<<Print>>

Fear has gripped workers of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), especially the General Managers (GMs) and departmental heads, following directives from the management for them to proceed on leave. The Chronicle newspaper gathered that some General Mangers and heads of departments who were earlier asked to proceed on leave, came back only to realize that their positions have been scrapped and new ones created. The Chronicle further gathered that the affected GMs have been asked by management, headed by Mr. Stephen Kpordzi to re-apply for the new positions that have been created in their absence, together with those who have put in fresh applications from the job market. Some of the workers who spoke to The Chronicle said they were surprised about the new directives since the bank had not been sold, to merit such radical management decision. The paper previously learnt that all heads of department reported to General Managers, depending on the area of activity, however, when Mr. Kpordzi took over he introduced a new organogram, which he termed as �Aligning Structure to Strategy.�He then took all the General Managers and heads of departments to the Volta Hotel in Akosombo, on October 9th, this year, for a retreat, where they were informed about the new restructuring programme and re-designation of positions. Kpordzi reportedly told the GMs that apart from him and the Secretary to the Board of Directors, no position had been guaranteed because management was going to advertise for others to also apply. Sources told The Chronicle that consultants have been hired to embark on the restructuring. Meanwhile their terms of reference and how much they would be paid are not known. The sources hinted that those nearing retirement and those who have exhausted their annual leave of absence have been asked to proceed on terminal leave, whilst those whose offices have been scrapped do not know their roles at the bank. Some of the GMs and heads of departments, who have been asked to proceed on leave, include GM in charge of Credit, GM in charge of Agric Credit, GM in charge of Banking Operations, GM in charge of Finance, and GM in charge of Human Resource. The rest are Head of Accounts, Head of Treasury and Head of Domestic Banking. On Friday October 23rd, this year, an internal memo which emanated from Human Resources Consultants to all staff indicated available positions in the bank, including Head of Audit and Assurance, Executive Head General Council, Head Development Finance, Head of Strategic Policy Coordinating Unit, Executive Head of Human Resource, Executive Head of General Services, and Executive Head of Transaction Banking and Technology. The Board Chairman of the bank, Mr. Ibrahim Adams told The Chronicle at press time last night that the restructuring exercise going on at the bank would not affect only management, but every staff in the bank. He noted that when the new board took over, they hired a consultant to assist the bank to be more responsive to the needs of its customers, since the bank had deviated from its mandate to be a financier of agribusiness and cottage industry. Again, the board was informed that some of the workers had attained 69 years, but were refusing to go on retirement. He also alleged that upon assumption of office, some of the workers told management that though some staff had been casual workers for the past six years, they were bypassed by the old management to recruit new people. He insisted that the MD was complying with the interim report of the consultants on how to reshape the bank to meet its primary responsibility. He said when the consultants brought the initiative during the Akosombo meeting, all the managers made their inputs, in order to make it successful. Asked how much the consultants were receiving, he responded that the amount could not be quoted off hand, but was emphatic that the amount charged was far below what other banks pay to consultants.