The South African banking industry is currently facing increasing macro- and micro-environmental pressures which had led banks to move towards customer-oriented strategies. This has influenced the way their systems and processes are developed and innovated to provide a satisfactory service to their clients. It appears that service quality has been the differentiating factor that has set the competitors apart in providing their customers with a unique customer experience through client relationships and interaction. As a consequence, banks have resorted to implementing various training and leadership interventions as a driver, to effectively empower their employees to improve service quality The aim of this research study was to identify the impact that training and leadership programmes implemented by a particular branch of Standard Bank South Africa (SBSA) had on employee empowerment. This was achieved through a comprehensive literature review and an empirical study to measure whether employees had perceived themselves to be empowered. The results from this study will be used by the Human Resource Division of SBSA to evaluate and implement effective training methods for the employees of the selected branch in order to improve employee empowerment. This would serve as a great benefit for the bank as employees that are satisfied with the work are generally more productive, hence producing increased revenue for the organisation. An empirical study was embarked on to measure the respondents’ perception of being empowered and involved a survey of eighty-three employees of the retail branch in the Sandton, Johannesburg area. Forty-three of the employees responded to the anonymous questionnaire and the data obtained was analysed and interpreted into meaningful results. The results of the survey indicated that the majority of the employees at the selected branch perceived themselves to be empowered and it was concluded that the implementation of the training and leadership programmes by SBSA had a positive impact on them. The following recommendations were made: - Firstly, to increase training and development, in the form of leadership courses, inter-departmental learning and on-the-job training sessions to develop the employees to their full potential; - Secondly, management needs to encourage employees to participate in discussion forums and staff meetings and involve them in decision-making thus improving the perceived lack of a free-flow of information and transparency within the workplace; - Thirdly, team leaders and supervisors should encourage support and coaching of the junior employees by giving them constructive on-going feedback, supporting their ideas, delegating tasks, and giving them direction on the way forward; - Fourthly, a review of the reward and recognition system would be advisable where employees are rewarded (financially or non-financially) for a job or task well done, or to promote certain behaviours and attitudes in the workplace; and - Finally, it was recommended that the employees be informed and educated on the benefits, associated for both the employees and the organisation, of the Scheme in order to increase their commitment and performance. The empowerment of employees in the organisation is important as it involves employees who take responsibility for their decisions and actions because they are primarily the ones who solve the problems in their own teams. Empowerment in organisations can thus lead to less absenteeism, lower employee turnover, less employee training costs, increased employee satisfaction and more productive employees.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the transfer of training in the Central Bank of Lesotho. To guide this study, the following questions were formulated and answered: .:. How do managers assess transfer of training in the Central Bank of Lesotho? .:. What is the extent of transfer of training in the bank? .:. What are the reasons behind lack of transfer of training, if it exists in the bank? .:. What can be done to promote transfer of training in the bank? The research method that was used in this study was the survey method, which aims at gathering data about large numbers of people. Questionnaires were used to elicit answers to these questions and were given to the management of the Central Bank of Lesotho, as well as to the employees who have undergone training. This company was chosen because the researcher has worked there for seven years and understands how it operates. The study found that behavioural performance appraisal is used by Central Bank of Lesotho management to assess transfer of training and that a high percentage of training is transferred immediately after training, when trainees are still excited about what they have learned. It was concluded that there are barriers to transfer of training such as lack of management and co-worker support, lack of resources after training, lack of motivation and many others. On the basis of these findings and conclusions, it was recommended that Performance Appraisal should not only be carried out by managers, but colleagues also have to assess an individual. Follow-up training and management support were encouraged, to motivate trainees to apply what they have learned. / Thesis (M.Bus.Ad.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Within a highly regulated industry such as banking, learning takes place not only to better equip staff to deal with problems which may cross their paths, but to enable them to develop and grow into new roles within the bank. In addition to the regulation in the industry, there is also legislation goveming the learning providers within the industry. These learning providers have to abide by multiple rules and regulations set out by the Skills Development Act and the Banking Sector Training Authority, which grants accredited training-provider status to in-house learning departments of the various banks. With all the reports and returns that now have to be submitted to the Department of Labour, and the Skills Development levy that is paid to the South African Revenue Service, businesses are turning their attention to the amount of money actually being spent on training, and are starting to ask pertinent questions about the impact of learning. To answer these questions, the learning strategies that organisations adopt in order to become learning organisations need to be scrutinised and analysed, before moving on to how the measurement of retum on investment in learning can be determined and integrated into the balanced scorecard measurement for learning and growth. In the course of this study, the issues mentioned above will be discussed from a generic, theoretical point of view, before applying them specifically to the case of First National Bank. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In 'n hoogs gereguleerde bedryf soos die bankwese, vind leer nie net plaas om personeel beter toe te rus om probleme te hanteer wat oor hulle pad kan kom nie, maar ook om personeel nuwe rolle binne die bank te laat ontwikkel en aanneem. Bo en behalwe die regulasies van die bedryf, is daar ook wetgewing ingevolge waarvan verskaffers van opleiding binne die bedryf moet optree. Hierdie opleidingsverskaffers moet aan verskeie reels en regulasies valdoen soos neergele deur die Wet op Vaardigheids-ontwikkeling en die sektorale onderwys- en opleidingsowerheid vir die bankwese (BANKS ETA), wat geakkrediteerde opleidingsverskafferstatus aan interne opleidingsdepartemente van die verskillende banke toestaan. Met al die verslae en opgawes wat deesdae aan die Departement van Arbeid verskaf moet word sowel as die vaardigheidsontwikkelingsheffing wat aan die Suid-Afrikaanse Inkomstediens betaal moet word, word ondernemings al hoe meer bewus van die hoeveelheid geld wat hulle aan opleiding bestee, en begin vra hulle al hoe meer tersaaklike vrae oor die impak van opleiding. Om hierdie vrae te beantwoord, moet 'n mens die leerstrategiee wat organisasies aanvaar ten einde leerorganisasies te word, onder die loep neem en ontleed. Hierna kan die aandag verskuif na die wyse waarop die meting van opbrengs op belegging in opleiding bereken en geintegreer kan word by die gebalanseerde-telkaartmeting van leer en groei. In hierdie studie word bogenoemde sake uit 'n generiese, teoretiese hoek bespreek voordat dit meer bepaald op Eerste Nasionale Bank toegepas word.

by Kung Ching-Chuan, Anna. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references. / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.ii / INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / The Management Development Needs For Hong Kong In The Decade Of 90s --- p.4 / The Scope Of The Study --- p.6 / The Rationale For A Case Study On The Bank Of China Group --- p.7 / The Objectives Of The Case Study --- p.8 / LITERATURE REVIEW ON MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING --- p.10 / What Is Meant By Management Development & Training --- p.10 / The Purposes Of Management Development & Training --- p.12 / Meeting the Future Management Needs --- p.13 / Developing & Advancing the Individuals --- p.14 / The Historical Development Of The Concept Of Management Development --- p.15 / A CASE STUDY： THE BANK OF CHINA GROUP TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT CENTRE --- p.19 / The Development Trend Of The Training & Development Programme --- p.19 / The First Stage: 1980 - 1985 --- p.20 / The Second Stage: 1986 - 1988 --- p.20 / The Third Stage: 1989 and Onwards --- p.21 / The Structure Of The Bank Of China Group Training & Development Centre --- p.22 / The Corporate Strategy Of The BOC Group In The 1990s --- p.23 / The Overall Objective Of The BOC Group Training & Development Centre --- p.23 / The Purposes Of The Centre's Training And Development Programme --- p.24 / The Nature Of The Centre's Management Development And Training Programme --- p.25 / The Programme For The Lower Level Management --- p.27 / The Programme For The Middle Level Management --- p.30 / An in-depth elementary course on Management --- p.31 / Seminar on Leadership & Teamwork --- p.32 / Seminar on Interviewing Skills with Subordinates --- p.32 / A Course on Banking Business Development --- p.33 / A Course on Human Resources Management --- p.33 / The Programme For The Top Management --- p.34 / The English-Language Training Courses --- p.35 / Other Courses --- p.36 / The Role Of Trainers --- p.36 / As An Encourager --- p.37 / As A Facilitator --- p.37 / As A Deliverer --- p.37 / An Evaluation On The Programme --- p.38 / Its Future In The Coming Years --- p.39 / CONCLUSION --- p.42 / The Growing Importance Of Management Development In Hong Kong --- p.42 / A Change In The Approach of Management Development --- p.45 / The Common Management Development & Training Methods --- p.47 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.50 / APPENDIX --- p.54

The purpose of this study was to identify instances when workers in a business environment used thinking skills, including creative thinking, decision making, and problem solving in a manner that was beneficial and to examine how they perceived they acquired thinking skills. Twenty-seven banking employees from nine branches were interviewed using the behavioral event interview method. The nine branches represented three banks operating in Virginia. At each branch, a manager, a new account representative, and a teller were interviewed. The behavioral event interview method was selected as it has been a successful tool in both industrial and educational settings. Additionally, its purpose is to identify competencies necessary to do a given job well. The tape recorded interviews were transcribed and yielded a total of 55 behavioral events. The events were reviewed and instances of creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, and combinations of the three were identified and coded according to definitions presented in the study. Sixty-two instances of thinking skill use were identified within the events. Instances from the interviews of creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, and combinations of these were presented. Further, two interrelated themes emerged from the instances of thinking skill use. The first theme involved the generation of new ideas, determining the best alternative, implementing an alternative, or a combination of these in order to generate business or sales for the bank. The second theme involved the generation of new ideas, determining the best alternative, implementing an alternative, or a combination of these in order to solve a known problem. This study revealed that the interviewees did not receive formal thinking skill preparation from education or work training programs. They attributed most of their thinking skill development to experience. Outcomes of this study can be used to teach thinking skills by the infusion approach, the most commonly used method for teaching these skills. It relies on the skills being taught in real-life contexts. / Ph. D.

This study assessed intended communication behavior in terms of ethics, information content effectiveness, and the potential relationship between the two. Participants were 33 university finance majors who wrote open-ended responses to simulated loan presentation scenarios containing ethical communication content. The analysis consisted of a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A panel of bank loan officers judged the finance majors" open-ended responses for ethics and content effectiveness. From the officers' scores, the responses were categorized as: (1) ethical, (2) unethical, (3) effective, (4) ineffective, (5) ethical/effective, (6) ethical/ineffective, (7) unethical/effective, or (8) unethical/ineffective. The finance majors' answers tended to be judged as ethical, but the judgements were mixed as to the effectiveness of their responses. The responses that were judged to be both ethical and effective tended to be direct followed by a sales pitch on the benefits of the loan. The sales pitch portion of the responses was typically irrelevant to the question posed in the scenarios. Responses that were judged to be both unethical and ineffective tended to be either responses that were naive or responses that avoided the question being asked in the scenario. The findings indicate that it is difficult to provide an unethical response that is also effective. However, an ethical response can just as easily be effective or ineffective. In other words, an effective response is likely to be ethical, but an ethical response gives no indication as to whether it is effective or ineffective. One main conclusion resulted from the findings: Effective communication does not have to occur at the expense of communicating in an unethical manner. Beneficiaries of this study are both business people and educators. It can help banking trainers determine what content should be targeted in management training programs with regard to communication behavior in a loan presentation. Business communication faculty can benefit in two primary ways: the study shows the intended communication behavior of finance majors ("where the students are") and it provides preliminary data on what communication techniques are considered effective, ineffective, ethical, and unethical by business people, specifically loan officers. / Ph. D.

Text in Afrikaans / Die uitsluitlike doel van die studie was om die navorsingsprobleem, naamlik om vas te stel op watter wyse die leierskapstyl van opleidingsbestuurders die werksbevrediging van opleidingskonsultante beïnvloed wat volwassene-onderwys binne ʼn bepaalde bankgroep in Suid-Afrika verskaf, aan te spreek. Die navorser het bepaalde leierskapstyle (naamlik die demokratiese-, outokratiese- en laissez-faire leierskapstyle) en werksbevredigingskomponente geselekteer (naamlik ondersteuning, verhoudings en bemagtiging) ten einde dié ondersoek te doen. ʼn Vraelys is ontwerp wat as kwantitatiewe navorsingsinstrument gebruik is om navorsingsdata elektronies te versamel oor respondente se biografiese besonderhede, hulle bestuurder se leierskapstyl en respondente se persepsies van hul eie werksbevrediging. Een-en-negentig (91) uit eenhonderd sewe-en-dertig (137) respondente het die vraelys per e-pos voltooi, wat ʼn responskoers van 66.42% verteenwoordig. Uit die navorsingsresultate en -analise het dit geblyk dat leierskapstyl wél die persepsies van respondente oor elk van die werksbevredigingskomponente statisties beduidend beïnvloed het. / The sole aim of this study was to address the research problem, namely to determine the way in which the leadership style of training managers influences the work satisfaction of training consultants that provide adult education within a specific bank group in South Africa. The researcher selected specific leadership styles for the purpose of thís study (namely the democratic, outocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles) and work satisfaction components (namely support, relationships and empowerment) to carry out thís investigation. A questionnaire was designed which was used as quantitive research instrument to gather research data electronically about respondents’ biographical details, their manager’s leadership style and the perceptions of respondents regarding their own work satisfaction. Ninety-one (91) out of one-hundred-and-thirty-seven (137) respondents completed the questionnaire by email, which represents a response rate of 66.42%. Out of the research and analysis results it became evident that leadership style indeed influenced the perceptions of respondents over each of the work satisfaction components in a statistically significant way. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Volwassene-onderwys)

by Li Sau Ying, Tam Yuk Lin, Anita. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-79). / ABSTRACT --- p.i / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF APPENDICES --- p.v / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.vi / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Objectives --- p.2 / Assumptions --- p.2 / Methodology --- p.3 / Scope of Study --- p.4 / Current Situation --- p.4 / The Hongkong Bank / Standard Chartered Bank / Dah Sing Bank / Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW / Comparison of Management Culture and Education Between the PRC and Hong Kong --- p.12 / Focus / Socio-Economic Context / Ideological Influences / Mindset / Management Context / The Need for Gradual Integration --- p.18 / Principles for Training PRC Graduates --- p.19 / Needs-Based Training / Participation by PRC Graduates at Design Stage / Emphasis on Experience Sharing / Emphasis on Practice / Chapter III. --- THE TRAINING PLAN / Target Group for Training --- p.22 / Target Interviewees --- p.22 / Training Needs Analysis --- p.23 / Objectives --- p.23 / Sources of Information --- p.24 / Values of the Hong Kong Retail Banking Industry / Interview with the PRC Graduates working as Tellers or Clerks and their Line Managers in the Hong Kong Retail Banking Industry / Interview with PRC Graduates Studying MBA in Hong Kong / Annual Performance Appraisal of Existing PRC Graduates working as Tellers or Clerks / Job Descriptions of Supervisor of the Hong Kong Retail Banking Industry / Training Needs Identified --- p.31 / Stage I / Culture / Working Style / Customer Service / Technical Knowledge / Stage II / Technical Skills / """Soft"" Skills" / Training Methods Identified --- p.33 / Training Objectives --- p.33 / Structure of the Training Program --- p.33 / Training Method --- p.37 / Expected Results --- p.38 / Evaluation --- p.40 / Criteria / Frequency / Assessor and Format / Chapter IV. --- CONCLUSION --- p.43 / APPENDICES --- p.45 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.78

Text in Afrikaans / Die uitsluitlike doel van die studie was om die navorsingsprobleem, naamlik om vas te stel op watter wyse die leierskapstyl van opleidingsbestuurders die werksbevrediging van opleidingskonsultante beïnvloed wat volwassene-onderwys binne ʼn bepaalde bankgroep in Suid-Afrika verskaf, aan te spreek. Die navorser het bepaalde leierskapstyle (naamlik die demokratiese-, outokratiese- en laissez-faire leierskapstyle) en werksbevredigingskomponente geselekteer (naamlik ondersteuning, verhoudings en bemagtiging) ten einde dié ondersoek te doen. ʼn Vraelys is ontwerp wat as kwantitatiewe navorsingsinstrument gebruik is om navorsingsdata elektronies te versamel oor respondente se biografiese besonderhede, hulle bestuurder se leierskapstyl en respondente se persepsies van hul eie werksbevrediging. Een-en-negentig (91) uit eenhonderd sewe-en-dertig (137) respondente het die vraelys per e-pos voltooi, wat ʼn responskoers van 66.42% verteenwoordig. Uit die navorsingsresultate en -analise het dit geblyk dat leierskapstyl wél die persepsies van respondente oor elk van die werksbevredigingskomponente statisties beduidend beïnvloed het. / The sole aim of this study was to address the research problem, namely to determine the way in which the leadership style of training managers influences the work satisfaction of training consultants that provide adult education within a specific bank group in South Africa. The researcher selected specific leadership styles for the purpose of thís study (namely the democratic, outocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles) and work satisfaction components (namely support, relationships and empowerment) to carry out thís investigation. A questionnaire was designed which was used as quantitive research instrument to gather research data electronically about respondents’ biographical details, their manager’s leadership style and the perceptions of respondents regarding their own work satisfaction. Ninety-one (91) out of one-hundred-and-thirty-seven (137) respondents completed the questionnaire by email, which represents a response rate of 66.42%. Out of the research and analysis results it became evident that leadership style indeed influenced the perceptions of respondents over each of the work satisfaction components in a statistically significant way. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Volwassene-onderwys)