Found in 1949, Nanyang Commercial Bank, Limited (NCB) has been cherishing the tenet of Customers-Oriented and Professional Service-Driven in providing quality services to customers and offering a platform of development opportunities to employees. In recent years, banking industry has been focusing on three main areas which include cross-border banking in Greater Bay Area, financial technology, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), whilst NCB has been actively nurturing employees to master key expertise and professional qualifications related to these three areas, keeping abreast of market dynamics and offering enhanced services to customers to create win-win deals.

This year is NCBs fifth consecutive year of winning the award of Employer of Choice. Ms. Laura Law, Principal Human Resources Manager, expressed great delight and was thankful to the support and recognition of the panel judges. NCB prioritizes employee training and development, compensation, benefits and rewards, as well as corporate social responsibilities initiatives. We continuously optimize employee welfare and foster People-Oriented core value.

Laura continued that NCB has been investing in employee benefits such as improving group medical insurance policies and retirement schemes. It also provides various training opportunities to employees, encouraging them to upskill professional knowledge and expertise to advance and grow with NCB. We regard employees as the most valuable asset and align with the banks mission of providing quality services to customers and offering career development opportunities for employees.

Dynamic Measures to Uplift Sense of Belonging
Speaking of enhancement of sense of belonging in employees, NCB has undertaken diversified measures to promote interactions and collaboration among colleagues. For instance, in 2023, NCB has allotted additional resources for each department to organize team-building activities to strengthen understanding of the banks core value in an interesting way and inspire employees to create more values and contributions.

In addition, NCB organizes diverse types of recreational activities every year which range from hiking, fencing, yoga, wine-tasting to handicrafts, to allow employees to enjoy relaxed moments out of their busy work schedules. The bank also hosts Annual Employee Recognition Ceremony to present honorary awards such as NCB Star, Outstanding Volunteer Award and 30th Anniversary Long Service Award to outstanding performers as tokens of recognitions in order to stimulate employee morale and sense of belonging.

Notably, NCB recommended employees to participate in typical industry competitions and provided appropriate coaching throughout the competition. This not only did train up business sense and expertise of the delegate employees, but also strengthened their sense of belonging to the bank.

Continual Enhancement of Professional Standards
Speaking of employee training, Mr. Brian Cheng, Head of Training and Development Division, reckoned that in view of future development of financial industry, training is critical to business transformation. It can be reflected in the following three aspects:

First, training helps employees to continuously improve professional expertise and master required skillsets. Banking industry emphasizes employees professional capabilities. NCB arranges every colleague to participate in a variety of business-related professional courses, compliance training and CPD/CPT classes. In addition, the bank encourages colleagues to attain different ECF professional qualifications and courses recognized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to master market-recognized professional expertise and skillsets.

Three Hot Areas in Focus
Second, training reinforces employees understanding of latest development trends and keeping up with the times. Currently, Hong Kong banking industry focuses on three popular development areas which are: cross-border business in Greater Bay Area, financial technology and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Every year, NCB hosts a series of themed training taught by instructors from business schools, Big-Four accounting firms, Hong Kong Institute of Banks and other professional institutes. With these modules, employees can quickly grasp the market pulses, keep abreast of the dynamics and offer value-added services to customers.

Thirdly, training enhances employee engagement and builds teamwork spirit. NCB provides employees sufficient training subsidies and incentives, in addition to recommending them for external professional competitions.

Brian concluded, Going forward, we will strive to foster People-Oriented core value and create an excellent workplace for employees to grow with NCB !