Barclays Bank Botswana Limited Managing Director, Wilfred Mpai, has revealed that 25 employees have taken a decision to exit the bank after having chosen between redeployment to other vacancies and exiting with a package.
Addressing journalists on Friday, Mpai said the bank had 186 vacant posts which needed to be filled and he further stated that 96 of the employees were initially going to be affected by the restructuring exercise, which started in August this year.
He further said 71 of the employees were redeployed to other positions in the bank.
“The Bank remains committed to minimizing loss of jobs through this exercise and will continue to engage and partner with the Union to create a conducive working environment for the benefit of our colleagues, customers and other stakeholders at Barclays Bank of Botswana, the customer is supreme and at the centre of everything we do. It is for this reason that we wish to assure our valued and loyal customers that we will ensure a smooth running of our operations at all times to meet their service expectations,” he said.
Mpai added that with the Barclays cluster of business, there is a solution to every customer problem imaginable. He said Barclays will continue to have a place in the hearts and minds of the customers and will strive to keep alive the promise to the community of customers. According to Mpai, the series of meetings helped the business to identify alternatives to termination of contracts of employment such as voluntary separation for those colleagues who, though not affected by automation, would want to separate with the business.
“We do not know anything about the strike as the union has not communicated with us on that issue and we are facing each other this coming Monday and I am not against the union,” said Mpai.
Barclays Human Resources Manager, Joy Marie Marebole, said that the restructuring exercise was brought about by a change in the bank operating model driven by automation initiatives. She further said the initiatives are aimed at making the organization more efficient and competitive and are aligned to our global strategy.
According to Marebole, alongside the initiatives, the bank conducted a structural re-alignment aimed at eliminating compression and possible duplications in our structures.
“Half of the 25 exiting employees are managers while the remaining are junior officers and, over and above that, there is no favouritism in Barclays Bank,” said Marebole.
According to Marebole, the bank’s ambition is to turn dreams into reality, provide lasting solutions to its customers and craft a shared goal across its network.