confidence - Investing In Africa

Management Discussions & AnalysisOperation Review (cont’d)The Bank installed a Proactive Risk Management System that scores all creditand debit card transactions online before approval. In case of suspicioustransactions, alerts are sent to the Fraud Monitoring Team, who then screensthe transactions before taking a final decision on whether or not to allow thetransaction. It is a state-of-the-art rules-based system, which in April 2005,enabled the bank to identify and crack down on a network of fraudsters whowere using counterfeit cards from the UK in Mauritius.In April 2005, all ATMs were upgraded in order to cater for multimediapossibilities. This enables high-resolution display of advertisements that areviewed by a large percentage of our customers 24/7/365.Human ResourcesThe Bank has always considered its people as its most valuable asset. In orderto maintain its leadership in a competitive market, much emphasis is laid ontraining and people development, thereby ensuring increased productivity.A quarterly and annual performance appraisal is carried out to identifystrengths and skills gaps of staff. Top performers are recognized for theircontributions and appropriate training programmes are provided throughvarious in-house programmes and external resources to address identifiedgaps. Training focuses on key areas such as leadership, product knowledge,customer service, work ethics and technical aspects.92The concept of contractual employment is being encouraged in order toreward staff more suitably in line with their yearly performance and moreimportantly to provide encouragement and motivation to continually enhancetheir skills and performance. Staff are rewarded based on achievement of theirKPI’s (Key Performance Indicators).All recruits are given an Induction Programme that covers a general overviewof the working of the Bank and training on the use of the Tools and Systems atthe Bank.All staff follow guidelines as defined in the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct ofthe Bank and adhere to the principles of good corporate governance.SBM Park, a combined leisure and learning centre, provides opportunities forstaff to participate in various sports, educational and cultural activities andfurther build the SBM team spirit.