Business & Money | Thursday 27 August, 2015 3:00 pm |

RAKBANK celebrated today the many achievements of its female Emirati staff across all its branches and business functions ahead of Emirati Women’s Day on August 28. Earlier this year, August 28 was declared Emirati Women’s Day to mark the creation of the General Women’s Union (GWU) in 1975, and is considered a chance to celebrate Emirati women’s achievements since the group was founded.

 

Recognizing that a successful business must be run by a team of both men and women, RAKBANK promotes an inclusive environment whereby employees of both genders have equal opportunities to achieve personal success and contribute to the growth of the business. In fact, 48% of the Bank’s employees are women, of which 60% are Emirati women.

 

According to Enas Hassan, District Branch Manager at RAKBANK, “the perception of women’s roles in finance has been moving away from the notion that finance is a male-dominated industry due in part to the strong support from the Central Bank and other authorities.” According to a poll by YouGov commissioned by RAKBANK in December 2014, 12% of Emirati woman choose banking as their dream job.

 

“Personally, I feel that we as women have a responsibility to support other women in the workforce by taking the time to train and mentor them and by highlighting gender diversity as an asset and a requirement for a more dynamic team culture,” added Enas.  

 

Aysha Al Ali, a RAKBANK Phone Banking Manager based in Ras al Khaimah, leads a team of 108 female Emirati phone bankers in the Bank’s headquarters in Ras al Khaimah. Over 60% of her team members are part-timers who take advantage of flexible working hours. The team handles 40% of the call volumes for RAKBANK and is an integral part of the service infrastructure.

 

According to Aysha Al Ali, Phone Banking Manager at RAKBANK, “the key element to our success is to choose the right employee for each task, work hard to meet and exceed customer expectations, and make the work environment pleasant to all. With this attitude and work ethic, we’ve managed to set an example of successful teamwork at the Bank.”

 

This year, RAKBANK nominated both Enas Hassan and Aysha Yousef Al Ali for the 2015 Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS) Leadership Development Program at Darden Business School in Virginia, USA. The program was held over the course of three weeks and enables the participants to broaden their perception of bank management, improve their ability to take decisions and think strategically.

 

In addition, the Bank sponsored Ameera Mohammed Al Haranki, a national student from Ras Al Khaimah, to take part in the ‘2041 International Antarctic Expedition 2015’ (IAE 2015) as part of the Bank’s CSR initiatives. The life-changing expedition consisted of a two-week journey in the island continent involving team-building exercises, talks on climate change and global warming. The delegation of young environmental leaders learned how they can prevent global warming in their respective regions and how they can better incorporate these strategies into their work environments and communities.