Staff Reporter
Windhoek-“Despite the tough economic times we have been through since the end of 2016, we are extremely pleased to announce that salary increases this year are way above the inflation rate of 6.1 percent. This is reflective of the bank’s commitment to lessen the negative impact of current economic conditions on our people who continue to ensure that FNB remains the leading financial institution in Namibia,” says Andrew Kanime, the Group’s chief human resources officer.
Kanime expressed satisfaction with the spirit in which the negotiations were conducted, explaining that FNB reached a win-win wage agreement with the Namibian Bank Workers Union (NBWU) to increase salaries for all employees in the bargaining unit by a minimum of 7.25 percent per annum and a maximum of 9.25 percent increase – granted according to employee performance ratings.
“In line with our people strategy of building a high-performance culture, our salary increases are performance based and the better you performed, the higher your increase will be.”
Kanime went on to say that performance-based increases should become the norm in all organisations, both private or public, as it has been proven to be a direct incentive for employees to achieve their targets, while at the same time being an effective way of dealing with poor performance.
“Employees know what to focus on and remain goal-orientated – focusing on driving and achieving breakthrough results – when rewarded with a higher salary increase.”
FNB Namibia also increased the standby and call out allowances to ensure alignment to inflation movement. As Kanime stated, “We firmly believe that our people sustain our Group and we have the best people working for us and want to keep it that way.