Why First Bank is resilient even at 124 years

A strong belief within some organisations including 124- year old First Bank of Nigeria is that there is no success and sustainability without succession. The bank’s management also believes that battle field and competition as witnessed today requires adequate preparation. The bank is leaving no stone unturned in this direction. This report Daniel Obi looks at the bank’s current strategies for further long term survival.

Key things that organisations crave for are profit and long term survival.  While some companies take different approaches to these goals, others wish it. However, preparing for growth and long term survival is now more critical. Also, planning for organisational survival has become more dynamic especially in this constant changing world assisted by technology.

In fact, today’s business environment is totally different from the past.  Businesses are now competing globally, horizontal and vertically, staff movement across sectors has increased, ICT has brought new thinking and there is product and service revolution. It is simply a disruptive business environment.

Just like the pilot who thinks faster than his speed jet, business managers today need to think faster than the fast changing environment to ensure business growth and survival. According to Business Insider, “The new strategy for leaders has to be about constantly adapting to change in an ever changing landscape. In order to achieve this, the focus must be to look beyond competition and market share to more fundamental questions of survival and sustainability in a turbulent and continuously changing environment”.

ExecBlueprints explained in its site that understanding sustainability is the ability to implement strategies that contribute far beyond the current year. “As the rate of change in the business world accelerates, companies need to embrace change and accept a constant forward motion, or else they will quickly be left behind. Though a company may be the market leader today, if it does not continue innovating, there is no guarantee it will hold that position tomorrow”.

Thinking deeper in this direction, management of First Bank of Nigeria, an organisation which has operated for 124 years acknowledged that in all approaches to long term survival and continuous growth, quality and trained staff is key as they will drive the systems, but aligning the workforce to long term-tem objectives is also imperative.

More significant in the mind of the bank’s management is a succession plan and strategy for the bank which has remained dominant in the competitive Nigerian banking sector. In this connection, therefore, the bank recently organised a six- month Senior Management Development Programme, SMDP, designed to equip senior managers for higher responsibilities and top leadership roles in the bank.

The bank which grows in strength as it grows old planned the intensive programme with quality facilitation from industry experts for the initial 23 senior to principal managers as a succession tactic and for competitiveness in the sector. The select group of senior to principal managers, according to the bank, has proven leadership in their individual respective functions and have been identified as central to the bank’s succession plan.

This first set of staff members in this category (13 men and 10 women) were identified across the Bank’s departments/branches in the six geopolitical zones of the country and were made to undergo the unique learning experience that fosters the professional, intellectual and personal development.

The senior managers for the programme were also carefully selected along strategic business units of the Bank such as Retail, Corporate Banking, Information Technology, International Banking, Financial Control, Credit Risk, Human Capital Management and Development, Marketing and Corporate Communications, and Procurement.

At the end of the programme, these candidates will be exposed to various leadership developmental opportunities such as executive coaching by renowned career and  coaches, strategic and executive job shadowing and handholding by Bank executives as well as prioritization for international assignments.

The managing director of the bank, Adesola Adeduntan underscored the objective of the programme when he said at the end of the course last week in Lagos that there is no success without succession. “No matter what we do today, we must quit. Even if we don’t want to quit, the natural biological factors will force us to quit as we may not be able to run again in the near future as fast as we want to run” and that is why it is important to prepare successors, he said.

Adetuntan who recognised that competition is tough in the industry, also said that the bank is creating the next level of leaders who are adequately prepared for the challenges ahead. He said that it will be dangerous to go to the battle field without preparation.

According to him, the bank’s transition will be incomplete without developing the workforce for leadership roles. He therefore challenged the graduands to embark on continuous personal development, warning that any professional that fails to improve will become a dinosaur.

He said the concept of SMDP was to have an army of well trained, well groomed, very broad skill and capable middle level officers that are prepared to transition to the general management role. This will enable the bank to look inwards to fill very senior management positions.

The CEO also encouraged them to mentor those under them explaining that promotion comes to seniors when the management knows that there are capable people who can take over from the superiors.  The CEO also encouraged them on networking in business saying that Strategy without execution is hallucination.

Also speaking, Ini Ebong, the chairman of the first academic governing council, appreciated the CEO who has kept his promise to develop the people through courses seen as catalyst to the continuous growth and survival of the bank. This is because the people are the most important asset the institution has and the bank has to invest in them to become effective leaders.

He said that the plan was to develop leaders in the bank across different cadres. However the bank is on a journey on this but there was the need for immediate targeted programme   intervention to look at existing crop of senior staff to prepare them for next level of most senior management.

He charged the graduands to unleash their potentials as the bank believes that they have something to offer. He was confident that the programme was a world class course. He also told them that beyond what they were taught in the classrooms, the important aspect is how the graduands continued to develop themselves. “There would be executive mentoring and couching for you to develop further”

Also speaking,  Malam Waziri, a board member of First Bank said that success today does not guarantee success tomorrow and that is why human capital is important to guaranteeing continuous success.

Appreciating the bank’s management, one of the graduands, Yemi Adesanyan who spoke on behalf of her colleagues said the  SMDP prepared  participants on what purpose of leadership is which she said is to mobilise others to genuinely want to struggle with you for shared aspiration.

According to her, the SMDP explored relevant subjects like how to manage growth and complexity, digital transformation, execution, discipline and customer focus, operational efficiency and effectiveness, corporate governance and sustainability. The course also dwelt on different factors that will help a leader to succeed such as innovation, creativity and continuous learning and improvement, motivation and networking.

While congratulating her bank for being on the right path, and noting the fierce  competition, constant organisational change and challenging regulatory regime, Adesanya promised that the graduands will live up to the expectations of higher responsibilities.