Ms. AlSwaydani has vast experience in banking, governance, legal and risk, spanning over 20 years. She is the Chief Governance Officer and Board Secretary at the Saudi Investment Bank. She has been a member of the Board of Directors at MEDGULF since 2022. In addition to her roles at SAIB, she is the secretary of the Nominations and Remunerations, EXCOM, and Corporate Governance Board Committees. She is also a member of several management committees at the bank.
Can you provide examples of how your organisation successfully implements professional development initiatives to enhance leadership skills?
At the Saudi Investment Bank, we believe that our employees are the core value of our organisation; thus, providing them with the training they need is a pillar that we uphold. Stating examples would take too much time, as most of our executive team have been promoted internally. We have established the SAIB Academy for learning and development, where our HR and Strategy teams work diligently with both local and international institutes to tailor specific programmes that suit every individual we believe has the capabilities and leadership qualities that align with our goals.
How does mentoring at your company specifically contribute to building strong leadership and governance?
Mentorship is a daily mission that we aspire to accomplish. We pride ourselves on our open-door, interdepartmental policy. Every executive, despite their busy schedules, will gladly receive, answer, help, and provide assistance to any employee seeking their aid. This sometimes proves challenging due to authorities, responsibilities, and respect for hierarchy, but I believe that we, driven by our own CEO’s belief and persistence, have struck a golden balance that both serves our employees and keeps the organisational guidelines and principles intact.
Why do you believe investing in leadership development is crucial from a corporate governance perspective?
They say change is always good, but I believe that change is only good if it is necessary. Our employees are well-trained in our Corporate Governance policies, guidelines, and practices, thus developing from within saves us time and resources. Our employees are among the best in the banking industry in Saudi Arabia, so spending our time and resources training, enabling, and preparing them for bigger roles is the path that best serves our Corporate Governance strategy and fundamental goals.
How do you measure the success and impact of your professional development, mentoring, and coaching programmes on the organisation’s leadership capabilities?
We have different methods to measure the effectiveness of our overall development programmes, such as managerial-level observation, surveys and feedback, as well as implementing an internal Learning Management System that keeps track of our employees’ development and progress in their training.
In what ways do these internal strategies align with and support your company’s overall mission and governance principles?
As I have stated in a previous question, we believe in developing our own employees in a manner that serves our goals and ambitions for SAIB. Therefore, our development programmes are deeply embedded within our Corporate Governance strategy. This leads to a clearer path for our employees’ future, which in itself is a main driver for a more secure and stable working environment, leading directly to a perfect harmony that serves both our bank’s mission and our employees.