Notes To Financial Statements - Jamaica National

Chairman’s Reportcomputerised manual operations to improve efficiencies andreduce overtime in our branches and offices. The changeseffected, to date, have resulted in better “turn-around-time,”particularly in the banking hall of our branches.Also important to the development of our employees was thereorganisation of the Group Human Resources DevelopmentDepartment, with the appointment of an Executive and aSenior Industrial Relations Manager.Members’ BenefitsJamaica National continues to identify new ways in whichmembers can gain from their association with the BuildingSociety, through specially targeted benefits such as freeutility bill payment services at all our locations, includingJN Money Shop Xpress. In addition, members can accessseveral “no cost” services, including: free ATM transactionsat any Multilink location; free Point-of-Sale transactions;free Money Transfer Card to collect remittances; and freeInternet banking at LIVE by JN.We encourage members to visit the “JN Rewards Page”on our website at www.jnbs.com to learn more about allthe benefits they can enjoy by showing their JN Teller 24/7ATM Card when they shop at any of the more than 200participating merchants across the island.Our quarterly Members’ Meetings, held from October toNovember 2008, continue to provide a forum in whichmembers can meet with managers and executives, andreceive timely updates about their Society’s activities, theenhancement of products, new services and special memberbenefits. These meetings also offer a context in whichthey can get answers to their own questions, and makesuggestions about the direction of the organisation and itssubsidiaries. The following series of quarterly meetings wereheld between June and July 2009.All members are encouraged to take an active interest in theoverall management and operation of the Society; and tonote that their membership makes them eligible to vote forthe re-election of Directors and the passage of resolutionsproposed at the Annual General Meeting to beheld at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston, onTuesday, September 22, 2009.The Customer Service Survey, conducted by pollster, BillJohnson, in September 2008, indicated that members andcustomers rated the treatment and care provided by theSociety at 97 percent, one percent higher than the previousyear; and the overall Customer Satisfaction Index rose bytwo points from 84 to 86 percent. In addition, membersand customers gave high ratings for the feel and look of ourlocations, how they were treated, as well as, the accuracy oftheir transactions; and 97 percent of our members said theywould recommend JNBS to a friend or relative.Financial Planning MeetingsConsistent with its leadership role, during the year, theSociety stepped up its drive to assist members and citizensin the wider community to improve their financial literacyand take better advantage of current savings and investmentopportunities. In that regard, executives and managers ofthe JN Group spearheaded a series of Financial PlanningMeetings across the island, in Montego Bay, Mandeville,Ocho Rios and Kingston. In addition, a small team ofmanagers continues to meet with church groups and civicorganisations, as well as companies that are restructuring.At another level, Jamaica National supported a high schoolFinancial Literacy programme to teach young Jamaicans,ages 14-18, about savings. This initiative was spearheadedby the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communications atThe University of the West Indies and was supported by theSociety’s School Savers’ Programme. There are, currently,some 785 schools participating in the JN School Savers’Programme, which involves more than 103,000 students,with total savings of $220.7 million.Corporate Social ResponsibilityJamaica National demonstrated its appreciation andunderstanding of the development needs in our country,by addressing some of those concerns through its on-goingprogramme of Corporate Social Responsibility, whichengages our members overseas; and reaches into localrural and inner-city communities to change the lives of ourpeople.The organisation teamed with the Victoria Mutual BuildingSociety to establish a joint venture, the Mutual BuildingSocieties Foundation, in February 2008. The objectiveswere to assist non-traditional or upgraded rural highschools to become Centres of Excellence, and to providetechnical assistance and financial resources to improvestudent performance, teacher quality, and the administrativeefficiencies of schools, in full support of the strategicobjectives of the Ministry of Education.McGrath and Mile Gully High are the first schools toparticipate in the programme; and we have already seenpositive indicators in terms of improved facilities, accessto new technologies and higher levels of academicachievement from students. Four additional high schools:Porus High in Manchester, Seaforth High in St. Thomas,Green Pond High in St. James and Godfrey Stewart High inWestmoreland were added in 2009.Another significant area of achievement has been in thework of the Jamaica National Building Society Foundation,which restructured its operation, re-branded its projects,and renewed its drive to foster rural regeneration throughpartnership building, networking and the development ofnew projects. The Foundation is committed to “innovating,inspiring, impacting… and Leading with Action…to changethe physical, psychological and spiritual lives of Jamaicansat home and in the Diaspora.”In the past year, the community resource centre, TheSource, which was developed by the Society and originallylaunched in August Town, was replicated in Maverly asThe Source JAA, the Breds Source in Treasure Beach,23