Abu Dhabi: The National Bank of Abu Dhabi's (NBAD) Academy announced a partnership with The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and accredited corporate training company biz-ability to develop the leadership capability of NBAD's staff.

NBAD's Academy partnership with ILM, one of the world's leading providers of professional qualifications, will enable NBAD's employees to benefit from excellent leadership training to progress their careers.

NBAD's ILM-certified leadership course, Leadership Journey, developed and conducted by biz-ability, provides a blend of theoretical and vocational training that is relevant to the needs of NBAD managers and their working environments. The course qualification is designed to help managers improve staff performance and ensure that business units achieve an optimum level of productivity.

 NBAD Academy, launched officially last year, aims to deliver the professional training programmes in banking and finance across the region. To meet this objective, NBAD Academy has forged strategic partnerships with leading international institutions and educational establishments to deliver a world class curriculum.

 Ranked as one of the top 50 safest banks in the world, NBAD currently operates across thirteen countries on four continents. The bank has one of the largest branch and ATM networks in the UAE and the largest overseas network of all the UAE banks. It employs more than 4000 employees of more than 50 nationalities, with many multi talented, highly gifted and qualified people.

The partnership reflects NBAD's commitment to continuously develop the skills of its talents and maximize their potential to ensure that best products and services are delivered by the best banking professionals to the bank's esteemed customers.

"We are delighted to be working with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) to deliver our leadership programmes. This relationship brings together a global leader in professional education and Abu Dhabi's foremost financial services provider, and marks a real milestone for both institutions," said Ms. Penny de Valk, Chief Executive of the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and Board Director of the City & Guilds Group.

"We've already been working with businesses in the region for several years, so in a sense this is only one more way for us to cement our relationship with employers and learners alike in UAE and Gulf States.  In the Middle East there's a strong regional emphasis on workforce development, and we're very pleased indeed to be able to support this by helping businesses and learners to develop the skills that they need," she added.

Commenting on the partnership with NBAD Hazel Cowling, biz-ability's programme director said: "We have been working with NBAD since 2009 to develop a tailored and accredited leadership program for their training academy and applaud their ongoing efforts with our partner ILM. Accredited courses that are specifically tailored for an organisation's environment have a higher track record of increasing organisational success during implementation because employees are more motivated to apply what they have learnt when it has relevance and applicability to their specific workplace."

"We are very pleased to team up with The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). NBAD is constantly looking to attract, develop, and retain the brightest banking professionals and this partnership will ensure that our talents will be given every opportunity to develop our staff leadership capablities,' said Ehab Anis Hassan, NBAD's Group Chief Human Resources Officer.

"Continuous learning and development is one of the core values of NBAD's corporate culture since it enables the staff to contribute effectively to developing innovative, efficient and secure products & services to allow our customers enjoy the most convenient banking experience. Pursuing this approach has confirmed our leading position as an employer of choice and made NBAD an award winning leader in the UAE and the Middle East financial services industry," he added.

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About NBAD
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), The Number One Bank in UAE, was incorporated in 1968 and is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), under stock code (NBAD).

Ranked as one of the top 50 safest banks in the world, NBAD currently operates across 13 countries on four continents.

NBAD has a network of more than 100 branches in the UAE in addition to cash offices that are spread out in remote locations to provide banking services to customers all over the UAE.
The branch network is widened further with more than 330 ATMs through which customers perform a variety of transactions.

Besides brick & mortar branches, NBAD provides 24 hour internet banking access through NbadOnline and NbadDirect, the SMS-based payment service (Arrow) as well as account access and personalised customer support through its 24-hour Call Centre.

NBAD's overseas network stretches from Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain in the G.C.C.; Egypt, Libya, and Sudan in Africa; UK, France, and Switzerland in Europe; Hong Kong and Jordan in Asia to Washington, D.C. in the U.S.A. Overall, NBAD has nearly 50 branches and 60 ATMs outside the UAE.

NBAD provides its customers with a wide variety of financial services targeting all segments of the consumer and corporate markets in addition to fund management, brokerage, financial markets, leasing, property management and private banking businesses.

The bank is organised into various client-focused divisions. They are the UAE Domestic Banking, International Banking, Financial Markets, Corporate and Investment Banking, Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF), and Global Wealth comprising of Private Banking and Asset Management Group, and the wholly owned stock brokerage company Abu Dhabi Financial Services (ADFS). The Bank's wholly owned subsidiaries, Abu Dhabi National Leasing Company (ADNL) and Abu Dhabi National Properties (ADNP) are part of the Corporate and Investment Banking division.

NBAD is rated senior long term/short term A+/A-1 by Standard and Poor's, Aa3/P1 by Moodys and AA-/F1+ by Fitch giving it one of the strongest combined rating of any Middle Eastern financial institution.

Committed to the service of the UAE society, NBAD has a written Corporate Social Responsibility Mission, which forms an important element of the Bank's overall strategy.

NBAD is an award winning leader in the UAE and GCC financial services industry. In 2009, NBAD won the prestigious UAE Corporate Governance Award by Hawkamah, Institute of Corporate Governance; the Human Resources Development Award in Banking Sector from Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies; Best Bank in the UAE for the third time in the last 10 years from Euromoney; Retail Bank of the year from Arabian Business; Best Personal Loan in the Middle East from Bankers Middle East; Best Local Bank in the UAE from emeafinance; Deal of the year from Project Finance Magazine;   Best Company for Investor Relations in the UAE from Middle East Investor Relations Society; Corporate Finance, Structured Finance & UAE Deal of the year from Islamic Finance News; and Strategic Banking Web Award from the Pan- Arab Web Academy.  

The Bank was ranked in the World's 50 Safest Banks in 2009 by Global Finance and recognised as a superbrand by Superbrands, the independent authority and arbiter on branding.

In previous years, NBAD has also won other prestigious awards such as the Sheikh Khalifa Gold Award, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award, the Dubai Quality Award, the Middle East Excellence Award 2008, ACN Arab Technology Award for the Banking & Finance, CIO Award of The Year, the Middle East e-Banking Country Award, the Outstanding use of IT in Financial Services Award, and excellence award for Best use of Technology from Banker Middle East.

NBAD, The Number One Bank in UAE, is poised for further growth in line with its Vision - To be the Number One Arab Bank.  

About biz-ability:
biz-ability provides experiential training and development programmes to companies throughout the Middle East. Established in 1994 and headquartered in Dubai, the company has a comprehensive understanding of the cultural and business needs of the region, delivering tailored solutions in line with clients' objectives and their internal workplace cultures.  Passionate about performance, all biz-ability training programmes are evaluated through tangible actions and metrics. While it researches and designs its own programmes, biz-ability is also affiliated with many of the world's leading management organisations. It has the rare certification to tailor the the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) programme to suit the Middle East market, while retaining the UK qualification.

biz-ability has developed training programmes for many of the region's top local and international firms, among them Abu Dhabi Airport Services, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Al Tayer Group, Abbott Pharmaceuticals and Al Nisr Publishing. Its resident training consultants have more than 100 years of international and local experience between them, delivering programmes designed around three core areas of business: leadership, sales and customer service.

For more information visit www.biz-ability.ae

For further enquires, please contact:
Ehab Khairi
Media & PR Manager
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Tel: +97126111190
Mob: + 971508126799
Email: ehab.khairi@nbad.com
Web: www.nbad.com

© Press Release 2010