Najla Al-Sager: NBK Academy aims to prepare highly qualified leaders across all banking disciplines

The Academy reflects NBK’s vision of fostering sustainable human capital as a key strategic objective

In line with its strategy to attract high-caliber national talent from Kuwaiti fresh university graduates and offer them suitable job opportunities, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) welcomed the 29th wave of newly hired employees to its annual NBK Academy program especially designed for developing Kuwaiti fresh graduates.

The Opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Mohamed Al-Othman, CEO - Consumer and Digital Banking Group at National Bank of Kuwait, Mr. Mohammad Al-Kharafi, COO - Head of Group Operations and Information Technology, Mr. Ahmed Bourisly, GM – Corporate Banking Group, along with a number of executive managers and officials from Talent Management Department.

The program will run for 7 months, from May to November 2024, during which the trainees will receive intensive training on technological, behavioral and other skills that allow them to build a thriving career at NBK.

It also covers various aspects of the banking business including key banking principles, risk management, financial accounting, marketing, negotiation, as well as training on creativity, innovation and design thinking, increasing productivity. Following that, the trainees will receive intensified training on branch work mechanism for 5 weeks before having on-site training at NBK branches for 1 month.

At the final part of the program, the trainees will be familiarized with all NBK groups and departments through on-site visits to gain better understanding of the banking sector.

The participants will also present new ideas to the heads of different departments through the “Innovation Challenge” program, which aims to stimulate trainees’ creativity and introducing innovative solutions for the various training aspects covered in the Academy.

NBK Academy boasts a long record of success for 16 years. The program was specially designed for Kuwaiti fresh university graduates who successfully meet the admission criteria. It also hosts internationally accredited trainers to enable employees acquire specialized banking skills.

Commenting on this, Najla Al-Sager, Head of Talent Management, Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait, said, “At NBK, we always seek to offer suitable job opportunities for Kuwaiti fresh graduates by attracting, developing and upskilling them to become and paving their way to start a thriving career based on solid foundations, thus creating added value to the banking sector in the future.”

“The Academy reflects NBK’s vision of fostering sustainable human capital as a key strategic objective and joint responsibility between the government’s different entities and the private sector,” she added.

“NBK Academy’s objective is to prepare highly skilled young Kuwait banking leaders in all the banking disciplines. This resonates with our ambitious plans to build a sustainable future, continuous elevation of service levels, and achieving steady business growth and expansion both locally and regionally,” she noted.

NBK Academy is an award-winning program which has received 3 awards from prestigious organizations over the past 3 years. The Academy was launched in 2008 with the aim of paving the way for Kuwaiti fresh university graduates to join the banking sector. It provides the trainees with the best-in-class training programs developed in cooperation with leading international institutions and universities to meet the demands of the labor market.