KUWAIT: Seeking to improving employee engagement, and to foster a positive organizational culture and workplace environment, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) held its third bank-wide Employee Engagement Survey called “Your Voice Matters 2023”, where employees had the chance to provide their feedback about work environment at the bank.

The survey was first launched in 2018 for NBK Kuwait only, then the second survey in 2021 was expanded to include all international locations, furthering it this year to Group level by including employees in NBK Wealth Management, for the first time. NBK has partnered with a third-party organization “Willis Towers Watson” to ensure utmost confidentiality and give employees the freedom to express their opinions.

The aim of the survey is to measure employee engagement and satisfaction, and highlight NBK’s key strengths and areas to improve, which helps make NBK a better workplace, and increase employee satisfaction and retention. It covers 21 main categories, with this year featuring two additional aspects namely ‘Employee Wellbeing’, Diversity & Inclusion’.

The survey that ran for 3 weeks in 4 languages attained a remarkable response rate at 86 percent, significantly higher than the global average response rate, showing high levels of pride and commitment to NBK as a great organization to work for, with the number of participants reaching 5,200 employees. It also achieved a high ‘Sustainable Engagement’ score of 84 percent for NBK Group, ahead of the global average rate for financial institutions, with main strengths being Learning & Development, Image and Reputation, and Employee Well-Being.

Other key highlights of the survey included 93 percent of employees expressing their pride to be associated with NBK, 96 percent stating they work beyond what is required to help it succeed, and 86 percent seeing that their work gives them a sense of personal accomplishment. In addition, 92 percent of employees said they fully support the values for which the Bank stands, and 84 percent believe strongly its goals and objectives.

On this occasion, Emad Al-Ablani, Head of Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait said, “Your Voice Matters survey is a great opportunity for our employees to play an active role in shaping the future of the work environment at NBK.” “Our role is to listen to the opinions of our employees and work with them to improve the work environment in the bank, reflecting our belief that every voice in NBK really matters and contributes to change,” he noted.

“The survey results are shared directly with the executive management, and we have started working on implementing the received feedback by a specialized team formed from different departments that works carefully to address the issues and suggestions raised in the survey,” he explained. “This initiative reflects NBK’s unwavering dedication to enhancing the work environment, by evaluating employees’ opinions, interests and experiences, and taking decisions and actions accordingly,” he added.

It is worth mention that NBK has taken many actions in response to employees’ feedback received in the previous surveys; mainly including entitling female employees to tickets payout for their spouse and children, allowing flexible working hours, enabling employees to benefit from annual leave balance in advance, and outsourcing the management of NBK Clinic to ensure high-quality healthcare services.

Regarding its human capital as the most valuable asset and an instrumental element for success and growth, NBK strives to attract and nurture high-caliber talent, and to create a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace. It always focuses on employees’ physical, mental, and financial well-being to thrive at work. As the leading organization in the banking sector, NBK stands out as the employer of choice for Kuwaiti talent, leading the entire private sector in terms of national labor ratio, while also enjoying the highest retention rates of Kuwaiti employees.