Absa, one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services providers with almost 37,000 employees in 12 African countries, partnered with IMD five years ago to design four distinct learning journeys for the bank’s young talent, middle managers, and senior executives.
Today, alumni from the different programs and years gathered at the IMD Absa ADP Alumni event to reflect on the partnership and to share learnings and impact from past accelerated development program journeys. They also had the opportunity to engage in continuous learning by attending a customer-centricity masterclass presented by Seán Meehan, IMD’s Professor of Marketing and Management and Dean of Faculty.
Absa’s Accelerated Development Programs (ADPs) are designed to cultivate top talent and unlock their potential.
“At Absa, leadership is about more than just holding a title – it’s about living our values of integrity, excellence, and inclusivity every day. Our ADPs reflect this belief and are an investment in our most important resource – our people,” said Nadia ten Cate, Group Leadership Lead, People Development COE, Absa Group. “Strategic partnerships are vital to our success, and our collaboration with IMD over the past five years has enabled us to scale talent development with a global perspective.”
The programs – entitled Leap, Transform, Amplify, and Sustain – target each managerial level’s specific needs and personal and professional growth potential while fostering dialogue and collaboration between the four cohorts. Between 2019 and 2024 the journeys have lasted around 7-10 months and contributed to the development of 554 participants from 10 African countries, contributing to both Absa and Africa’s progress.
In line with IMD’s motto of Real Learning, Real Impact, the remit was to personalize the learning and integrate it tightly with practice.
“To address Absa’s demand for real-world engagement, it is imperative that these programs revolve around hands-on project work. Participants work in teams to apply what they have learned to practical enterprise projects designed to bring immediate value to Absa and society.”– Hischam El-Agamy, Program Director and IMD Executive Director for the MEA regions
Over the past five years, more than 50 Absa enterprise projects have been created by program participants and many have been implemented, enhancing the organization’s efficiency, enabling breakthrough innovations, and creating value for communities across the continent.
Leap alumna and Design Director Hannah Gould shared a recent Absa success story. Absa’s ChatWallet, a digital wallet that focuses on financial inclusion and banking the unbanked, won the Best Professional Commercial Project award at the Service Design Awards in Finland. “A lot of what I learned on the 2021 Leap program I put to use in the ChatWallet project,” she said.
The eYethu Awards is an example of another initiative developed by participants in the 2023 Leap program. Mothathe Sewelo provided an overview of the project and explained how the Leap team intended to create patriotism within Absa by better communicating the rewards program internally. “As a bank, we spend millions marketing our rewards program to our customers, but many people in the company didn’t know as much about what the program involves and how to use the rewards as the cardholders themselves,” Sewelo said. “Our project focused on how to communicate this better internally, proving that these projects do make an impact.”
Participants in the Sustain program, designed for Absa executive talent, are also involved in hands-on projects. Working in small teams, they develop scenarios of the future of business and society in a world of rapidly evolving digital landscapes and shifting consumer behavior.
During the event, participants from each cohort were invited to share the learnings and impact that the ADP programs have had on their lives and careers.
“The program was like having a 360-degree mirror put in front of me. I started to see myself through many different lenses. It gave me feedback on myself I could not have been given in a thousand years,” said Head of Home Loans Mbuysilo Khumalo, as he reflected on his journey in the Amplify program, which is aimed at seasoned senior talent. “Engaging with people on the cohorts from different geographies made it a very enriching experience.”
“The program shattered the limits of my worldview and filled my mind with a vivid spectrum of ideas that I didn’t know existed. I returned to Africa after three weeks in Switzerland and re-wrote our learning strategy, which has sparked Absa’s transformation towards becoming a skills-based organization,” said Bahia Sarlie, Group Head of Learning and Development and a Transform alumnus.
“I am confident that this transformation is going to help our colleagues become more agile and adaptive to the fast-changing needs of our customers, which is the key to being a sustainably successful organization for Africa and the world.” – Bahia Sarlie, Group Head of Learning and Development and Transform alumna, Absa
Wrapping up the event, Professor El-Agamy said, “It has been an honor to work with Absa on the ADP programs, through which Absa is establishing itself as both a hub and incubator of top talent across the African continent and we look forward to continuing this impactful journey.”
In her concluding remarks, ten Cate encouraged the ADP alumni to take accountability by paying forward what they had learned. “There is nothing greater than seeing our people develop,” she reflected. “Often, when you start your journey, you may be unsure of where you are going – but by the end of the journey we can see how you have transformed and grown. The impact you made is immeasurable.”
“As Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben said in Spider Man: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ I encourage each one of you, our ADP alumni, to put your hands up, to be a mentor, to get involved – let’s take what we have learned through ADP and empower your teams and the greater Absa Group because this is how we empower Africa’s tomorrow, together – one story at a time.”
