VRS presents win-win course for Bank and staff: Seylan

Thursday, 17 March 2011 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Seylan Bank this week launched a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) scheme to 250 of its employees out of a total of 3,600 emphasising it was a win-win course for both the Bank and the staff.

The bank has benchmarked the industry standards and identified that it had an excess in staff. Therefore, in its endeavour to increase efficiency across the board as well as to align itself with the best industry standards and performance indicators,

The newly appointed General Manager and CEO Kapila Ariyaratne said: “We greatly value the quality and the commitment of our staff and this VRS is solely for the purpose of enhancing the value that we intend to deliver to all our stakeholders. It is also a generous package which is significantly better than the minimum requirement that the bank had to meet.”

The Bank said financial analysts have interpreted this move as a win-win situation for both the bank as well as the employees who may be potentially eligible for the VRS.

The Bank with its new initiatives on productivity improvements will henceforth be able to run at a more optimal level of performance leading to a further improvement in profitability. Employees who take the VRS will parallelly have the opportunity of literally starting afresh in life on a sound financial standing. Those who remain will be working on more efficient and streamlined systems that will enhance the overall profitability, stability and the market standing of the bank.

“The introduction of this VRS is linked with a series of strategic measures. These include an investment in advanced technology, organisational restructuring and employee job enrichment and engagement processes by benchmarking international best practices from within and outside the country. There would also be further investment on continuous staff training and development,” Ariyaratne added.

Seylan Bank which recorded a tremendous turnaround in its performance over the past two years, achieved the highest ever profits in the history of the Bank in 2010.

While Seylan’s profitability grew by 126% over 2009, its NPA reduced by 8%.

On the back of this all time high performance, Seylan looks to further consolidate its enviable position as one of Sri Lanka’s best turnaround brands.

Seylan Bank Chairman Eastman Narangoda said, “Our re-birth and turn-around process are now behind us. It is contemporary history. The Bank is now a strong performance power-horse and we’re looking to further consolidate that position with greater strength and greater zeal”.

Having looked at optimum performance standards based on available resources, Seylan now looks to develop its future business strategies to deliver even greater results to all stakeholders and add further shareholder value by aligning itself to the exciting new opportunities in the rapidly transforming local economy.

“Seylan Bank has made immense strides over the past two years and our latest initiatives will help us ride on the crest of that wave, maintain the momentum and take the Bank forward on its pre-determined and chartered course for even greater success,” Chairman Narangoda added.