Tokunbo Abiru, Skye Bank CEO, has charged the bank’s newly hired employees on the need to embrace integrity and professionalism as key ingredients for a successful banking career in the era of openness and internet of things.
Abiru gave this charge while speaking at the graduation ceremony of Skye Graduate Intensive Training, which held at the Skye Business School, Ibadan, Oyo State at the weekend.
Addressing the new staff who emerged through the bank’s popular “Skye Graduate Intensive Training”, the Skye bank Group Managing Director advised that their professionalism will ultimately impact positively the financial sector.
“In addition to exuding the qualities of the ideal Skye Persona, you must embrace the attitude of openness, demonstrate knowledge of the policies of the bank, respect constituted authorities; as well as treat the customers with utmost regard. Most importantly, you must set targets and goals for your selves at all times,” the CEO admonished.
Abiru, who was represented by Dr. Ayo Abina, Directorate Head, Southern Business, said the bank places a high premium on staff training and manpower development as a way of building an informed and competent work force to enable the employees excel in their assigned tasks.
“You have been trained to be professionals and leaders, who will make the difference in any area of the bank you are deployed to. You are undergoing today’s graduation not because we sought to do you a favour, but because you emerged successful from amongst thousands of Nigerians that sat for the same examination,” he emphasized.
The Skye Bank boss advised the newly inducted employees to continue to seek new knowledge in order to become knowledge based employees, charging them to commit their time in the bank to problem solving, rather than being willing wailers in the face of challenges.
Earlier, Skye Bank’s Head of Human Capital Management, Taiwo Olupeka, said the 53 graduands were the successful lot among the over 2,000 candidates who sat for the bank’s recruitment test.
Olupeka described them as the “best of the best” after a very rigorous and thorough exercise, charging them to do their best to make the bank the first and leading commercial bank in the country.
A Mathematics graduate from Anambra State University, Pamela Chikezie, was the best graduating student from stream 41, while a Banking and Finance graduate from Michael Okpara University, Umudike, Prince Emmanuel, was the best student from stream 42 after the nine weeks of intensive training.
The best graduating students said they were overwhelmed on hearing their names as the best students of their respective streams, particularly because of how keenly competitive and extremely intensive the training was.
Expressing gratitude to the bank, Emmanuel said: “I look forward to putting the same kind of effort that earned me the accolades during the nine weeks intensive training to my job.”
He thanked Skye Bank on behalf of the graduating students for the rare opportunity to work in the organisation.
The new employees are largely fresh higher institution graduates with diverse academic backgrounds.
Skye Bank is Nigeria’s leading retail bank with wide-ranging electronic solutions promoting consumer lifestyle and e-commerce experience for its customers.