Great Place To Work

A Great Place To Work

A Great Place To Work

There's no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.

- Richard Branson

In 2018, Arinola; a widow with three children was left homeless following the demolition of her home in Patey Street, Lagos. With no source of income and no loved ones to shelter with, Arinola resorted to living on the pavement opposite Sterling Towers in Marina.

success of his organisation, and while a lot of people anticipated a religious answer typical of the clergy, he simply replied saying “People, People, People”.

A great organisation is built by competent people delivering excellence consistently, and no matter how extraordinary the system is or how compact its strategy is, people are at the centre of its aspirations. It is this consciousness that resonates in how we treat our people.

In no time, Arinola had gained the attention of the kind people at the Towers, who started to ask the important question: “How can we improve the lives of Arinola and her children?”

We rallied round and raised enough money and resources to find a home for Arinola and her family, send the children back to school and empower Arinola with the necessary skills to continue to take care of her family.

People are at the centre of Sterling's strategy — we seek to build our leadership from within and engage our community to achieve our vision of being the financial institution of choice.

This is a common story of empathy and at Sterling, it is a culture. We are constantly trying to find ways to enrich lives and build a better community.

One of our long-term metrics for achieving our goal is to build a great place to work. We are deliberate about putting our people first; in turn, they put our customers and our community first. Whether its rallying round to provide succour for a grieving widow or coming together to build one of the most innovative brands in Nigeria, our people believe that we can do anything as one.

From Lagos to Abuja, from the streets of Suleja to the creeks of Asaba, our people are constantly showing the power of togetherness in impacting lives in their communities.

A famous clergyman was once asked the reason for the

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A Great Place To Work

Overall 3rd Best Place To Work In Nigeria/africa

Winner, Financial Services Category

2019 HR Optimisation Awards (CIPM)

Best Practice For The Support Of The Millennial Generation For Large Corporate Organisations

2019 HR Best Practice Awards (CIPM)

Best Practice In Leadership Practices For Large Corporate Organisations

Jobberman Best 100 Companies To Work For In Nigeria 2019

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A Place We Call Home

A home is a safe space, physically and mentally. At Sterling, we have built this concept into the workplace. Although our team is diverse, our people all feel happy to work and can collaborate. There are rules to protect everyone and systems which uphold that protection. Everyone is heard, everyone is seen, and everyone is safe.

One of the most rewarding experiences for us is watching our women grow. The society is designed in a way that creates barriers for women in the workplace. We vowed in 2018, we would do all we can to reduce maternal mortality in our workforce. At Sterling, we join our women on their pregnancy journey, providing the necessary support as much as we can.

Their babies are "our babies”. The trauma of losing some of them has driven us to building systems to prevent this in the future.

Bankers are mostly stressed and rightly so. Our customers trust us to keep their hard-earned money safe. Safeguarding money is after all one of the most mentally challenging tasks anyone can undertake. Imagine not being able to give your customers back their money because of some mistake or miscommunication somewhere. One particularly hectic Thursday in 2019, *Malik, one of our service managers collapsed at his desk. Anyone knows that the recipe for managing stress is rest and a good support system. We immediately put Malik on the flexi-work plan.

We provide mandatory online and onsite ante natal classes, 60 days of maternity leave plus an additional 20-25 days of annual leave, allowing mothers be with their new-borns for longer.

We also believe men must be involved, so we create time for them to support their wives and enjoy these precious moments with their families. This is why we have also instituted paternity leave. When they are all back and well, the onsite clinic and creche are available for parents till their children are 18 months old.

Our flexi-work plan is designed to allow our people choose their work hours or work remotely.

This means a person can commute when there is little traffic, be home to spend time with those they love or explore other interests. Lagos is stressful, traffic is unbearable and therefore every little bit of rest helps—it helped Malik. His story is unfortunately common in our industry and we want to change that narrative. Therefore, we’ve created a wellness plan for our people as a preventive measure. A wellness plan is separate from the health insurance; we advocate for both preventive and curative medicine. Every year, employees are given a day off, outside of their leave days, for a mandatory health check courtesy of Sterling. This check ascertains their health status for efficiency at their jobs.

We want our people to feel safe enough to report wrongdoing in the workplace. Our whistleblowing system ensures that our people can raise concerns regarding undesirable workplace situations through channels that enable even the lowestranked employees make reports directly to senior management including our Managing Director, Executive Directors and our Chief Human Resources Officer. When *Hamza, a funds transfer officer in one of our branches, found out that the Service Manager was carrying out fraudulent transactions, the system allowed him to report directly to senior management.

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A Place We Call Home

An investigation was carried out and the culprit was arrested.

Hamza’s identity was protected throughout the process, and the system helped him relocate safely. Our system is trustbased and we pride ourselves in the fact that our employees trust us. We also ensure protection against harassment and bullying in the workplace through a quarterly campaign tagged #OurCultureMatters, which sensitises employees on how to behave in the workplace. Defaulters are sanctioned, irrespective of rank or performance.

reminds us of our culture of togetherness; these are our ethics and the bond that holds our community together.

Our Behavioral Codes

BLOW THE WHISTLE

*Cynthia was constantly harassed by her line supervisor who made unsolicited advances towards her, making the work environment uncomfortable for her. All it took was one email to our Human Capital team to remove the line supervisor and show the organisation that we are completely intolerant of any form of harassment. Women have been disadvantaged for long in the workplace because of the culture of silence.

Our Employee Assistance Program helps our employee with the necessary support for their health, they always have a helping hand whenever they are going through emotional stress.

The only barrier to success is one’s mind. We believe in the equality of opportunity and encourage our people to dream and dare to be more.

*Ella originally started in the bank as a Front Office Assistant at one of our branches. From that role, she saved enough money to complete her degree program. Soon after, she applied to our graduate trainee programme. She practiced and prepared for the various tests and interviews with the support of her team at the branch. Her handwork paid off—she was accepted. It shows how entrenched the Possibility Mentality is in our culture from top to bottom.

Our employee behavioural codes remind us of our responsibility towards the bank and towards each other. It A Great Place To Work

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Infect others with your thirst for excellence

Leave a long lasting positive impression

Treat others with dignity

Avoid conflict of interest. Follow the policy

Be adaptive. Collaborate and share ideas

Listen carefully when others speak

Do what is best for Sterling. Always

Own your mistakes. Learn from them

Step out and understand other’s view

Demonstrate personal accountability

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Paying Your Worth

Among other things we are most proud of as an organisation is our ability to reward our people for the excellent job they do for us as an organisation.

Our remuneration program is one of the most attractive in the industry and it contributed to us winning the Jobberman award as one of the best companies to work for in Nigeria according to Jobberman, a leading career platform in Nigeria.

*Tobi was offered a position as a Customer Service Personnel in one of our Abuja branches. The offer came with a handsome relocation allowance, which allowed him to settle into his new role quickly. He also benefitted from our flex pay model. Flex Pay gives all our people the option of choosing a flexible remuneration plan. Our employees can choose to receive an advance on their salaries, so they can cover urgent expenses.

They don’t have to bother about saving for rent and children’s school fees at the start of the year; the lump payment is made right at the start of the school year. So, despite a previously detty December, our people can start the year with enough funds to fulfil all their financial obligations. This gives new meaning to financial security, as the flex-pay model caters for different financial plans and responsibilities.

Our commitment to putting our employees first also resulted in an average 12% salary increase across all grade levels in 2019, a show of our determination to provide the best for our people.

Also, when the lockdown became imminent in Lagos and Abuja, we paid our employees five days earlier than the usual payday to cushion the effect of the lockdown on their families. When you put your employees first, they will put you first also—it’s that simple.

Our other novel initiative is the Sterling Share Ownership Initiative which allows employees to become co-owners of the bank by allotting shares to every employee irrespective of grade or tenure, as part of their monthly emoluments.

*Muhammed has been acquiring shares since he joined the bank as a graduate trainee in 2014. Six years later, he is more than just an employee but a co-owner. At Sterling, we think beyond the present, we secure the future of our people who are now more motivated in their work and like Muhammed, a lot of our people are secure for life.

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Developing Your Potential

We’re constantly adapting to the demands of the new generation of the labour market, thus becoming more attractive to a lot of young professionals in various fields.

Our recently launched Reverse Mentoring initiative reenforces our belief in the zest and knowledge that the younger generation bring to the bank and creates an avenue for our seniors to learn from their younger colleagues.

Younger colleagues also have the opportunity to glean and learn from the experience of the seniors.

Our success story is the story of our people and our total rewards philosophy goes beyond tangible rewards. We embrace an integrated rewards strategy that focuses on the right remuneration, benefits and career development as well as progression opportunities at the right time for our employees’ personal and professional aspirations.

Asides adequate remuneration, we also believe in human capital development. We recognise that there is no end to self-development and as an organisation which prides itself on constant learning and growth, we believe that our people need to always learn, not just to be better at their jobs, but also be better for their society. *Richard joined Sterling as a graduate of Psychology but has successfully worked as a credit risk analyst for the past two years.

To develop himself further, following the multiple training sessions he went through on the job, Richard is now set to earn a Master’s degree in Credit Risk by the end of 2020, courtesy of the Sterling Bursary Scheme, an educational grant to our employees to pursue a local or international master’s or PhD degree at the bank's expense, either through a full-time, part-time or online program.

Since its launch in 2019, more than 250 employees have benefitted from the scheme, a testament to how much our people trust us with their future and career development.

Our biweekly knowledge sharing session, popularly known as KSS, ensures knowledge dissemination and information across the organisation, where employees can ask questions and learn about new initiatives, products and process improvement.

In strengthening our leadership bench and grooming leaders for the future, the Sterling Leadership Series was created to bridge idea gaps between senior and middle management.

The biannual forum allows our leaders to explore synergy in networking and learn invaluable insights from seasoned professionals across Africa. For our younger hires, our Sterling Mentorship Program provides support and guidance to settle into the organisation.

For *Ebere, who is a data analyst and often referred to as 'geeky', a bank was the last choice for her because of her work style and personality. But since she came on board, she has found a tribe with other programmers, who are well adjusted in the bank and have helped her settle in.

A Great Place To Work

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Fostering a Culture of Excellence

At Sterling, building a great place to work is more than just paying our people right and developing potential, it is about creating a culture that nurtures innovation and creativity. In building a great organisation, we have also paid special attention to creating a gender-balanced organisation with a focus on merit, competence and equality. Our Bloom Network was launched to drive inclusion and diversity in the workplace as it explores discussions relating to identity and development.

Since that time, they have both risen four grade levels up for their exemplary performance and as a reward for their contribution to the growth of the bank.

They are among more than 50 employees who have been a part of our accelerated program for our high-performing employees called Sterling Graduate Assistant Program (SGAP) and Sterling Management Assistant Program (SMAP). The programmes are structured over a two year period and employees are rotated across various departments, so they can learn and make valuable contributions to those teams.

We are a gender-balanced organisation, having 53:47 male-female ratio with equal pay across all grades.

Besides, our culture is about change and growth and as Gail Sheehy, a renowned journalist puts it, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow and if we don’t grow, we aren’t living.” We believe change is a journey and it is this journey that has created our agile culture which is shown in our efficiency and our adaptability. It is why the bank was recognized in 2018 as the Most Agile company in Africa.

It is shown in our ability to successfully operate flexible work models — even before the pandemic including Flexi-Time (where employees can choose their preferred opening and closing time), Flexi-Place (where employees can choose where to work (onsite/offsite) and shift patterns in our branches across the country.

The Sterling culture is also about rewarding excellence. *Chinwe, *Funmi and *Bash joined the organisation as graduate trainees seven years ago and have stood out among their peers in the bank.

69%

64%

63%

36%

Core Business Processes Flexi

A Great Place To Work

Remote

31%

Operating Units

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37%

Sterling Enabling Processes

Flexi Work Coverage YTD 2020

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Fostering a Culture of Excellence

Our culture is regarded by many both within and outside the organisation as dynamic and defying traditional barriers; it is why we are rated as one of the top destinations for young talents in the country.

As a reward, they get fast-track promotion and required training to keep improving the organisation. The reward for hard work is even more meaningful work and more responsibility as we hope to raise the next generation of leaders from the brightest within Sterling.

The introduction of the Exceptional Achievers’ Reward System at individual and team levels further reflects our dedication at making innovation a part of our DNA.

1% 27%

72%

Pre-Independence Generation Militiary Era Generation Democracy Era Generation

Sterling Generational Mix

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Employer of Choice

Our culture of openness and transparency ensures that the traditional gap between levels of management is completely abolished in the bank. Our culture of referring to one another by first names enables employees, irrespective of levels, to communicate freely. This creates a transparent work environment.

Our senior management operate an open-door policy which encourages innovation and promotes creativity among employees. *Dozie has worked in one of our branches for five years. He observed some gaps in our processes and had an idea for bridging those gaps. He was able to reach out to one of our Executive Directors and his idea was implemented. To achieve consistent growth, we would never sever our communication lines because as in every relationship, communication is king.

Let’s Talk With Abu - now online, reinforces our belief in communication. It is a quarterly town hall meeting with our Managing Director, Abubakar Suleiman, in different locations across the country where our people can communicate effectively without fear of backlash or repercussion—of course, everyone calls our Managing Director Abu, irrespective of grade.

As a forward-thinking organisation, we are aware of the constant changes around the workplace and are fully positioned for the future of work as we continue to focus on developing and hiring people with the skills that will help us accelerate the digital transformation of our organisation, as well as to adapt more quickly to the changing needs of our customers and stakeholders.

One of such adaptations is what birthed Hamza, our digital HR chatbot and our Human Resources Information System popularly called HCHub, which help us strike the right balance between the use of technology and a more humancentred approach, especially on our digital transformation journey.

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More Than a Bank Employee

We lost a talent in 2016 and it was devastating for the family as they were unprepared. In Nigeria, the death of a family member is one of the ways people are plunged into poverty especially with no insurance or will. Our free Simple Will Service allows our employees to prevent this from happening as it helps them protect their families. They work too hard for their families to suffer after they are gone.

An entrepreneurial mindset is necessary for building a sustainable organisation.

Wealth is also created by multiple sources of income, whether it is a side hustle or investments in interest-bearing assets. Our Sterling Stars initiative was birthed to support wealth creation for our employees by supporting their business ideas. The next Dangote could be in our midst and all they need is an extra push, a little understanding or even a confidence boost.

We therefore encourage our employees to be entrepreneurs and fund some of the most viable businesses through an annual competition where the best business idea receives $10,000 while first and second runners-up receive $5,000 and $2,500 respectively.

*Yinka nursed a business idea for more than two years, but funding was a great concern and even sitting down to write a business plan was herculean. But when the opportunity to compete came, Yinka finished her business plan and became one of the employees who benefitted from the initiative.

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Looking Forward: After All These Things

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We hope to continue to build a sustainable workforce which is engaged and equipped to deliver results sustainably. We are constantly recreating our people strategy to ensure effective leadership in the present, while building the leadership of the future through sustainable succession planning. Our ethos for learning is rooted in Alvin Toffler’s learn, unlearn, relearn, and this is one of the keys to achieving the great and sustainable workplace we desire.

Our learning and development intervention has since 2019 been able to train over 2,000 members of our workforce, while our specialized academies called iLearn trained more than 900 employees in six months since its launch.

We have come a long way with our people and one thing we would never do is make the mistake of being comfortable with the little success we have achieved in recent times. We still have a long way to go on this journey. Nonetheless, we will remain committed—to keeping our workforce happy, enabled and empowered. *****not their real names

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The Head Office Sterling Towers, 20 Marina, Lagos Island, Lagos.

017003270 www.sterling.ng Customer Care customercare@sterling.ng (+234) 07008220000 (070078375464) 014484481-5