Review of the Internet Banking Platform in Abu Dhabi

According to Abu Dhabi 2013 report, Alhilalbank.ae is the website of a modern kind of banking that serves its customers from all around the world (‘The Report’, 2013). The bank has made use of a fresh outlook on the banking sector by establishing a modern and diverse system. This bank has made the use of technology to come up with new innovations that have left customers satisfied by the newer, quicker and easier methods of accessing bank services. One of these innovative ideas is the use of internet banking platforms. Through the internet, clients can enjoy all of the services of this bank from all around the world. Clients can use the internet banking platform to open accounts from any place. They can also access their money for withdrawal, to check balance and even calculate and take overdrafts from the bank through the internet. The bank has also introduced mobile banking, which is a service that customers can use to access banking services through their mobile phones without necessarily visiting the bank physically.

The rationale for the Choice of Company and Website

This bank was started in Abu Dhabi with only four branches. So far it has experienced extensive growth since it has opened up branches throughout the UAE and in the neighboring countries. Through mobile and internet banking services, it serves a large number of people across the globe. According to the company’s website, the bank credits its success and growth to its human resources. The best applicants who now work for Al Hilal Bank were handpicked during a rigorous recruitment process. The bank collected more than 10,000 applications from professionals, and it is from this pool that the recruiters picked only the best ones to work for the bank. These people brought in their talents, knowledge, skills, and experiences along with hard work to achieve the success that the bank now enjoys. The bank has stayed true to its mission of creating value for all its stakeholders ranging from investors and customers to employees. It has offered good returns to its investors. It has also created smarter, smoother, more exciting and much more convenient banking for its customers. It also offers a good working environment that is rewarding and fulfilling for its employees. This bank has also achieved its vision of maintaining consistency and setting new standards, which give new meaning to the experience of banking while taking into consideration Islamic laws. Moreover, this bank has a strong set of corporate values. It has emphasized integrity and honesty as the main principles of doing business. The bank also values respect from all its stakeholders, and, as a result, it has received a great deal of loyalty from all of them. The bank’s employees operate with responsibility, accountability, and principled consistency in their minds. The board of governance of this bank has managed to earn the trust of all the stakeholders, including employees, due to their good governance practices. This trust has been the fundamental ingredient of consistent performance and positive shareholder returns. This board has created a system that ensures that there is a good a balance between employee performance, positive business growth, and good returns for the investors, while still delivering the expected quality of service to customers, institutions, and other stakeholders. The employees at this bank are well-protected by the set code of ethics. For instance, the bank has earned stakeholders’ trust due to its strict adherence to ethical practices. Employees are comfortable working there since they are assured of security and that their interests are well-protected. All the bank’s reports are accurate and open to any stakeholder who wishes to read them and ask questions. This practice of allowing everyone accesses to the organization’s information is a positive step towards promoting trust and confidence in the stakeholders. The bank has dedicated itself to offering community service and taking a leadership role in the banking sector. Employees of this bank participate in the community service programs by giving back to society, including customers. The employees also sign a written agreement to adhere to and uphold the ethics of the bank. In this regard, they commit to having good work behavior, acting as representatives of the bank at work and even away from work, and also ensuring that any conflict among them is solved with the bank’s values as a priority. The bank has also established a system to report any unethical practices as soon as they are noticed in the workplace. Confidentiality is protected and the offender is given a fair trial. Employees are used to serving customers with dedication and protecting their confidential information. Employee motivation has been the key to ensuring that the productivity of the staff at Al Hilal Bank surpasses the performance of other banks in the region. Their high productivity has also put the bank among the best Islamic banks in the world. This business has embraced diversity by selecting its employees from a wide range of backgrounds. This diversity in terms of abilities, skills, experiences, and backgrounds has made the workplace rich and well-balanced. These employees are also encouraged to seek higher education to enhance their performance and to be well-rewarded. The bank also carries out training and development projects for its employees so as to empower them in all ways. The open information policy at the bank has created a social network that allows for the flow of information among employees and the management. This way they can pass their proposals, innovative ideas, and grievances to the higher management. The ethical practices of the bank are reinforced by the leadership approach to the work environment (Calvano, 2013).

Use of Psychological Theory

Personality

Al Hilal Bank has managed to achieve increased workforce productivity and output while maintaining the well-being and health of its employees. These factors have been well-balanced with the quality of services that the same employees provide to the customers. The organizational culture in the bank has been well-crafted to create a place for growth, trust, leadership and personal motivation of the employees. The bank began by selecting the best employees. These individuals were chosen from a pool of very intelligent, diverse and experienced individuals. Applications were welcome from across the region and beyond. Hence, the final group consists of the best of professionals from across the globe.

Attitudes

When these individuals were appointed to their work stations, the process of working in the system became exciting, challenging and motivating. Every one of them strived to work harder so as to keep up with the environment, which was made up of very competent colleagues. Their attitudes are full of motivation as they assist each other to deliver the best service to the clients since satisfied visitors mean growth and prestige of the team. The bank’s ethics also guide the attitudes and behavior of employees (Kozlowski, 2012). This reduces conflicts at the workplace and hence allows to avoid stressful situations.

Stress

Any conflict among the employees of the bank or with any other stakeholder is immediately reported through the bank’s platform called ‘whistleblowing’. Once the whistle is blown, the human resource and the public relations team act immediately to resolve the conflict. The process of conflict resolution is based on the respect of the employees and management of the bank. This approach to conflict helps to avoid the escalation into tension causing stress to the workforce (Schmitt, Highhouse, & Weiner, 2002). Leadership has been cultivated through the ethics of the bank. Employees perform their duties with integrity, and, as a result, they have earned the trust of the bank. They are allowed to review all bank’s information as a matter of trust on behalf of other stakeholders.

Work-Life Balance

Each employee signs a confidentiality agreement that binds him to into hold all the information of the bank, including stakeholders’ data, in confidence. The bank has also instilled a culture of leadership in all its stakeholders. For instance, employees receive minimal supervision while performing their duties. They are allowed to come up with better ways of doing work so as to increase their effectiveness and efficiency as well as boost performance. The freedom to invent and create ideas is always encouraged among the employees. The system of communication is open and any employee can access the managers and directors for proposals. Community service is another area of leadership. The employees are involved in projects that give back to the customers and to the whole community. This initiative ensures that employees acquire a mental ability to help others and not just concentrate on getting salaries and benefits. Thus, leadership roles have been created whereby employees who prove to be capable are selected to head such projects while acting as representatives of the bank. Team development and growth have also been emphasized by the board and the management. Staff is motivated to further knowledge and rewards through promotions, recognition and financial benefits. The bank also carries out staff development and training projects. Employees are enrolled in frequent training programs to improve their skills as well as to be introduced to new systems and processes of doing work. Once they complete the training, they are evaluated to ensure that they excel in new skills. They are also awarded certificates, which contribute to their growth and assist them to get promoted and rewarded by the bank. Training and development are much appreciated by employees since they gain more skills while still working for the bank. They do not feel left behind by their counterparts from other competing institutions since the bank has ensured that they receive all the necessary information first in the industry. Job performance standards are also set high by the bank.

Gender Balance

Gender issues at the bank have been taken care of well, as both male and female candidates are selected for various positions. The employees sign annual and periodical job performance agreements. They include targets which are calculated and regulated by the bank to establish accordance with the international standards. These targets are calculated using averages and comparisons with regional and global standards. These targets help the employees to work hard and to put more efforts into their performances. These targets are reviewed at the end of the agreed period and a report is compiled to show how much each worker has achieved based on the set target. Those who surpass their targets are rewarded, while correctional measures are applied to those who perform poorly. The company has also set aside a system for measuring the quality of services that are offered to the customers. This system helps to ensure that quality is not compromised. Besides the targets being achievable, they are also not spread out into portions that the employees can achieve with being too pressured, and hence they are able to maintain the quality that the bank promises to the customers. Besides the set job standards, the employees also agree on a performance target in which they accept to the set standards by the bank. This agreement helps to ensure that the employees keep their promise of seeking growth and development. They do this by shifting duties temporarily to other departments where they learn the skills needed to perform the duties of the new positions. This is important as it helps them to be all-round and avoid overspecialization and routine working. In case a vacant position is open at the bank, any of the employees can comfortably fill in the position saving the bank from unplanned recruitment (Freeman & Freeman, 2014).

Analysis, Interpretation, Argument, and Conclusions

The website of Al Halil Bank has many elements that are in accordance with organizational psychology. These concepts and elements are evident from this website as strengths of the organization, which have resulted in tremendous growth and expansion of the bank since its inception in 2008. The bank began with only four branches and currently holds more than 50 branches that are spread throughout the UAE and the world. These branches couple with the high streaming of the bank’s services through internet banking and the mobile banking platforms. As a result, the bank serves more than 50% of the UAE population both at home and abroad. This success centers on the human resources of the bank who work day and night to deliver quality services for the customers. The first step towards having a proper workforce came as a result of the employee selection method employed. The bank welcomed applications from professionals with different skills, abilities, and experiences from across the globe (Jex & Britt, 2008). These applicants were scrutinized through screening tests and assessments criteria to pick only the best candidates from the pool of more than 10,000 qualified workers. This became the basis for the bank’s success as only the best were chosen. Secondly, the bank has proper ergonomics which have been developed to maximize employee performance while avoiding injury to their mental and physical health. These ergonomics include the performance agreements and the targets that employees sign periodically. These performance agreements are properly managed by the performance monitoring team that has developed techniques and assessment criteria to validate that employees are properly delivering quality services and achieving high performance. Employees are also motivated to achieve growth in their careers. This is done through the regular learning and development projects, as stated on the website. Employees are given time to enroll and pursue higher education for further improvement of their skills. Training and development of employees are also undertaken by the bank’s management through regular programs. Those who enroll and excel in these courses are awarded certificates and prepared to take up more responsibilities and rewards from the bank. Employees also learn on the job by being attached to different departments whereby they gain skills for various duties at the bank. This allows them to take up any open position and fulfill the duties of that position satisfactorily. The website also indicates that the bank has a well-organized development program and system that support the structure. This is evident from the bank’s policy of welcoming product ideas from its stakeholders, including employees. Staff is encouraged to bring in innovative products that can be applied at the bank to further satisfy customer needs or to make work easier (Hoboken et al., 2012). Open communication at the bank allows such ideas to be directly tabled before the board and management who can then access their efficiency and approve them. Employees with fresh and innovative ideas are rewarded financially and through recognition as well as promotions. The bank’s annual performance reports are also available to all stakeholders. Employees can review this information and suggest ways of increasing the organization’s profits and performance. Ideas on how to improve performance are also welcome. They are implemented after the review by the council. The website also indicates that the organizational structure of this bank id flexible and can be changed according to stakeholders’ suggestions so as to improve efficiency. Any such idea is tested and approved by the banks’ regulatory bodies before being fully put in place.

This organization also has strong work ethics, as elaborated on the website. The bank adheres to Islamic sharia laws of banking and also applies the concepts of integrity, honesty, and leadership. These strong ethics help to resolve any arising conflicts in a professional manner to avoid escalation, stress, and tension of employees that would affect their performance. Behavior at the workplace is regulated and controlled by the agreements that the employees sign before joining the bank.

The best person to work for this bank would be a professional who has the best skills, knowledge, abilities, and experience of working in a first-class business environment. It should be an individual who has the internal motivation and who can also motivate others to excel in their performance. This individual should perform under pressure and with minimal supervision. Such performance entails having strong work ethics, integrity and leadership skills. This individual should also be versatile and able to work in an environment with diverse minds and ideas. The workforce at Al Hilal is very manifold, and a proper candidate should embrace diversity and have an open mind. The individual should be a problem solver. He should be able to demonstrate proper ethical problem-solving skills to address conflicts in the workplace. He should also have a proper and all-round image since employees of this bank are referred to as bank ambassadors during and even after work. This individual should also be creative and innovative, since product ideas, structural reforms and processes change are appreciated at this bank. The candidate should hence be able to come up with new ways of doing work in an easier manner and new products that can be introduced to solve customers’ and the organization’s problems. One should also be an inquisitive individual who has the curiosity to learn new skills and gain knowledge in order to work in this organization. After all, training and development are a major requirement for all employees of Al Hilal. The candidate should also have proper communication skills, socialization abilities, leadership, integrity, and initiative.