Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Leader?

By Mel Sim

Alliance Bank’s Management Trainee Programme is what you need to get on the right track to become a financial leader.

Alliance Bank’s Management Trainee (MT) Programme recognises the importance of recruiting the ‘crème de la crème’ who would eventually be leaders of the banking industry. Our employees are our greatest asset and they should be groomed from the very start of their banking career,” said Khim Tan, Alliance Bank’s Group Chief Human Resource Officer.

How does the Alliance Bank MT Programme do this?

“This innovative programme is curated with both the graduate and business needs in mind. Through this, we aim to create a seamless experience for graduates entering the work force as well as nurturing them for future leadership roles,” said Khim.

Management trainees undergo an intensive 12-month programme that combines classroom learning with business rotations, culminating in a final role placement of their choice. Trainees also have the opportunity to learn from the Bank’s senior management through frequent dialogues and engagement.

“Essentially, the MT Programme aims to develop engaged employees with the right competencies, striking a balance between what the Bank values in an employee and the employees’ implicit behavior. Through this programme, we expect graduates to gain good qualities that will be key in their career development.”

What are some of these qualities?

i) Collaboration. When we work with internal and external partners to achieve mutually beneficial solutions, we are really working towards building alliances to improve lives.
ii) Customer Centricity. It is vital that we understand and anticipate our customer’s behavior and ever changing demands, as we continuously strive to provide excellent customer experience.
iii) Agility. In any dynamic situation, the ability to view ambiguity, change and adapt to the environment is essential to survival. The importance of agility can be clearly seen during this pandemic as corporations and businesses had to quickly adapt to ensure their survival.

“Even after the programme has ended, we continue to provide our MT graduates learning and development opportunities via our suite of leadership programmes such as the Alliance Managers Programme and Alliance Leaders Programme as well as Innovation Marvels projects. These programmes and projects focus on the long-term development of our management trainees. We want to ensure that our management trainees possess the technical skills to be a professional banker, and the soft skills to be future-fit leaders,” said Khim.

To apply, graduates will need a Bachelor’s Degree with a CGPA 3.0 and above or a Master’s Degree, and less than two years of working experience. To really stand out as a candidate, you should demonstrate agility, creativity, passion and above all, resilience,” said Khim.

“We foresee that different functions will become much more integrated in the future. I believe that contrasting backgrounds and specialisations will merge and lend wonderful perspectives to how the banking business model and value chain should look like,” explained Khim.

Transformations aside, Khim believe one thing remains - Education and knowledge have no limits. This line of thinking has guided Khim to strive at constantly improving herself so that she can uphold what her late grandparents drummed into her when she was younger. “What you gain in life is not as important as how you impact others,” she shared. “It is really about engaging with people and listening to what drives them and the business. It is about motivating and sustaining the energy to make an organisation be the best place to work, and bringing the best out of people no matter how cliché this may sound. To be successful, we must be able to meet the needs and goals of both organisation and its people.”

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