Kenya’s largest bank sent close to 1000 employees home packing in 2017 alone

KCB suffered the highest staff attrition rate in five years having let go 861 employees or nearly four times the previous year’s exits.
KCB hired 144 new employees, or less than a fifth of the number that left, reducing the bank’s total headcount to 6,483 -- the lowest in four years.

Close to 1000 employees belonging to Kenya’s largest commercial bank by assets (KCB) were shown the door last year in what was the most tumultuous year for the banking sector.

KCB suffered the highest staff attrition rate in five years having let go 861 employees or nearly four times the previous year’s exits, according to a newly released report.

KCB says in its latest sustainability report, covering 12 months to December 2017, that staff attrition rate hit 10 per cent up from the previous year’s six percent despite employee satisfaction rate remaining flat at 85 percent for the second year in a row.

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KCB hired 144 new employees, or less than a fifth of the number that left, reducing the bank’s total headcount to 6,483 -- the lowest in four years.

And for all the pain and anguish, the bank accountants had something to smile about at the end of the day. In the first nine months of 2018, the bank had slashed the bank’s staff costs by Sh1.02 billion.

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It wasn’t KCB alone however, which decided to send thousands of employees’ home packing. 2017 was one of the most tumultuous year for banking sector with the industry shedding a total of 2,792 jobs, according to the Central Bank of Kenya.

However, despite the bank cutting back on staff employment, KCB was still named as Kenya’s 2017 Bank of the Year by London-based Financial Times.

The bank was particularly recognised for “pursuing sustainable growth and for its efforts at championing financial inclusion”.

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And for his efforts in ‘pursuing sustainable growth’ KCB chief executive, Joshua Oigara was rewarded handsomely.

According to the bank’s financial report for the year ended December 2017, Mr Oigara was paid Sh256 million ($2.56m), making him one of the best paid executives in Kenya.

Mr Oigara’s Sh256 million compensation for 2017 means his pay rose 14 per cent from Sh224 million ($2.24m) in 2016, the bulk of it in bonuses.