Chairman of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Asue Ighodalo, has reiterated the bank’s commitment to providing its employees with the best possible working environment. He made this disclosure during an inspection of the bank’s new Head Office Annex located along the busy Ikorodu Road in Lagos.
The new annex is equipped with a gym and game room which has game consoles and a pool table to ensure employees have fun at work. The facility also has a clinic and is fitted with solar panels which generates clean energy in line with the bank’s environmental sustainability agenda.
Commending the bank’s management for desiring to give its employees one of the best working environments possible, Mr. Ighodalo said the new workplace will ensure optimal productivity, job satisfaction and talent retention.
He noted that although some of the Bank’s competitors also have head office annexes, Sterling Bank decided to be different as part of a deliberate effort to become the number one bank of choice in the country. “We have done it differently, we have done it well and I am very proud of the team that did this job and I think they have done a great job,” he said.
Ighodalo explained that the inspection provided him with the opportunity to interact with employees of the Bank as well as some of the customers who were in the Bank at the time of the inspection. He said the Bank would strive always to give its employees everything they need to feel appreciated, and motivated to work hard.
Also speaking, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Sterling Bank, Mr. Yemi Adeola, said although the Bank’s head office is on the Lagos Island like most of the competition, a decision was taken to build the annex in the mainland area of Lagos to maximise benefits available from business opportunities in the metropolis.
Adeola explained that a new head office had become inevitable because the Bank’s operation was expanding and the existing head office was becoming too small for its level of operation while the associated high rent which the Bank was paying on rented premises had become untenable.
He said despite the significant amount spent on the construction of the annex, the impact on the bottom-line would be less when it is amortized over time. He disclosed that the annex which is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities has ample space to accommodate hundreds of staff members who will be moved there from the head office for enhanced performance.