Case study: How Housing Bank promotes employee development
Housing Bank was established in 1973 as a Jordanian Limited Share Company and is currently at the forefront of the Jordanian banking sector, with 129 branches throughout the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 15 branches in Palestine and one branch in Bahrain. Housing Bank believes that investing in training is a requisite for the development of its employees’ capabilities and skills Tweet This!, in order to enable them to perform their work with a high level of technological expertise and professionalism.
This case study is based on the 2018 Sustainability Report by Housing Bank published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Housing Bank has concentrated on developing the capabilities of its workforce at all administrative levels and in all departments and branches, adding a new strategic depth to its resources and human capital. In order to promote employee development Housing Bank took action to:
- provide theoretical and practical training opportunities
- establish a training and development centre
- launch the “Tamkeen” platform for electronic training
Subscribe for free and read the rest of this case study
Please subscribe to the SustainCase Newsletter to keep up to date with the latest sustainability news and gain access to over 2000 case studies. These case studies demonstrate how companies are dealing responsibly with their most important impacts, building trust with their stakeholders (Identify > Measure > Manage > Change).
With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Housing Bank has identified;
- How Housing Bank proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Housing Bank to promote employee development
Already Subscribed? Type your email below and click submit
What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2018 Sustainability Report Housing Bank identified a range of material issues, such as financial performance, governance, ethics and compliance, customer experience and satisfaction, combatting financial crimes. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Housing Bank.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Housing Bank engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics Housing Bank engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
Customers
| · Various communication channels · Regular questionnaires and surveys · Receiving, analysing and addressing customer complaints |
Shareholders
| · Annual reports and sustainability reports · Bank website · Annual general assembly meeting · Bank rating by international rating agencies |
Employees
| · Community service and volunteering (Ataa Al Iskan team) · Annual employee satisfaction survey · Periodic interaction via phone calls, e-mails and meetings · Receiving and following up employee complaints · Annual performance evaluation · Training and development |
Government entities
| · Periodic reports submitted to government agencies · Laws and regulations · Supporting initiatives of interest at the national level |
Suppliers
| · Meetings · Contracts |
Society
| · Various media (audio, visual and written media) · Social Media · Annual reports and sustainability reports · Community initiatives · Supporting environmental and social activities |
What actions were taken by Housing Bank to promote employee development?
In its 2018 Sustainability Report Housing Bank reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:
- Providing theoretical and practical training opportunities
- Housing Bank provides theoretical and practical training opportunities to prepare employees and raise their professional performance levels, so as to qualify them to carry out various banking activities both inside and outside the Kingdom of Jordan. Training is offered in various fields of banking, financial, investment and administrative work, in addition to conferences, seminars, and specialised forums. The training programmes and courses resulted in approximately 24 training hours per employee on average during 2018, with a focus on the actual needs of Housing Bank and its employees. Additionally, in 2017 and 2018, Housing Bank provided training courses to raise awareness of the environment and social issues, such as the annual Social Responsibility Conference, the design and installation of solar energy systems and renewable energy alternatives, as well as dispatching a number of employees to attend the Fifth Renewable Energy Investment Forum. In 2018, Housing Bank also enhanced the culture of learning by continuing to annually send a number of employees to obtain academic and professional certificates from leading national and international institutes, universities and training centres.
- Establishing a training and development centre
- Initially, when Housing Bank was first founded, employee training used to be outsourced to external training centres inside and outside of Jordan. However, as the number of employees, branches, and business operations grew, a specialised training department was established in 1980 to serve as a centralised internal training centre for Housing Housing Bank’s training centre supervises the management and organisation of several training courses and seminars inside and outside of the Kingdom of Jordan, which address various aspects of banking, administrative, and financial work. As a result of Housing Bank’s success in the field of training, some local and Arab institutions have dispatched their employees to join the training courses held by Housing Bank’s training centre, thus developing remarkable relationships between training centres in the Arab World. Over the course of its interactions and cooperations with Jordanian scientific institutions, Housing Bank also hosted a large number of university and college students in order to familiarise them with its activities and train them on its various on-site workings.
- Launching the “Tamkeen” platform for electronic training
- In a move to enhance performance efficiency and achieve high levels of productivity, Housing Bank launched the “Tamkeen” platform for electronic training and qualification of its employees, in cooperation with Salalim, a leading company in electronic training and learning. The “Tamkeen” platform enables employees at all functional levels to participate in specialised training courses held by the platform and to electronically obtain certificates after passing the required tests. Tamkeen seeks to provide regular and continuous training to employees, with the aim of refining their basic banking skills and knowledge and enabling them to operate banking mechanisms and specialised concepts, including but not limited to: compliance, anti-money laundering and information security, as well as creating an institutional environment and culture conducive to education and skill acquisition. Tamkeen’s learning programmes can be accessed by employees anytime, anywhere, which allows for increased efficiency in the learning process and causes minimum disruption to Housing Bank’s processes in all divisions and departments. The “Tamkeen” platform also offers bonuses and rewards to employees for outstanding performance throughout, as a positive incentive for further training and development.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee
2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
- Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.1
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.2, 8.5
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Targets: 10.3
Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.2, 8.5
78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards
SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.
Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.
7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started
Any size business can start taking sustainability action
GRI, IEMA, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom (venue: London School of Economics)
- Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
- Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
- Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP.
- Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement
See upcoming training dates.
References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Housing Bank, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
Note to Housing Bank: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.