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BlueAt Faysal Bank

we believe

JAN-MARCH 2014/ISSUE 24

Bank on Ambition

FROM THE DESK OF NAVED A. KHAN

I believe that the secret of success in life can be explained in just one word - Excellence.

It is, therefore, very important that the process of embracing it wholeheartedly become an integral part of our thought process. At Faysal Bank, we must consciously invest in developing excellence holistically and be dedicated to seeking it in daily routine matters before we look at moving the mountains. I am sure this way we will be able to enrich and add value to our Bank’s culture appreciably.

Originality, initiative and competence flourish only when excellence is encouraged and promoted in all spheres and dimensions.

In pursuit of this quality, we must ensure as a team that our wheel of performance keeps on accelerating, gathering momentum as we get more and more entrenched in our professional and personal responsibilities. I am absolutely confident that this effort on our part will contribute significantly in the positioning of Faysal Bank as a yardstick of service distinction in the banking industry.

Let us renew our commitment to evolve as an Institution that provides an enabling environment for brilliance in every aspect and where delighting the customers with superior service is the most coveted profit.

“Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well”

John Gardner

FBL Family Basant Carnival 2014

Karachi Islamabad

Faisalabad Lahore

Human Resources collaborated with GSD to arrange fun-filled family carnivals in Karachi, Lahore, Multan Faisalabad and Islamabad/Rawalpindi for the staff and their families in March 2014. Participation in these events is a great way to strengthen relationships and adds an enjoyable social dimension to work. When colleagues feel connected, productivity improves.

The idea behind this initiative is to encourage simple connections and involvement, trying to meet the more altruistic and basic human need of feeling connected within the team and being an important part of something bigger.

These carnivals were a great opportunity for FBL staff and their families to enjoy the beautiful weather as well. There were various activities for all adults and children as well as delicious feast. Some of the highlights included free rides, kite flying, magic/puppet show, face painting, pottery making, etc.

The lively events in all the five destinations were a huge success with the FBL staff and their families turned out in huge numbers. This also gave them a chance to interact not only with each other but also with senior management in festive and pleasant surroundings.

in Excellence!

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In Karachi, the staff members were enthralled by free fun-filled rides for children as well as adults in Aladin Park for four consecutive hours while staff and families in Islamabad enjoyed the carnival with light showers between brighter spells and delicious feast in the lush surroundings of restaurant 1969, near the famous Rose & Jasmine Garden.

Arrangements were made for live music and games like musical chairs amongst staff and their families. In Lahore, staff and their families thoroughly enjoyed the

event with kids having a great time on the train ride, merry-go-round, jumping castle along with live BBQ, etc.

Staff in Multan and Faisalabad also enjoyed the carnival along with their families at Jinnah Park and

Momen Avenue respectively. A racing competition was held for the children along with the magic show which they thoroughly enjoyed.

The event was organized by a team led by Awais Maqsood, Head of General Services Department in collaboration with Human Resources. The GSD team included Kamran Shahzad, Ozair Baig, Rashid Choudhry, Wasim Sohail, Mohammad Hanif and Ejaz Malik. Madiha Javed Qureshi and Irfan Qamar were part of the organizing committee from Human Resources.

Cont. Pg 1

NAVED A. KHAN STEPS DOWN AS P&CEOAfter serving Faysal Bank for over five years, Naved A. Khan steps down as P&CEO. Head C&IB Nauman Ansari will be the Acting P&CEO. Under the dynamic stewardship of P&CEO Naved A. Khan, Faysal Bank undertook a transformation on multiple fronts: product range, branch and electronic distribution, integrated risk-framework, future proof technology platform and most importantly, people development. As a result, Faysal Bank’s brand equity was strengthened, portraying the Bank positively to the regulators and to its customers in the various market segments. The successful and profitable merger of RBS in 2011 was clearly reflected in Faysal Bank’s financial performance with almost tripling of its branch network to 269 branches in 80 cities, and a total asset base of Rs. 355 Billion. During Naved A. Khan’s tenure, the re-profiling of deposits with improved margins and calibrated growth of risk assets with minimum infection has progressively led to a great franchise that will continually offer great prospects to the stakeholders. As he steers his future towards philanthropic endeavors, Naved A. Khan’s legacy will live on and long remembered.

Lahore

Multan Multan

Karachi

Karachi

Lahore

Islamabad Faisalabad

Participation in these events is a great wayto strengthen relationships and adds anenjoyable social dimension to work. When

colleagues feel connected, productivity improves.

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ONE ON ONETALKWhat are Nasir Islam’s core competencies?

They would have to be integrity, attention to detail and passion for work. To me work ends only when the tasks are successfully completed. I admire people who are intelligent, hard working as well as committed to the Bank & the franchise. I strongly believe that if one desires for any task to be executed successfully, it must be approached with complete honesty and ownership.

Please tell us about your academic and professional background.

I am a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 19 years of multifaceted experience. I started my career as Manager Finance at ANZ Grindlays (Karachi), after which I was posted at the ANZ HO (Melbourne, Australia) as Manager Commercial Banking System (CBS) Project. I returned to Pakistan and joined ABN AMRO as Audit Manager in 2000. I was appointed Country Head of Compliance in 2004. I joined Faysal Bank in June 2008 as Head of Compliance.

What is leadership to you? Do you think leaders are born?

Leaders provide vision. Good leaders convey their messages effectively to people, inspire them and oversee seamless execution. They are extremely articulate about their vision. However, I also think that through knowledge and exposure, leadership quotient can be remarkably enhanced.

You do have born leaders also, who improve themselves considerably as they gain experience. On the other hand, there are people who through sheer hard work and conviction become exceptional leaders.

I believe that one can achieve any height, any position in life if one truly puts one’s heart and soul into it.

Please define an ideal manager you would want to work with.

My ideal manager would be a capable person who can elicit extraordinary results from ordinary people. For this purpose he/she needs to have an inspiring personality and should be able to motivate and encourage others to do their best. An ideal manager should be very high on EQ.

They should have good professional knowledge as well as people management skills. Furthermore, an ideal manager should have a good understanding of market and its customers.

What are the challenges that the financial sector is facing in Pakistan?

I think a stable law and order situation across the country is crucial for the banking sector to flourish. Law and order situation must improve so that the environment becomes more advantageous for investment opportunities in Pakistan. In addition, stable energy i.e. electricity and gas are needed in the country to foster business continuity. Despite healthy profits that continue to be reported generally, the biggest concern is the rising trend of industry wide non-performing loans. Another key challenge is containing expenditure at acceptable levels in an environment of rising costs.

However, I am highly optimistic that there is still a huge opportunity for the banking sector to expand profitably because majority of people living in Pakistan do not have direct access to banking facilities. Banks need to increase their foot prints so that the underserved population can benefit from the banking facilities.

How do you think banks can tackle these challenges on their end?

I think we need to be more aggressive in using technology and providing solutions to our customers. We must serve our existing customers with superior service and grow our SME and agri-business segment.

I think that technology is a single resource which is here to stay and I foresee branchless and mobile banking becoming more robust and widespread in coming days. The technology linkage can provide a profitable breakthrough.

What is the role of training and development in FBL to achieve our vision?

Earlier, the purpose of training and development was to ensure that employees could effectively accomplish their jobs. However this is not the case anymore!

Today, the business environment has changed with intense pressure on banks to stay ahead of the competition through innovation and reinvention, hence we need to have a process of continuous learning within our ranks all the time.

In my humble opinion, strategic positioning of training and development directly promotes organizational goals and objectives. Key business challenges of present financial market require banks to thoughtfully evaluate their market position and determine the talent, skill set and knowledge to be successful.

How do you maintain work-life balance?

Never take office concerns home is my secret of maintaining a great work-life balance. It is not easy but one should try to avoid carrying this excess baggage to family as it is not really fair on them. One should leave the tension of one’s professional life at the workplace. People keep on worrying about the end result of their efforts 24 hours a day. This way they make both their personal and professional lives miserable. One should give maximum efforts to their duties and leave the rest to Allah (SWT).

What role does Compliance play in the Bank?

The Compliance Function’s purpose is to ensure that all areas of the Bank act in accordance with the requirements of all relevant regulations and standards. It works to safeguard the Bank from reputational risk by enforcing adequate policies and procedures enabling the Bank to remain compliant with applicable rules and regulations in Pakistan. The four distinct departments within the Compliance Function are:

a) Business Compliance b) Client Acceptance and Anti Money Laundering

(CAAML)c) Fraud Risk Managementd) Information Security Risk Management.

Do you have any role model who you follow?

I do not believe in confining myself to a single role model. Professionally, I may be inspired by various people and try to observe their successful practices. I think one is always learning. I feel that interacting with intelligent and interesting people who have a focused approach to life always adds value and enriches your mind and soul.

What is a successful life?

I recall that Einstein once said that one must learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. A successful life to me is living a life of principles and always striving to do the ‘right thing’ to earn respect and attain inner peace and satisfaction.

Nasir Islam

“I strongly believe that if one desires for any task to be executed successfully,

it must be approached with complete honesty and ownership.”

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Despite non-ideal economic conditions, Faysal Bank was able to achieve operating profits before provision of Rs. 4,277 million which is 32.2% higher than the corresponding year’s figure of Rs. 3,236 million.

This performance is commendable as the Bank was able to absorb negative impact of mark up rate cuts by the Central Bank which directly affected the mark up income. In view of the changed circumstances, the Bank focused on mobilizing low priced core deposits and controlling administrative expenses. Jointly these factors not only offset decline in mark up revenue of Rs. 1.0 billion but also took care of an additional provision of Rs. 716 million.

Due to reduction in cost of deposits, the Bank’s net interest margins increased by Rs. 1,882 million or 20.9%. This trend is contrary to the industry wherein, by large net margins are showing a significant reduction.

The improvement in quality of deposits and reduction in cost of funds is going to have a positive effect on long term profitability of the Bank.

The Bank’s focus on consumer business and Alternative Delivery Channels has resulted in an increase of fee based income which is showing a 20% growth during the year.

With an objective of strengthening the balance sheet, the Bank made provisions against its exposure to weak customers and increased its NPL coverage from 66.3% to 71.5%.

Consequently, provision against advances and investments increased from Rs. 1,400 million in 2012 to Rs 2,116 million during 2013.

Rigorous efforts on cost reduction enabled the Bank to maintain administrative expenses of year 2013 at almost 2011 and 2012 levels. Practically the Bank was able to freeze cost efficiently for 3 years in a row while continuing with normal business activities like opening / relocating branches and withstanding economic factors like prevailing inflation, ever increasing energy prices

and indirect taxes on services. As a result of all the above factors, profit after tax at Rs. 1,850 million registered an impressive growth of 30.3% over last year.

This translates into an EPS of Rs. 1.77 as against Rs. 1.36 last year. On the balance sheet side, net advance grew by Rs. 11.9 billion to stand at Rs. 184.2 billion at the end of December 2013 as against Rs. 172.3 billion the previous year. Deposits also showed a healthy growth of 12.6% over last year with CASA concentration improving from 60.9% to 64.9%. As a result of this growth, total assets of the Bank crossed Rs. 350 billion landmark and stood at Rs. 355 billion at the end of 2013.

FBL REGISTERS OVER 30% SURGE IN PROFITSWe are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AWARDS 2013To commemorate the successful year 2013 and to recognize the star performance of the FBL Consumer Finance, Retail Risk, Operations and Islamic Bank teams, annual awards ceremonies were held in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad during March 2014. Senior management and more than 1500 employees participated nationwide.

The ceremony in Karachi commenced with a brief presentation by the Product Head giving a snapshot of the CF business in 2013.

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An award ceremony makes people feel that their hard work is valued. It shows approval and gratitude for each person's performance and makes them aware that their initiatives, determination and outstanding work are recognized and rewarded. Furthermore, it also motivates everyone to strive for excellence.

The award ceremony for high achievers in Solitaire (Central Region) was held on Monday, February 17, 2014 at Bistro 201 in Lahore. It was a celebration especially for those who gave an outstanding performance in the year 2013. I served as the MC for the event and gave a comprehensive overview of Solitaire’s 2013 highlights and its overall performance. On behalf of the Central Region we thanked Syed Kazim Raza, Ahmed Hemani, Mustafa Kamal, Babar Mangi, Marzia Lotia and Salman Sarfaraz for their appreciation and recognition.

Following the ceremony, there was a slideshow of Solitaire’s glorious past moments from previous award ceremonies and Bancassurance conventions. Syed Kazim Raza, Head Branch Banking and Ahmed Hemani, Head Wealth Management gave motivating speeches that were full of appreciation for the Solitaire channel. The occasion witnessed representation from our stakeholders and support functions including the Liability Channel, Wealth Channel, SME, CPU, GSD, Service Quality and Human Resources. The names that made the list of winners were Minahil Masood for best Client Associate, Nida Nazir and Momin Zahur for best Relationship Managers, Yasir Usmani and Zeeshan Fazil for best Priority Centre Managers, Asmar Tariq and Murtaza Arif Dar for Branch Managers, Imran Ali Malik and Kabir Qureshi for Area Managers, Afzal Haq and Syed Hussain Imam Bukhary for Distribution Heads.

Tufail Road branch got the award for the best Solitaire Centre in service quality pan-Pakistan.

SERVICE BRANCHES OF QUARTER 2 & 3, 2013Wazirabad branch won the title of ‘Service Branch of Quarter 2, 2013’.

A ceremony was organized by Service Quality Department to appreciate and recognize the staff of Wazirabad branch for their outstanding performance in all key service indicators throughout the quarter. Syed Kazim Raza, Head Branch Banking and Syed Imam Bokhary, Distribution Head North-II presented mementos and certificates to the top performers

Gulshan-e-Ravi branch, Lahore won the title of ‘Service Branch of Quarter 3, 2013’.

A ceremony was organized by Service Quality Department to appreciate and recognize the staff of Gulshan-e-Ravi branch for their outstanding performance in all key service indicators throughout the quarter. Syed Kazim Raza, Head Branch Banking and Afzal Haq, Distribution Head Central-I presented mementos and certificates to the top performers

The Cards and Autos Business led the market in 2013 which was an appreciable achievement for the Consumer Finance Business. P&CEO Naved A. Khan also addressed the participants. The P&CEO

commended their efforts and urged them to achieve new milestones in 2014. More than 100 awards were distributed followed by a grand high tea which marked the end of the ceremony.

A great deal of enthusiasm could be seen amongst the participants who left the occasion with a promise to reach out and scale new heights of excellence in 2014 with commitment & ownership.

THE NIGHT OF STARS By Syed Zulfiqar Hassan

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9TH SALES CONVENTION: SOUTH AFRICA BANCASSURANCE NEWS

By Jawad Safdar

Cape Town, the destination of FBL’s 9th Bancassurance Sales Convention is commonly known as the southern most point of South Africa. This country looks more European than African. Its culture is extremely rich and diverse as it has eleven national languages. Everybody in our group of 150 people, worked day and night during four months to earn this trip and all of us were looking forward to visiting this amazing destination.

Day 1Everyone will agree that the most thrilling moment of any convention is the meeting point at airport where people meet and greet each other with sparkling faces. This time around team members from Islamabad were lucky enough to enjoy a fifteen hour stop-over at Dubai before flying onward to Cape Town. These exciting fifteen hours were all about social networking before we could head off to the glorious Cape Town.

After checking in at the Southern Sun Hotel, our group started exploring the city. The city turned out to be

quite nice and picturesque. It is a big town, people here are generally courteous and law abiding. However at night, walking alone on deserted streets is not recommended. Some of Cape Town inhabitants have European ancestry while remaining majority (83%) are locals belonging to different African countries.

Day 2We found Cape Town reasonably affordable for shopping. It is tourist friendly and halal food was easily available. We later learned that unemployment is a big issue for the government and they are trying their level

best to tackle it. We spent the day exploring the city and the evening was reserved for the award distribution ceremony. It was a great night! P&CEO Naved A. Khan and other senior management team of the Bank graced the occasion.

It was a colourful night that celebrated four months of rigorous hard work. African cultural performances by local artists amused the audience after which the P&CEO distributed the awards. With awards in their hands, the lively Banca Champions danced to the beat of the music to celebrate their success that night.

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Day 3The day started with Table Mountain Tour which is mostly surrounded by clouds. Big cable cars took us to the top after which we went to the Waterfront beach for lunch. There are many food stalls and souvenir shops where one can easily find exotic oil paintings and African handicrafts made of wood, clay & stone. Prices were pretty reasonable with room for bargaining just like our own country. Some people opted for the helicopter ride and paragliding trips which provided an exhilarating aerial view of Cape Town while some decided to explore shark cage diving. We also saw the

historic Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was jailed for over 27 years.

Day 4Main attraction of South Africa is Cape Point. The drive to Cape Point was wonderful with captivating scenery and tourist spots like Camps Bay. Next, we visited the Penguin Islands where we saw penguins frolicking around. We had lunch at Hout Bay and enjoyed their famous fish and chips. From there we went to Seal Island on boat. It was a pleasant trip with clear waters and lush green mountains as the back drop.

Day 5Since it was the last day and we had to take the flight at noon, we packed our luggage and headed for the nearby Greenmarket Square for some urgent last minute shopping. The carved ostrich eggs and wood craft are highly recommended souvenirs for friends and family back home. Traditional oil paintings are quite impressive too.

Overall, it was a great trip to a splendid country and will remain firmly embedded in our memories for a very long time.

By the grace of Almighty Allah, it was an excellent experience to visit South Africa. Cape Town is the city of stunning mountains and exotic beaches. It has multiplicity of cultures, languages and huge variety of mouth watering cuisines. Visiting Table Mountain which is counted as one of the new seven wonders of the world was a great experience. It was a great opportunity to meet the management team, peers and champs from all over Pakistan. Receiving awards from P&CEO and senior management was also very motivating for all of us.

Muhammad Naveed Khan – RM, Jodia Bazar, Islamic Banking, South

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities on the planet; it is an extraordinary city worth visiting! There is so much to see, do and experience. There is Table Mountain to climb, which is declared the natural 7th natural wonder of the World. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Robben Island are a must see as well. Canal Walk is an entertainment complex that is definitely out of this world. In short, the whole convention is worth remembering and truly one of the best conventions I have ever attended.

Abdul Hanan Moazzam - Regional Head, Commercial Banking, Central, Lahore

A gettogether of FBL’s top performers under one roof in the form of Banca Sales Convention has a totally different feeling altogether. This platform not only recognizes our efforts but also motivates everyone.

The beauty of Cape Town cannot be just described in words, from Waterfront to Camps Bay, Table Mountain, Robben Island, Penguin Islands, Seal Island, the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point - every place has its own fair share of beauty and a remarkable story to tell.

Khawaja Yousuf – RSM, WM Central

My trip to South Africa was memorable as I got the chance to visit a beautiful place like Cape Town and spend some quality time with the senior management. It was indeed a lifetime experience and I thank FBL for giving us this opportunity.

Azizullah Patoli – BSO, Hyderabad Branch South II

Cape Town is famous for its magnificent natural features like Table Mountain, Lion’s Head Peak and Cape Point. The extremely agreeable climate and well-developed infrastructure make Cape Town a unique and exhilarating travel destination. The wide range of activities like helicopter tour, shark cage diving, paragliding and sky diving were once in a lifetime experiences. Cape Town...I will see you soon again!

Uzair Rasool – Area Manager, Islamabad North I

South Africa was a memorable experience of my life. It was my first experience travelling with FBL team. I really enjoyed the whole trip and was impressed by such a well-organized event. It was very motivating to attend the convention ceremony which gave a huge boost to our confidence. It made us really look forward to the next convention. Cape Town has well developed infrastructure, clean streets, pristine beaches and the cloudy weather was awesome. These glorious five days in South Africa will remain etched in our memories forever.

Syed Sadaqat Shah – BM, Raja Bazaar Rawalpindi North I

For me fun actually started from Dubai, where I got a chance to meet a few friends during our transit stay. No doubt Cape Town is a must see place because of its beautiful beaches, scenic drive to Chapman’s Peak, Cape Point and Table Mountain. I thoroughly enjoyed the helicopter ride in Cape Town along with my colleagues - What a view! I must say it was a memorable trip full of fun and frolic.

Shahid Rizwan – RSM, Solitaire North I

What an extraordinary city! I was extremely happy to be in picturesque Cape Town. I personally think this is one of the best cities on the planet. It has to be said that this South African city is absolutely gorgeous, therefore, it should come as to no surprise to anyone that the city has been ranked as one of the top holiday destinations of the world. The most unique experience was visiting Gansbaai with friends, to see the great white sharks in action in deep sea. It was scary but now when I look back, it was my best experience in South Africa.

Tayyab Iftikhar - Area Manager, North II, Faisalabad

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all that has beenhappening here!AND

ON THE NEWS

300,000 FANS ON FACEBOOK A MILESTONE FOR FAYSAL BANKBy Samia Khalid

Launched in October 2010, the Faysal Cricket page aimes to promote Faysal Bank’s commitment to Domestic Cricket. With Front Benchers, we introduced six bloggers taking the form of characters with extremely differing personalities.

Following its success, and keeping in mind the shift in advertising trends and increasing penetration of Facebook in the world where every bank has an official page for communication regarding its products and offerings, it was decided to convert this already progressing platform from an “all cricket” page to the official “Faysal Bank” Page in December 2013.

This page would be aimed at covering the entire spectrum of the Bank's offerings as it adds a contemporary dimension to the channels of communication available to us for interaction with our customers.

We look forward to taking this platform to greater heights of success and encourage all FBL employees to visit the page and participate.

These characters were present at the stadium during all matches; updating scores, pictures and other information about the game and players. Through these ambassadors our aim was to provide the audience with characters they could relate to so that we could take our brand name and its association with the Domestic T20 to the next level.

It is our belief that in today’s day and age what people say about a brand has become more important than what the brand says about itself. When big brands participate in social media in a meaningful, personal way to build real human relationships, prospects and customers are far more likely to become die-hard advocates who spread positive sentiment across their social networks and, in many cases, defend the brand against detractors. This led us to such a big success in only seven tournaments (approx. 50 days of interrupted Facebook activity).

With extensive comments, updates and content being shared from the Front Benchers, the engagement was at the highest level.

The number of people talking about the fans daily were as high as 44,000 whereas during each tournament approximately 150 posts were made making about 1.7 million impressions and receiving

FAYSAL BANK JOINS HANDS WITH AIG CHARTIS

FAYSAL BANK SIGNS BANCASSURANCEDISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITHADAMJEE LIFE

Faysal Bank recently joined hands with AIG Chartis to collaborate and develop travel insurance products for Faysal Bank’s customers. This is the first time that the two companies will be working together and will add to the Bank’s robust menu of Bancassurance products as we strive to meet diverse customer needs.

AIG Chartis is the global leader for travel insurance with 90 years of experience serving over 70 million customers worldwide in over 130 countries. They bring with them the experience, global partnerships and technological capability which along with Faysal Bank will further augment the customer experience and enhance the overall customer value proposition.

Faysal Bank signed a Bancassurance Distribution Agreement with Adamjee Life on Friday, December 20, 2013 in Karachi. According to this agreement, Faysal Bank will offer Adamjee Life Bancassurance product to its customers through its widespread distribution network. Adamjee Life is a joint collaboration between Adamjee Insurance and Hollard, South Africa.

The agreement was signed by Syed Kazim Raza, Head Branch Banking, Faysal Bank Limited and Jalal Meghani, CFO & Company Secretary, Adamjee Life Assurance. The partnership will help further Faysal Bank Bancassurance Department’s aim of providing a range of insurance solutions to cater to the diverse financial needs of its customers.

By Shiraz Abdullah Mehmood

By Asma Ahmad

around 20,000 comments/likes/shares. Content was uploaded in real time and the fans were updated about what ever happened and just when it happened.

After the first two years of success we proceeded to the next level with product promotions being a part of the Front Benchers’ script. This acted as an additional touch point for the Bank to interact with its target market. Discount deals in different restaurants along with details of other alliances e.g. electronics were promoted as well.

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At Faysal Bank, CIC aspires to be the best-in-class contact center providing exemplary customer services and experience to customers, while handling queries, complaints, transaction requests and driving sales and revenue for the Bank.

The CIC team was delighted to welcome P&CEO Naved A. Khan to the newly renovated and state-of-the-art premises at AHR in Karachi. The P&CEO was accompanied by the senior management and was given a complete tour of the premises followed by a detailed presentation on the overall 2013 performance, future aspirations and strategic roadmap for 2014.

P&CEO VISITS CUSTOMER INTERACTION CENTREBy Fahad Saeed

THE TRANSITION FROM SYMBOLS TO SIEBEL

By Muhammad Salman Sarfaraz

In the year 2013, the Wealth Management team trained the entire Branch Banking staff on Siebel CRM with regard to basic usage and performing BAU activities.

As a critical step to further this transition process, we in conjunction with the Siebel and ID Management teams took the initiative to switch all RMs using SYMBOLS (Core Banking software) to Siebel CRM by discontinuing their access from the former system.This exercise was conducted for conventional branches with a staggered approach starting from Tuesday, January 31, 2013 and concluded on Saturday, January 25, 2014. During the month of March 2014 the same exercise was conducted for Islamic banking branches as well with the intention to complete the transition of all Relationship Managers to Siebel.

During the course of this exercise, we provided regular assistance to the branches with regard to ID related issues and other queries. Daily communications were circulated to generate awareness and provide guidance. Furthermore, the Wealth Channel was instrumental in highlighting issues and providing on-the-job training and assistance to branches to make this change as seamless and effective as possible.

We would like to thank the Business Technology team and ID Management department for their tireless support during this project and will continue working with them to support upcoming Siebel initiatives.

The road to change is lengthy and arduous, but together we hope to achieve success!

The beginning of 2014 saw a new business segment being parked under Wealth Management; we were given the task for re-launching the Retail Lending business. Taking on the project from a 360-degree perspective, the business was rebranded by the Wealth Team as Faysal Bank Moneyline which would be the name for our running finance business.

Furthermore, we conducted pan-Pakistan training sessions for the frontline staff to generate awareness and focus on the product. We visited Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan, Kharian and

Faisalabad to meet the branch banking teams and train them on product features and loan pricing strategy. With the added support of our business partners in CAD, we were able to streamline the process and reduce turnaround times for potential customers.

We see this business segment as a major growth area, and believe that it holds significant revenue generating potential for the Bank. With the support of the frontline and the Wealth Channel, we hope to make this initiative a resounding success.

LAUNCH OF

By Babar Mushtaq Mangi

saplings and engaging in various community activities such as sports, dancing and feasting.

The Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan, Syed Mahdi Shah was invited as a chief guest to the event. Senior officials from Gilgit Baltistan Administration also participated in the concluding ceremony. The program kicked off with a Tug-of-War competition between GB Scouts and GB Police followed by a polo match between two teams at Skardu’s ground where food stalls were also set up.

The spring celebration event concluded with an award distribution ceremony. The Chief Minister distributed the prizes among the winning teams while the Area Manager, Azhar Jahan Mir distributed prizes to runner up team. In his concluding remarks, the Chief Minister applauded the endeavors of Faysal bank for arranging a spectacular event to celebrate Navroze & Pakistan Day and promised to extend his support to Faysal Bank in the region.

It is pertinent to mention here that the event owes its success to the entire team of Skardu branch with special efforts from Branch Manager, Taruf Mehmood, Area Manager Gilgit Baltistan, Azhar Jehan Mir and Distribution Head, North, Mehdi Haider.

Keeping in line with our commitment to serve our customers and community, Faysal Bank celebrated Navroze & Pakistan day in Skardu. It is a local tradition that dates back over 3,000 years. This celebration ushers in the New Year and people commemorate this day by planting flowers,

FAYSAL BANK CELEBRATES SPRING WITH NAVROZE & PAKISTAN DAY IN GILGIT BALTISTAN

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In 2013, Learning and Development (L&D) continued its thrust to provide strategic advantage to business through relevant and need-based learning interventions. The objective is to invest in staff’s personal, professional and technical competencies to support the Bank’s goals.

One of the key initiatives included the launch of first Annual Learning Calendar based on Training-Need-Analysis (TNA). With this leverage L&D was able to efficiently plan learning interventions. A total of 81,795 training hours were completed.

Total number of participations in the training programs was 13,502. Total FTE’s trained by subject matter experts through class room and online learning methodologies across the Bank were 2965 which is 82% of the total FTE staff. L&D through its training

programs paved the way for successful implementation of Symbols 8.5 in the Bank. In collaboration with the business, L&D team facilitated workshops on professional, technical and soft skills offered by internal and external renowned trainers.

In-house workshops were developed and successfully launched to meet the business requirements such as SME Certification Program, RO/BFC induction Program and Branch Banking Certification Program (case study based).

Other soft skills and technical skills workshops included Winning through Service, Emotional Intelligence, Power of Positive Attitude, Team Building & Trust, Presentation Skills, MBTI-based Conflict Management, Sales Management, Intermediate & Advance Excel. L&D kept online learning on the

forefront of its product suite. Six (6) Computer-based trainings (CBTs) were also launched which were CAAML, Credit Cards, Account Opening, Western Union, Bancassurance and Islamic Banking.

Additionally, L&D took on the responsibility of Internal Communication for the Bank. The Blue Octagram was regularly printed and distributed across the network.

The first ever FBL movie night was arranged for staff based in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad/Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. The event was a huge success and was successfully managed by IC team with logistical support from GSD.

These activities were in addition to managing recognition/reward related internal events and updating the intranet.

Approximately 1.5 million habitants of district Tharparkar have been affected in the recent drought. FBL, one of the top ten banks in Pakistan quickly responded to provide support and relief to the affected families through its CSR program. Relief efforts are centric to FBL’s CSR strategy in addition to critical areas of health, education and poverty alleviation across Pakistan.

The activity entailed reaching out to affected households with ration packs, clean water and medicines with support from Pakistan Navy.

CSR activities at Faysal Bank strive to bring about positive social impact through its community-based programs and are built around giving back and adding value to the society at large.

L&D - 82% OF ALL FTE STAFF TRAINED IN 2013

FBL PARTICIPATES IN THAR RELIEF EFFORTS THROUGH ITS CSR PROGRAM

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how can we accomplish excellence

in all that we do?

QUICKFIRE ROUND

Striving for excellence is an integral part of the goal to achieve success, growth and prosperity in life. It encompasses trying to put quality into everything you do whether it is your work, your personal life, your health or your

relationships. We all aspire to achieve greatness in life. I am someone who endlessly strives for excellence. The feeling of satisfaction I get when I achieve something I set out to accomplish is immense.

However, to be successful, you have to first believe in yourself and know that you are capable of overcoming all challenges that come your way. The road to excellence is a continuous process which entails constant upgrading and skills development. It requires good teamwork and empathy spread throughout the organization, thereby helping others to achieve excellence through motivation, inspiration and personal development.

Jamal Ansari, Head Consumer Finance

I think we can accomplish excellence in our work by giving WOW experiences to our customers. We have to identify and recognize their needs and then do our best to fulfill these needs with commitment.

Our goal should be to exceed their expectations. Excellence is always based on integrity, efficiency and effectiveness.

Mehboob Alam, Operation Manager, IBB, Gujrat

In routine work, every one tries to perform their duties as mentioned in the job description but it is more important to do them as best as one can. I believe we can achieve excellence in all that we do when we take the responsibility and

ownership of our actions.

Sheeraz Ahmed Khan, Consumer Finance & ADC Operations

I have always felt that when peers and seniors appreciate your efforts, it is very motivating. Achieving your goals is very important. One should work hard to achieve the goals as excellence is directly related to your ambition.

Adnan Abbasi, Branch Manager, Rawalpindi

TOP 5 ESSENTIALURDU READS1. Watan Ki Mitti Gawah Rehna by Tariq Ismail Sagar

2. Gadhe Ki Sarguzasht by Karshan Chander

3. Ullu Hamaray Bhai Hain by Mustansar Hussain Tarar

4. Ali Pur Ka Ailee by Mumtaz Mufti

5. Bhutto ke Aakhri 323 Din by Col. Rafi-ud-Din

TOP 5 ESSENTIAL ENGLISH READS1. Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists by Raghuram G. Rajan

and Luigi Zingales

2. A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie

3. Pakistan not a Failed State by Shabbar Zaidi

4. Four Warned by Jeffrey Archer

5. Ataturk: An Intellectual Biography by M Sukru Hanioglu

To commemorate the performance of 2013 and to discuss the strategies in 2014, Gulshan-e-Iqbal area branches in Karachi arranged a brunch on Sunday, January 19, 2014 at BBQ Tonight followed by a movie at Nueplex Cinema. The event included nine branches of the area.

The event was the brainchild of Area Manager, Faisal Naved Iqbal and all the arrangements were made by him and his team.

The main focus of this event was to increase synchronization among branches of Gulshan area and to increase familiarity among staff. It was an excellent teambuilding initiative which took the motivation of staff to the next level.

A BRUNCH TO REMEMBER!

LIFEAFTER 5

taking time out is hard work too!

SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK!EMAIL: INTERNALCOMMUNICATION@FAYSALBANK.COM

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WHAT TO WATCH

The name Orrery immediately reminds you of a four-Michelin star French restaurant at 55 Marylebone high street, London by the same name; however it is just a mad stroke of coincidence in the case of three-restaurants-in-one concept Orrery opened recently in block 4, Clifton, Karachi.

It is built on three stories. Estrela on the ground floor specializes in French cuisine. The ambience is high-end with rippling fountains and dimmed recessed lighting reinforcing a calm Zen-inspired effect. It caters to a wide palate from French and Italian to Mediterranean, Moroccan, and Greek specialties. The first floor is a café and cigar lounge called Café Ocoa. It looks like a posh bachelor pad with huge LCDs, leather couches, wooden flooring and a bar. The top floor is a relaxed hangout space, O’ Grill, specializing in BBQ & Arab inspired cuisine. Highly recommended at Café Ocoa are stuffed potatoes, Gourmet salad and Hummus with pita bread in the appetizer category. The stuffed potatoes were succulent and tasty and were devoured without any guilt or conscience. The Gourmet salad comprising Turkey bacon and fresh iceberg lettuce were equally fetching and just as flavorsome.

In the main course the dishes that won our group’s collective nod of approval were Orrery special pizza: a 12 inch thin crust pizza with delicious pesto sauce and chicken chunks, Symbolic Sauce Chicken: chicken breast piece served with symbolic chili paste, sautéed vegetables and baked potato, Chicken Tarragon: chunky chicken breast piece served with Tarragon sauce and herbs. The burger could have been better as it was a bit on the dry side. The Mont Lemonade was soul invigorating to say the least: tangy and less frizzy, just the way we like it. In the dessert class, Blueberry Cheese Cake and Chocolate Nut Fondue are simply not to be missed. In short Orrery is yet another gastronomical treat for the gourmands of Karachi.

WHERE TO EATBy Irfan Qamar

BONSOIR ORRERY!

LONE SURVIVORMadiha Javed Qureshi

The movie is based on the book Lone Survivor which covers former Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell’s eye witnessed covert operation “The Red Wings” to gun down high targeted Afghan warlord Ahmed Shah, with three other seals in 2005.

The movie casts Mark Wahlberg as a team lead

who is faced with an ethical dilemma of killing the tribe’s goatherds who bust them accidentally during the operation. Peter Berg realistically shows the four seals vocally battling each other’s decisionto kill or let go of the goatherds, as setting them free would be alarming the Pashtun warlords.

WHAT TO READ

LET’S SEARCHFOR THAT WORD!

Winston Churchill CEO – 25Lessons for Bold Business Leaders This book by Alan Axelrod is a well written and extremely absorbing tale of a ‘super precocious’ and ‘insufferably bumptious’ lads’ ascent to highest ranks of world politics and intelligentsia. It reads almost like fiction and the author cleverly refrains to make it a bookish and boring academic account of facts and figures.

The treatment of the subject is amusingly colloquial and easy to absorb with thoroughly researched anecdotes about the life and times of Sir Winston Churchill, a master strategist, tactician, writer and world leader. The uniqueness of this book lies in the fact that the writer has brilliantly juxtaposed Churchill’s leadership qualities with his experiences, success and failures forming a superb backdrop against which leadership qualities can be absorbed and understood by the reader within a bold sub-text and creditable frame of reference.

It is not that Churchill did not taste the despair of loss and retreat but he learned from his failures.

The book goes in depth in searching credence for his principles and dogma. Each story: each anecdote unravels pertinent learning points from which leadership quotient in a person can be explored, honed and

By Irfan Qamar

E X T R A O R D I N A R Y E D

X Q U A L I S U P E R I O R K

P V I C E O W C A N C L Y C Q

E S E S H I P U K A O O A U S

C L P E L B E L U L M O R S M

T K R A K J A T T K P L D T T

A W O E S H I U L F E L S U O

T E K K L O G R F I T U T C S

I A L M O N Q E S T E M I L M

O Q U P A L I Y V I N E C I I

N G E R T K I M I L T O K Z O

S R O O A E X C E L L E N C E

C E P F O M P T L T U B W D C

U A L I T O M E R Q S H I P T

S O T T P E R F O R M A N C E

Excellence, Culture, Competent, Superior, Yardstick, Performance, Extraordinary, Profit, We, Expectations

TOP 10 MOVIES• 12 years a Slave• Gravity• The Wolf of Wall Street• American Hustle• Blue Jasmine

• Her• Frozen• Dallas Buyers Club• Philomena• Nebraska

put into practice. The book ends on the note that winning is essential and the goal of any enterprise is to win: creating an environment of relationships that sustains and prospers the organization. This is the winning strategy: the strategy of sustainable success.

If someone desires to really learn about leadership, this interesting book has quite a bit for him to benefit from.

Eventually, what follows as an act of humanity by the Seal’s team lead turns into a horrific ambush by the warlords. Peter Berg’s action sequences are well captured by gunfire and explosives sound effects realistically depicting a three-hour fight between the wretched Navy Seals largely outnumbered by the tribal warlords. Seals are shown falling off 20-30 feet high cliffs at least three times to escape the ambush leading into broken bones and gut-wrenching wounds until it becomes a traumatic encounter of the lone survivor with Mohammad Gulab Ali, a Pashtun who saves him from the warlords honoring Pashtunwali the Pashtun code of honor of helping someone in need. Mohammad Gulab Ali later becomes a high target for warlords for attempting to save an American soldier.

The movie does not only deal with the complexities of the war-on-terror fought in Afghanistan-Pakistan borders but also addresses the different demographics and attitudes of people living in tribal areas. It painfully gives a clear indication on how difficult the war-on-terror has been because it hasn’t only been about fighting the warlords but also having to save the ones who are not responsible for anything at all.