L-R: Kennedy Uzoka, GMD/CEO, UBA Plc; his wife, Lotanna Uzoka; Tony Elumelu, chairman, UBA Plc, and his wife, Awele Elumelu, CEO, Avon Medical Services Limited, at the 2018 UBA CEO Award in Lagos, recently.
In the book ‘Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care’, Sybil F. Stershic, a past chairman of the American Marketing Association (AMA), says, “The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.”
Anne M. Mulcahy, former chairperson and CEO of Xerox Corporation, corroborates Stershic when she says, “Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.”
It is with the understanding that a robust employee reward system leads to more productive, more satisfied, and more fulfilled staff which, invariably, impacts customer satisfaction that United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, the pan-African financial institution, in 2008 set up the UBA CEO Award.
The annual CEO Award aims to recognise, celebrate and reward the bank’s staff who had worked hard to ensure that the company remains a leading financial institution on the continent in the past year.
Tony Elumelu, chairman, UBA Plc, said this much at this year’s event which held at the upscale Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos.
“It is a time to reward dignity, hard work, and excellence in execution, and to show our multitude of staff globally that they are very much appreciated for their contributions,” Elumelu said at the event.
Thanks to the commitment and dedication of UBA Plc staff, the financial institution has recorded many notable achievements in the past year. Apart from the recent listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s Premium Board, UBA Plc, which prides itself as Africa’s global bank, in January became the first bank in Africa to embrace Artificial Intelligence in serving its customers when it unveiled Leo, a chat banking personality that enables the bank’s customers to make use of their social media accounts to carry out key banking transactions.
Now in its 10th year, the annual award has continued to recognise and reward outstanding staff while at the same time promoting the bank’s core values of Enterprise, Excellence and Execution.
“Every year, it is our tradition to appreciate our people who have put in their very best and gone far and beyond the call of duty to deliver excellent services to the bank and the customers by extension,” Kennedy Uzoka, group managing director/chief executive officer, UBA Plc, said at the event.
“What we are doing tonight is to tell the world that these ladies and gentlemen, who are from all our geographies of operation, have done so well and contributed immensely to what this bank has achieved in the past year,” he said.
As a testament of its commitment to the good of its employees, Uzoka said UBA Plc has in the last 12 months promoted about 47 percent of its staff, at a time many organisations were shedding weight.
Amongst staff who were given awards in various categories for their exceptional activities aimed at improving the bank’s fortunes and creating great experiences for customers include Emeke Iweriebor, executive director, UBA Plc; Sarata Kone, MD/CEO, UBA Cote d’Ivoire; Muyiwa Akinyemi, head, corporate banking, and Jerome Obada, head, IT Global Enterprise Applications, UBA Plc.
Uzoka congratulated the award recipients, urging them as well as other staff to continue to work hard and do more to justify the confidence reposed in them.
“We know that when you have been rewarded, you will be motivated to do more, so I encourage you all to put in your best and remain focused on satisfying the customers, which is the reason why we are here,” he said.
UBA Plc has footprint in 20 African countries and in London, Paris and New York, making for a culturally-diverse customer base. The theme of this year’s unique edition, ‘Celebrating Africa’, was, therefore, carefully chosen to celebrate Africa as well as UBA’s rich history and diversity.
The event was well attended by prominent personalities, including Aliko Dangote, president, Dangote Group; Femi Otedola, chairman, Forte Oil; Nike Akande, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), and Femi Gbajabiamila, majority leader, House of Representatives.
Others were Bismarck Rewane, MD/CEO, Financial Derivatives Company; Niyi Adebayo, former governor of Ekiti State; Wale Edun, former commissioner of finance, Lagos State; Dele Momodu, publisher, Ovation Magazine, as well as some Nollywood stars.
CHUKS OLUIGBO
