Case Study
Developing confident, driven, focused relationship managers
Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) were looking for a learning partner to develop their relationship managers.
After a period of significant transformational change, resulting in ambitious growth targets, the bank needed to communicate this market differentiation to clients. Our programme gave ABK’s relationship managers the technical finance knowledge and client skills to have these conversations, bringing consistency and excellence to the bank’s corporate and structured finance divisions.
Driving strategic change
ABK is a leading Kuwaiti bank with over 1000 employees across Kuwait, UAE and Egypt. With a new CEO and leadership team in place, the bank is undergoing a period of significant transformational change focused on digitisation and process-efficiencies.
ABK needed to upskill their corporate and structured finance divisions with the necessary technical and behavioural skills to communicate the market differentiation achieved through these efficiencies. Within these departments, experience amongst relationship managers varied greatly. The Head of Talent Management & Development identified this as an opportunity to not only align the teams with the new strategy but also ensure consistency in approach and to upskill everyone to the same level.
Due to these varied experience levels ABK required a programme spanning basic concepts and advanced techniques, combining both technical credit skills and relationship management skills.
We’ve been working with Euromoney for a few years. We know the quality of their programmes. They have great experts and get great feedback from the business.
Working closely with ABK’s Talent Development team and senior stakeholders, we co-created an online modular Credit Academy designed to facilitate cultural change for both new joiners and experienced employees.
We were able to draw on our large, highly experienced faculty to match the right instructors to each stream and ensure a fun and engaging learning experience for all.
The 1-2-1 coaching is a critical and most essential part of the training experience…I cannot emphasise enough how important this was.
Diagnose & Assign
Multiple choice questionnaires, a written case-study based assessment and psychometric tools were used to assess all participants and determine how many modules they should attend.
1-2-1 Coaching Before each module
Individual support from Euromoney’s experts to address skills and knowledge gaps and identify learning outcomes
Module 1: Relationship Management Analysis
Covering:
The role of the RM
- Developing reputation, managing relationships, account management, selling skills, business writing, presentation skills
Credit skills
- The firm's business model, lifecycle stages, competitive positioning, financial performance, SWOT analysis
Module 2: Relationship Management Structuring
Covering:
Consultative selling skills
- Developing deeper relationships, influencing techniques, pitching, delivering confident presentations
Credit skills
- The firm's financing needs, advanced forecasting, identifying opportunities, and credit proposal writing
Module 3: Relationship Management Issues
Covering:
Negotiation skills
- Preparing for difficult conversations, opening tough conversations, negotiation styles, conversing like a CEO
Credit skills
- Early warning signals, strategic approach to sector analysis, strategic approach to portfolio development
1-2-1 Coaching After each module
Individual support from Euromoney’s experts to share feedback from assessment and consolidate learning outcomes
7-WEEK INTENSIVE PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO
More confident, more driven, more focused
Senior management were involved in the end-of-programme assessment panels and were impressed by the skills and confidence that the participants had gained, noting that they are more confident, more driven, and more focused. They attribute this to the improved technical and relationship management skills learned at the Academy, as well as to the confidence gained during the one-to-one coaching sessions.
There are plans to continue the partnership with Euromoney Learning with further refresher sessions for the participants.
Improved communication and synergy
Less experienced participants in the Credit Academy gained an excellent grounding in the technical aspects of their roles. The more senior participants benefitted most from the relationship management and behavioural aspects of the programme. There is now a consistent approach between new joiners and management, and communication skills and networking amongst the team have also improved.
Better credit skills and client relationships
Each clearly defined stream combined technical credit modules with relationship management skills development. Every session was designed to assist participants to acquire knowledge to become credit industry specialists, improve their ability to assess financial opportunities and build their confidence to develop long lasting relationships with clients. One-to-one coaching helped participants to address individual gaps and weaknesses in a safe place. As a result, they all felt confident during the final assessment presentations to senior management at the end of the programme.
Amongst the Academy graduates, I have witnessed increased confidence, better communication during credit committee presentations, better presentation of data via powerpoint presentations, and more awareness of other people’s behaviour to better determine how to speak to them or approach them.
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