KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Academy celebrated the graduation of the 24th batch, the 1st in 2021, of newly hired employees who successfully met admission criteria for this intensive course, specially designed for fresh Kuwaiti university graduates.

The graduation ceremony was attended by Salah Al-Fulaij, CEO of NBK - Kuwait, Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, Deputy CEO of NBK - Kuwait, Emad Al-Ablani, GM - Group Human Resources and Mohammed Al-Othman, GM- Consumer Banking Group, in addition to other executives from the bank, in line with all precautionary measures and social distancing to keep everyone safe.

The Academy's training program, which lasted for four months, hosted 13 participants and covered various areas of the banking business, such as banking principles, risk management, financial accounting, marketing, negotiation, consumer and commercial lending, as well as training on creativity, innovation and design thinking. Various blended learning interventions occurred through in person and virtual courses. Furthermore, their development continues through eLearning after the academy ends.

On this occasion, Najla Al-Sager, Head of Talent Management, Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait, said: "NBK Academy, launched 12 years ago, embodies the bank's strategy to recruit fresh graduate national talents, and aims to develop and enable them to work in the banking sector."

NBK has a firm belief in the importance of investing in its people by providing a unique environment in the areas of employee training and development, which contributes to enhance their skills and help them build a successful career path that supports sustaining the bank's growth in the future, she added. It is worth mentioning that the program content is regularly enhanced to keep pace with the latest international researches and studies related to the banking sector and administrative sciences.

The Academy reflects NBK's vision to support sustainable human capital development as one of its top strategic priorities and a shared responsibility between the various governmental institutions and the private sector. NBK Academy was inaugurated in 2008 with the aim to pave the way for new Kuwaiti graduates to join the banking services sector. The Academy provides graduates with the best training programs developed in cooperation with leading international institutions and universities to meet the demands of the labor market.