

This highlights the shift from traditional ‘hire and fire’ practices to a focus on staff retention and long-term engagement as a critical aspect of the people development strategy. Nedbank Namibia has implemented a number of employee development programmes. These programmes aim to expedite transformation, cultivate future leaders, optimize the employee value proposition, and provide learning opportunities aimed at sustainable company impact and individual growth. 

From leadership courses designed specifically with executive-level roles in mind, to traineeships that provide hands-on experience within a specific function, learning and development is a key area of focus of the Nedbank Namibia People Strategy 2023-2025. This includes additional emphasis on leadership development, role-specific training, level-up training, frontline training and any other business relevant training aligned to the business’ strategies. 

‘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,’ says Murorua. 

Nedbank Namibia's emphasis on learning and development highlights the significance of continual learning, upskilling, and reskilling in the fast changing and competitive corporate climate of the present day. In a future of growing digitalization, it will be more essential than ever to emphasise the development of human skills across all work categories, including leadership, communication, customer service, cooperation, and cultural and social intelligence.

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,’ added Murorua 

The bank's varied employee development programmes demonstrate its dedication to fostering talent and employee growth. These programmes offer employees the chance to acquire and develop new skills, which is essential in today's fast-changing business climate. Due to its emphasis on learning and growth, Nedbank Namibia is well-positioned to remain competitive and realize its aim of becoming Africa's most admired financial services provider.