AFS increases investment in its staff

Shankar Sharma, Chief Executive Officer at AFS commented "My vision looking forward is to create a proactive learning environment at AFS in which we continue to develop our staff. By using a number of standard techniques such as training, coaching and mentoring, we are already making learning part of every employee's day. We encourage our staff to attend professional association seminars, meetings and conferences that will boost their knowledge. We also have a number of our staff attending part-time MBA programs."

Wael Alkhuzaei commented "I was already enrolled on an MBA program when I joined AFS earlier this year. One of the factors that motivated me to join AFS was that they would be supportive of me continuing my part-time study. Given that I have a young family, finding the time to complete assignments and revise for exams was a big challenge. AFS provides me with 10 days paid study leave each year which is a great help. I am currently seconded to work for six months in the AFS product development department to build my knowledge of the company's services and implementation process. After this training period, I will be moved to work in the business development department which is the area in which I wish to develop my career."

"The Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Bahrain gives great importance to the information challenges that face our nation in this time in history, especially since globalization and modern communication systems have transformed our world into a global village. There is no doubt that employees in Bahrain like any other country place great emphasis on their opportunities to grow and develop both their skills and career while in your employ. The chance for ongoing development is one of the top five factors employees want to experience at work. In fact, the inability of an employee to see progress is an often cited reason for leaving an employer," continued Shankar Sharma.

Shankar Sharma added "AFS has ambitious expansion plans looking forward and we require highly skilled resources to achieve our goals. It is AFS policy to provide opportunities for career advancement internally and hence we have an environment in which our employees can grow. We will invest heavily in employee training and development in the future so that we have the region's most talented staff within the electronic-payments and consumer finance sector."