^{Sustainability} Employees

Our ambition is to create a thriving workplace that attracts and retains talented and committed people.

Our employees are at the heart of our long-term success, and we are dedicated to attracting and nurturing a diverse and highly skilled workforce – with the development of Emirati nationals as a strategic priority.

Our commitments

Continue to improve diversity and inclusion metrics, and maintain best-in-class employee satisfaction
Enhance employee learning through high quality content and dedicated training

Workstreams

Selected list category

Employee engagement and well-being

Our employees personify our values and represent the Bank to our customers, clients and other stakeholders.

Their well-being and engagement is vital to the sustained success of our business.

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Our Approach and Progress

ADCB invests substantially in talent and capabilities to ensure our people are well-equipped and feel fully supported in their jobs. Our organisational framework provides well-defined roles and responsibilities, ensuring access to relevant strategic objectives, as well as tools and support to enhance engagement and performance.

Our approach to employment and labour practices strictly adheres to local labour laws across all our locations. At the same time, the Bank adopts a distinctive culture and working environment. We remain committed to nurturing our employees’ well-being and professional development.

Recruitment policy

ADCB promotes equal opportunities for all. We recruit without any preferences related to a candidate’s nationality, ethnic origin, marital status or gender, subject to any specific requirements set out in UAE law.

All our employees, regardless of their country of origin or citizenship, are governed by the laws and regulations of the UAE and other applicable jurisdictions, in addition to their individual employment contracts and the Bank’s internal policies.

The onboarding process for new recruits is a critical step in their employment journey with ADCB. Following a 360-degree review in 2022 to identify areas for improvement, in 2023 we refreshed our onboarding process to increase support and engagement for new joiners, contributing to a smooth and positive introduction to our business.

Employee engagement, remuneration and grievances

We carry out regular employee engagement surveys to better understand our employees’ requirements and aspirations. This enables us to implement practices to nurture talent, improve employee satisfaction and enhance productivity.

We support remuneration levels to attract, retain and motivate employees whose skills and experience enable us to provide a high-quality service in a competitive environment.

Employee pay in our UAE operations comprises a mixture of fixed pay, social allowance (for UAE nationals), job-specific allowances, and benefits based on the level of employment. These include private medical insurance, life insurance coverage, education and air travel allowance.

Employees also receive variable pay based on performance over the year and a share-based retention scheme. We also support them with adequate parental leave, in line with local regulatory requirements.

We foster a safe and inclusive work environment for all our employees. In line with our Code of Conduct, our commitment to human rights and fairness is fundamental to who we are and what we value. If an employee has any concerns, we encourage them to raise them directly with their managers or through our formal grievance platform, Tawasul.

For more information on employee engagement, including parental leave, employee remuneration, and employee grievances, see our 2023 Corporate Governance Report.

100%
of employee grievances filed in 2023 were addressed or resolved

Health, safety and well-being

We encourage a positive work-life balance and we take a responsible approach to the welfare of our people.

This includes providing high-quality medical insurance that covers treatment for a wide range of illnesses, free annual medical checks and mental health support.

The Bank’s health and safety team ensures compliance with all relevant regulatory and internal policies and procedures. Our approach has received external recognition, with UAE safety certificates awarded for all our locations.

Each office has an emergency response team, which includes a health and safety warden. We communicate our emergency procedures for incidents such as earthquakes, floods, fires, and other natural disasters, to ensure people are fully aware of the relevant procedures, and we carry out periodic drills to test their effectiveness. We also conduct regular risk assessments and provide first aid and fire warden training for nominated employees.

All health and safety incidents are reported and investigated, with the outcomes informing any revisions to our health and safety policies and procedures.

In addition, we take a flexible approach to working hours. This includes a four-and-a-half day working week, with the option to work remotely on Fridays.

For more information on the health safety and wellbeing of our employees and the OHI survey, please read our ESG Report.

Zero
work-related injuries in 2023

Emiratisation

We are proud to contribute to the UAE’s Emiratisation agenda, as part of the country’s vision for the development and growth of the economy and its people.

By supporting the national Emiratisation strategy, we help to create jobs and increase the number of UAE nationals with the necessary technical and vocational skills for employment and entrepreneurship.

Our Approach and Progress

The Bank has a long-standing commitment to create skilled career opportunities and provide professional development programmes that are closely aligned with its strategic priorities. Attracting and developing UAE national talent is a key pillar of this strategy.

Developing a pool of experienced, dedicated and engaged Emirati employees creates a strong competitive advantage. We are proud to be a major employer of Emiratis in the UAE banking sector and to uphold our commitment to promoting home-grown talent.

We aim to exceed the Emiratisation targets set by the UAE Central Bank and are fully committed to empowering Emirati women.

The Bank employs 2,096 UAE nationals, accounting for 40% of our workforce. In 2023, ADCB welcomed over 300 UAE nationals as new employees. Today, Emiratis make up more than 50% of the total number of employees at Al Hilal Bank, which has one of the highest Emiratisation rates in the UAE banking sector. Emiratis hold more than 20% of middle and senior leadership positions across ADCB Group as a whole.

Training and development programmes

Providing relevant and engaging training and career development opportunities is vital for us to continue attracting top Emirati talent. We provide organisation-wide training to onboard UAE national graduates effectively.

We also offer employees a range of structured learning and development opportunities throughout their careers to enable them to further develop their managerial and leadership skills.

ADCB also supports Abu Dhabi’s accelerator programme, collaborating on a cross-functional project with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and the Abu Dhabi Human Resources Authority (HRA) to deliver the Bankers Programme. This is a training programme for new Emirati graduates delivered by the London Institute for Banking and Finance.

Succession planning

We continue to develop our succession planning strategy. In 2023, we identified key positions in the organisation based on well-defined criteria, and created new development initiatives for successors. This included creating different learning opportunities to provide potential successors with the proper skills and knowledge to progress, strengthening their level- and role-based competencies.

As part of this strategy, we implemented a thorough identification and assessment exercise to increase the number of UAE nationals identified as future business leaders. This enabled us to strengthen the pipeline of candidates with the skills and aptitude required for future senior roles at the Bank.

In line with this, we developed a number of specific talent management projects, including our Accelerated Talent Progression Programme. This is an initiative to ensure the progression of UAE nationals across all areas of ADCB, accelerating their development and further supporting our Emiratisation objectives.

Learning and Development

Providing a wide range of learning and career development opportunities enables us to ensure our people are equipped with the skills they need to achieve their career aspirations, while also making a valuable contribution to the Bank’s growth. This not only helps to attract and engage employees, it enhances our reputation as an employer of choice and provides a competitive advantage in the market.

Average training per employee across the Group

43
average training hours per employee in 2023

Our Approach and Progress

We invest significantly in professional training to support our employees in their performance and career progression.

Learning is generally delivered in a blended approach via a combination of in-person and online modules covering a variety of technical and behavioural topics, in partnership with leading international providers.

To promote continuous development, we provide a diverse learning curriculum tailored to different roles within the workforce. We identify each employee’s strengths and development needs and align them with individual career plans to support their professional goals.

Employee training

Our HR team employs a talent-centric development approach that considers the needs and motivational factors to enable employees to succeed in their careers.

We delivered more than 300,000 learning hours to employees in 2023, in partnership with leading international providers.

Ambition University is our in-house centre of learning and development. It provides strategically-aligned, business-driven learning that adds value to our business, our employees, our stakeholders and our customers.

Ambition University comprises four academies:

Emiratisation
Leadership and Management
Business Excellence
Organisation Excellence

Specific faculties in each academy develop a learning curriculum, which is delivered through a series of programmes.

Ambition University offers courses to all employees, including mandatory training modules linked, such as anti-money laundering and know-your-customer.

The Bank also partners with well-established providers, such as the London Institute of Banking and Finance, to develop joint training programmes for staff, including a dedicated Bankers Programme for new Emirati university graduates.

Performance management

ADCB seeks to promote a high-performance culture. This is supported by a detailed performance management framework that includes strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) and a robust infrastructure to support employees and accommodate their individual needs.

In 2023, we continued to enhance our performance management process to deliver a better employee journey, improving the objective/KPIs setting exercise, and increasing the effectiveness of the appraisal process.

As well as setting KPIs and objectives, every employee creates an individual development plan at the start of the year linked to specific performance indicators. This includes an overview of strengths and development areas from both a behavioural and a technical perspective. These plans are clearly aligned to defined roles, responsibilities and goals, as well as the needs of each department and individual.

Alongside formal reviews at the middle and end of the year, our performance framework is designed to encourage continuous feedback and support for all employees throughout the year.

To encourage employee retention, the Bank has a performance-driven variable pay plan that directly links the variable pay of senior management with the Group’s overall performance and individual performance. We ensure robust compensation parameters in accordance with applicable regulations and best practices.

Equality, diversity & inclusion

We recognise that our combined differences make us stronger. Equality, diversity and inclusion provide us with the tools to create a more innovative, resilient business that is better able to respond to challenges, attract the best talent, and provide an enhanced customer experience.

Our Approach and Progress

With over 80 nationalities represented across our workforce, our aim is to foster an inclusive culture of mutual respect, where diversity is embraced and all individuals feel valued and empowered to achieve their true potential.

We respect the human rights of our employees, ensuring dignity and equality for all, regardless of race, religion, gender, age, or language. We treat our employees with fairness, equality and respect.

We ensure fair and equitable remuneration and development opportunities for women, in line with UAE labour laws that mandate equal pay for equal work for men and women.

Gender diversity

A key responsibility of the Board is to ensure that the Bank maintains a healthy culture. We believe companies that attach equal importance to performance and culture achieve exceptional results over time. The Board is committed to supporting gender diversity. In 2022, women represented 18% of ADCB’s Board membership. In early 2022, the second female member was appointed to the Board.

Tamooha
our award-winning inclusivity initiative for Emirati women, continues to grow and now supports 198 Emirati women

Board diversity

The Board is committed to supporting gender diversity and the Bank ranks highest among major GCC banks for female board representation.

ADCB has long led the sector on gender diversity in the UAE, appointing Aysha Al Hallami as its first female Board member in 2013 and Fatima Al Nuaimi Board in 2022.

UAE gender diversity standards stipulate that at least 20% of candidates for appointment to the Board of a listed company must be female and every Board must have at least one member who is female.

ADCB is in full compliance with these standards: Two of our eleven Board members are female, equating to 18% of our Board membership, up from 10% in 2021.

Parental leave

We remain committed to supporting our employees with adequate parental leave, in line with local regulatory requirements in each of the countries we operate in.