KUWAIT CITY, Dec 02: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) received MERIT’s Special Recognition for ‘Developing Women Leaders’ on the sidelines of the MERIT Summit & Awards event held in Dubai for heads of HR and L&D from different industries and executive education leaders to share the challenges and explore solutions within an international professional community.

The recognition was awarded to the bank for its ‘NBK RISE’ - Global Women’s Leadership Initiative, a first-of-its-kind program designed to create a conductive environment to develop women leaders and elevate them to higher leadership roles, which achieved remarkable success and significant impact in the business community in Kuwait. The award was received by Najla Al-Sager, Head of Talent Management and Learning, Group Human Resources at National Bank of Kuwait.

The program emphasizes the importance of diversity in leadership teams, recognizing that diverse perspectives lead to more robust decision-making, foster innovation, and enhance overall performance. Addressing the underrepresentation of women in executive roles, the program aimed to cultivate a more inclusive corporate environment where every individual can thrive and contribute to the organization's success.

NBK was selected based on a set of criteria including Impact – on the organization and its people; Innovation – introduction of new ideas, methodology, or technology, Ideation – needs analysis, approach, design; and Implementation – stakeholder buy-in, engagement. Other criteria were also taken into consideration including the organization type and size as well as the geographical outreach of the initiative.

The inaugural cohort of the program attained remarkable success, and the second cohort was recently launched, welcoming new participants from Kuwait and beyond. Efforts will be made to invite participants from diverse sectors and to bolster the advancement of future female leaders within the industry towards higher leadership roles. Graduates of the program will also mentor aspiring female candidates in the future, thus fostering a sustainable cycle for the program's continuity and impact.

The nine-month program comprised various modules, each tailored to a specific aspect of leadership. These modules were crafted to equip female candidates for senior management roles, imparting essential leadership, strategic, and technical skills. The training units targeted the enhancement of leadership and strategic competencies, effective communication and interpersonal skills, and readiness for assuming top leadership positions within organizations.

The MERIT Summit is a unique forum for heads of HR and L&D of companies from different industries and Executive Education leaders. Further to our mission to empower people and organizations and elevate the state of corporate learning, “The MERITS” have been designed to award impactful transformational initiatives.

MERIT is an initiative for corporate and L&D leadership, launched in 2016. Our mission is to create a community that brings together people and knowledge. Leveraging individual experiences, business intelligence, and academic and non-academic research, we aim to empower leaders and their organizations to reach strategic goals and make the most of in-house potential through learning, exchange and benchmarking.