Muscat: Ahlibank recently celebrated the graduation of six of its employees from the coveted Etimad program. These employees presently hold leadership and supervisory positions within the bank, and their participation in the program will lead them to take on further career enhancing roles in the future. A National Leadership Program, Etimad aims to create qualified Omani leaders in middle and senior management positions in the private sector. 

The ceremony was held at ahlibank’s Head Office, in the presence of Mr. Said Abdullah Al Hatmi, CEO of ahlibank, a number of senior management members, and select employees.

An initiative stemming from the Labor Market and Employment Lab at the National Program for Enhancing Economic Diversification (Tanfeedh), Etimad represents a real partnership between the public and private sectors in Oman. ahlibank’s participation in the program reaffirms the bank’s commitment to upskill its Omani team members and make them future ready for competitive roles.

During his speech at the ceremony, Mr. Said Al Hatmi, CEO of ahlibank, thanked the undeterred efforts of the government in devising a program that is focused on building leadership and inter-personal skill sets of mid-and senior level employees of the national workforce. He highlighted that the bank’s great interest in employee coaching, noting its importance in refining the skills of employees and developing their practical abilities. He explained that the bank’s interest is reflected in the volume of initiatives and programs launched over the past years, which embraced many outstanding national competencies, empowered them through trainings and skills enhancement. This in turn has contributed to the bank’s position as a preferred workplace in the Sultanate. During his speech, Mr. Al Hatmi also expressed his happiness at the Bank being known as one of the leading institutions that contributes to development of the young national capabilities in line with the goals of Vision 2040.

“ahlibank attaches great importance to training programs that help its employees develop their performance and up-lift their professional competencies. This is reflected in a number of initiatives and courses launched by the Bank over the past years, which have effectively contributed in embracing Oman’s future talents, as well as enabled employees to improve their skills and enhance their productivity level. This in turn has greatly helped the Bank to establish itself as a preferred work destination and thereby stimulate its growth in the market. We are proud that the Bank is one of the leading organisations in supporting Oman’s efforts to settle and prepare promising generations of young people by enhancing their abilities and competencies,” acknowledged Mr. Said Al Hatmi, on the sidelines of the graduation ceremony.

Congratulating the graduates on this achievement, Mr. Mohammed Al Mufargi, AGM-Head of Human Resources, ahlibank, said, “We extend sincere congratulations to our Etimad employee graduates as we celebrate their honorable achievement, which is pivotal to their careers. At ahlibank, the personal and professional achievements of our team members bring us great pride as we believe that by fulfilling their self-actualization needs, they are able to better contribute to their workplace. This not only helps them define and achieve their career goals, but also contributes to meeting business goals. For this reason, training and development programs are an inherent part of ahlibank’s personnel roadmap, and we strive to implement a system where employees are carefully chosen to fit into customized skill enhancement curriculums or programs as per their roles.”

ahlibank seeks to keep pace with the objectives of Oman Vision 2040, and to build competencies that are prepared to meet various challenges in a changing market. In addition to learning and skill enhancement opportunities for existing employees, the bank also provides development programs for fresh graduates through its popular Graduate Development Program. This helps recruit the right talent and build a robust pipeline of Oman’s future banking sector manpower. 

The Etimad program works on preparing qualified national human resources who are capable of assuming leadership positions in key divisions in the private sector. In addition to that, it supports government directives to strengthen public-private partnership and create opportunities to develop local talents for a more prosperous and sustainable future for the country. By enrolling its valuable resources in the program, ahlibank has been able to contribute to the country’s socio-economic development objectives.

Expressing her happiness on the successful completion of the ‘Etimad’ program, Zahra Mushtaq Al Lawati, Relationship Manager- Corporate Banking at ahlibank, said, “I have immense gratitude for my employer ahlibank, as it has always been committed to developing solutions and mechanisms that support our capabilities, and help us improve the level of our practical performance. Alongside this, as employees, we appreciate the Bank’s interest and continuous efforts to motivate us to keep moving forward and participate in programs that ensemble our future ambitions. On behalf of all my fellow graduates, I thank our management for providing this opportunity and honoring us on this day for successfully completing the program. I am also pleased to thank the valuable efforts of ‘Etimad’ team who supervised our training over the past period.”

Etimad program aspires to train and empower 10,000 Omanis in the private sector in different batches. It includes specialized curriculums which were designed in partnership with international and local institutions and centers which have experience in honing management skills and leadership training, in order to raise the level of leadership and supervisory skills of participants. The program consists of three main themes, which are, leadership from within, leadership by position, leadership through change and cooperation.

ahlibank is keen to enrich the working environment for its employees by participating and offering advanced training programs, aimed at meeting the requirements of the new phase in Oman’s banking industry.