Around 300 BOV employees have successfully completed one or more of various qualifications which the bank offers its employees through its Learning & Development Centre in the past three years. All awards offered are recognised by the Malta Further & Higher Education Authority and are qualified under the Maltese Qualified Framework in MQF Levels 5 and 6.
The bank celebrated the success of these employees during a graduation ceremony – the first since the onset of the pandemic – whereby BOV employees who completed their studies between 2020 and 2022 were presented with a certificate of merit.
Tania Camilleri, an Educators Board member at the Institute of Public Service, explained that Level 5 qualifications range from technical to leadership and personal development. The awards in the Investments, Credit for Business Finance and Credit for Retail Banking programmes meet the technical exigencies of the business, while the awards in Management & Leadership, Personal Development and Train the Trainer cater for professional and personal development.
A cursory look at the numbers shows there is a strong presence of female employees among those who chose to further their studies over the past three years.
In fact, 71 per cent of employees who graduated were women. This is even higher than the 59.5 per cent of female population among the BOV workforce.
BOV chairman Gordon Cordina said that learning, and the possibility to pass on knowledge to others, enrich life and career experiences, while the bank’s CEO, Kenneth Farrugia, said he was delighted to see over 300 employees pursuing their career ambitions by strengthening their knowledge, skills and capabilities through the bank’s Training Academy.
While praising the commitment and drive of the employees, Farrugia also announced that BOV would continue to incentivise education and development by offering grants related to further studies with external educational institutions. These incentives will also cover employees who have applied for external training programmes during this financial year, which complement various existing benefits, including study loans and study leave.