The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) launched the second Phase of its its latest mentoring programme, INSPIRE during the 2nd annual Mentorship Forum Middle East (MFME) 2021, which took place on Thursday, 11th November 2021, at the Gulf Hotel. The event opened with a keynote address from H.E Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy, and saw a number of C-Suite leaders, HR and mentorship experts, and up-and-coming professionals across multiple sectors take part.

The event saw a high rate of participation from NBB Members, with a few of the bank’s members featured on the forum’s panels, discussing the multiple aspects of mentorship and the role it can play in accelerating human capital development. NBB panellists and attendees offered insights and approaches to building mentorship programmes that can create a substantial positive impact on the region.

NBB’s INSPIRE programme, initially established in 2019, designed to provide advanced mentoring opportunities to the bank’s human cadre. The latest version of the programme will introduce a wider range of opportunities that fall under the bank’s continuous dedication and efforts to invest in its employees.

INSPIRE will cater to three different mentoring approaches; the first, ‘Inspire General’, is a mentoring programme that allows NBB Group employees to mentor other employees where matching is conducted through algorithms. The second, ‘Inspire Rise’, will allow graduates from NBB’s Rise programme to provide one-on-one mentoring to nominated Rise candidates. The third and final programme, Inspire Professional Qualifications, will provide employees aspiring to be professionally qualified to receive the relevant guidance on the various certifications.

Commenting on the occasion, Senior Human Resources Manager at NBB, Mohamed Matar, said: “Launching the second phase of INSPIRE falls in line with the bank’s strategy to harness, foster and develop our talent. We aim to elevate NBB’s workforce via targeted mentoring opportunities, which in turn, will serve to enhance the quality of skilled individuals within the organization . NBB’s investment in its employees highlights the bank’s commitment to the development of our valuable human capital, in line with the Kingdom’s initiatives to produce a skilled and competent workforce, and we will continue to introduce a variety of training initiatives over the course of the upcoming year to meet the bank’s and the Kingdom’s objectives.”

NBB’s commitment to continuous human capital development, to mentoring the best talent, to grooming leaders from within, is a strategic priority, as the bank remains committed to the Kingdom’s broader national vision, to evolving the industry and enriching the lives of generations.