Commercialbank vows to develop Qatari talent

Head of talent management and development at Commercialbank, Khalid al-Haji, highlighting the importance of developing Qatari youth talent

Officials from Commercialbank have reaffirmed their commitment to developing Qatari talent following their participation at the 2010 Qatar University Career Fair.
Head of talent management and development, Khalid al-Haji explained that the bank’s board of directors – chaired by HE Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Atiyah – places high importance on "the recruitment and development of the correct calibre of staff in order to achieve a truly customer focused banking organisation that can offer world class banking excellence.”
Participation at the Qatar University Careers Fair leads to the recruitment of Qatari graduates who are then placed on a graduate development programme.
"The bank received more than 600 job applications at the last fair and is expected to receive more at the next one,” said a spokesperson.
Group CEO of Commercialbank, Andy Stevens, said: "The development of our employees is a fundamental priority for Commercialbank and we recognise that our success lies with the ability and commitment of our employees.”
"We are particularly focused on supporting the development of our high calibre Qatari employees to prepare them for future leadership roles within the bank, which is directly aligned with government policy for Qatarisation,” he added.
As part of their plans to achieve high levels of development, the bank has signed a strategic partnership with the London Metropolitan Business School (LMBS), which has led to the development of a Doha-based training academy, explained al-Haji.
The academy will be supervised and developed by LMBS, and will bring together professional development, Certificate, Diploma and eventually, Masters programmes, tailored to the needs of the bank’s management trainees and executive leadership staff.
"Adding to the academy’s training programmes will be a summer school held at LMBS,” said al-Haji.
Qatari employees are also selected to participate in an annual training course in collaboration with the College of North Atlantic, from which 45 employees have already graduated.
Al-Haji added that Commercialbank is also involved in a number of community activities such as donations, sponsorships and corporate philanthropy, and has sponsored 41 students at the University of Qatar.