Kuwait Finance House (KFH) won two global awards from Brandon Hall Group; “Best Advance in Employee Engagement” and “Best Advance in Business Automation”.

KFH received the awards in a ceremony held early February 2023 in Florida, U.S., attended by representatives from leading institutions, businessmen, Learning and Development (L&D) officials, talent management professionals as well as media representatives.

Awarding criteria

The awards were evaluated by Brandon Hall Group based on surveys, studies, and opinions of experts in HR and L&D. The most important of which are that the HR programs fit the needs of the organization, with a distinctive design and delivery, measurable benefits, and overall impact on the organization. 

Based on these criteria, the Group recognized the tangible advancement of KFH’s systems and the qualitative shift in automating and digitalizing the HR procedures, in addition to the increase of its employee engagement annual index which contributed to developing the efficiency and performance of HR.

Brandon Hall Group is a US-based research and analyst firm and the only professional development company that offers data, research, insights, and certifications to learning and talent development executives, influencing the development of more than 10,00,000 employees and executives from around the world.

The Human Capital Management (HCM) Excellence Awards was the first to recognize leading organizations for their learning and talent management, in addition to being the most reputable and reliable HR award worldwide.

Unprecedented achievement

On this occasion, KFH Group Chief Human Resources Officer, Zeyad AlOmar expressed his pleasure for winning both awards, saying that KFH is the first institution in Kuwait and among the first in the GCC region to achieve this success.

He added that the awards affirm the quality and development of KFH`s workplace and the advancement and uniqueness of HR processes and applications, as well as the integration of efforts and the adoption of the best global standards and metrics.

He said that KFH attaches great importance to enhancing employee engagement and automating its businesses, the reason why the Bank competed successfully with world’s largest and significant organizations. AlOmar also expressed his pride in KFH’s track record of achievements which have been commended by experts in the HR field.

AlOmar explained that business automation is one of the key reasons behind the success of HR Group operations, stating that the systems and practices adopted are the most advanced in Kuwait and the GCC.

He went on to say that the qualified HR team is dedicated to overseeing the process, as well as improving the systems to better serve KFH’s aspirations, noting that the HR team supervising the HR systems is considered as a regional reference not only for KFH but for other local and regional banks seeking their expertise for the implementation and development of HR operations.

Employee engagement survey

Meanwhile, Senior Manager Employee Communication and Engagement, Sara AlSalem said that leading employee engagement is one of the pillars of the Group’s strategy.

She added that KFH is one of the first local and regional banks to implement the annual employee engagement survey in 2013 through which employees’ satisfaction is measured under a transparent, professional, and confidential process, pointing out that the survey contributes to improving the work environment by setting and executing plans according to key survey indicators.

 She revealed that the survey resulted in an increase of the employee engagement annual index, compared to the years before and to other high-performing regional institutions.

She noted that the success of KFH’s executive plans was the result of the correlation of its employee engagement practices, saying that the Group Human Resources Department design plans that cover all employees’ aspects in line with their needs and development suggestions in a way that improved engagement.

She also pointed out that KFH follows a science-based approach in implementing engagement initiatives in which their impact on employee engagement results is measured on annual basis, while developing and improving these initiatives according to the set indicators. 

Hard work pays off

AlOmar indicated that the awards are the result of the dedication and hard work of all employees in the HR department. It is also the result of the continuous attention of the Executive Management and the Board and their focus on providing the best benefits and improving the work environment for employees, indicating the awards are thus a motivation towards a further enhancement in achieving highest level of performance and recruiting more young national talents who can lead and maintain KFH’s status as a world leading Islamic financial institution.