Annual Report 2010 - ProCredit Bank

Organisation, Staff and Staff Development 29
A large proportion of the training provided to current
and potential middle managers takes place
outside Serbia at the international ProCredit Academies.
In 2010, five colleagues from ProCredit
Bank Serbia graduated from the ProCredit Regional
Academy for Eastern Europe in Veles, Macedonia,
while another 12 completed the first year
of their six-block course. Three of the bank’s staff
earned their “ProCredit Banker” diploma, marking
the successful completion of the highly intensive
three-year programme offered at the central
ProCredit Academy in Fürth, Germany.
The adoption of a new group-wide business
strategy in 2010, with its increased emphasis on
building long-term customer relationships, necessitated
various changes to the bank’s organisational
structure. At head office level, several
new departments were created to reflect the shift
from a product-based to a client-based approach.
For example, back-office credit operations were
centralised, and a new operations support
and development department now assists the
branches in providing service to new customers.
The internal organisation of the branches was
also revised, with separate front office areas
for business clients and private individuals, respectively.
In this context, various assessments
were undertaken to ensure that staff had the
requisite skills for their assignments within this
modified structure. For example, the Business
Client Advisers, who are responsible for advising
clients on all of the bank’s products and
services and for acquiring new customers, were
chosen for this new position on the strength of
their communication skills. At the same time,
experienced loan officers with the strongest analytical
expertise were given the opportunity to
focus on evaluating applications for credit services
submitted by comparatively large, complex
business clients. In all cases, intensive training
was given to reassigned staff to prepare them
for their new duties.
Given the bank’s focus on consolidation and
quality in 2010, recruitment of new personnel
took place on a much more limited scale than in
previous years. Nonetheless, 45 people joined
the bank in 2010, bringing the total at year-end
to 1,422 (including support staff and employees
on maternity leave or other long-term leave). In
line with the ProCredit group’s new recruitment
policy, all shortlisted applicants are now invited
to take a “maths and logic” test, which is set by
ProCredit Holding. Successful candidates then
take part in group discussions and role plays,
where among other things their interpersonal
skills are assessed, followed by individual indepth
interviews with senior staff of the bank.
Another innovation in the year under review was
the introduction in November of the ProCredit
Stipend Course, which is offered to candidates
who show potential but do not yet have the requisite
qualifications for a full-time position. This
six-month programme covers maths and basic
accounting as well as banking-specific subjects.
ProCredit Bank Serbia understands that the key
to providing high quality service lies in building a
team of motivated, professionally competent staff
who are jointly committed to the bank’s mission
and objectives, and who work well together on the
basis of mutual trust and respect. For this reason,
in addition to its substantial investment in training,
the bank also approves an activities budget on
a quarterly basis that managers can use for various
team-building initiatives with their staff, such
as sporting events, cultural outings, dining, etc.