Read the case study given below and answer all the questions.

Managing Talent at Bank Amanah

Bank Amanah, just like alf other banks in the Malaysian banking industry struggled to recover from the recent economic downturn. Bank Amanah's management decided that the key to the company's future lay with fully engaging employees in serving customers. The approach is consistent with the company's mission of 'helping people and institutions prosper.'

Bank Amanah began to restructure its banking business in accordance with three guiding principles: 1) operating as a single team; 2) putting clients first; and 3) focusing on profitable growth. Bank Amanah has made it a priority to develop managers' leadership skills. First-line managers receive training in how to coach and lead others. Middle managers work with mentors on their leadership skills. Upper-level managers use assessments by peers, subordinates and others to identify areas of growth as well as a three week training program to develop leadership skills. 300 managers were also selected to receive training in employee engagement where they learnt not only how to assess employees' performance in terms of numbers but to also consider ways to build positive feelings about meeting goals and serving customers.

To meet the principle of putting customers first, Bank Amanah conducts surveys of its customers to learn whether they are satisfied with the bank's products and customer service. It also asks employees whether they have the resources they need to succeed at work and know what the company expects of them. Based on the feedback the bank's learning team creates training materials for how to meet customer expectations.

In a program called "Building Solid Relationships," employees learn how to define client needs, explain the bank's financial products and services clearly and help customers choose which products and services will meet their needs. The CEO was once invited to witness a role-play session between a staff and a customer and he was impressed by their knowledge and confidence.

The bank also provides learning support on its learning portal. This internet portal gives employees easy access to computer-based training and tools for collaboration that can support informal learning.

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Since Bank Amanah initiated the new training programmes it has seen evidence of improved performance. Deposits and customer loyalty has grown. Such feedback has given Bank Amanah's executives the necessary justification for increasing training budgets regardless of the economic situation. As conditions improve, Bank Amanah hopes its strategic investment in training will position it at the forefront of the next round of growth.

(Source: Adapted from Noe/Hollenbeck]Gerhart/Wright (2014).Fundamentals of Human Resource Management (5th edition). McGraw Hill. New York. Page 229-230)

End of case study

Question 1

Having achieved good growth in a relatively short period of time, describe how Bank Amanah's training programmes can help it to gain competitive advantage.

(15 marks)

Question 2

Suggest a suitable training method or methods for Bank Amanah's "Building Solid Relationships" programme.

(15 marks)

Question 3

Using Kirkpatrick's evaluation model, evaluate the effectiveness of Bank Amanah's training programmes.

(10 marks)