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The management of Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) says it has established an integration roadmap with the objective of rightsizing the bank’s branch network and rationalizing its staff amongst other measures.

The bank gave assurance that even though the exercise could come with some reduction in headcount, “management is taking steps to ensure that this does not impose undue hardship on its staff.”

In a statement issued in Accra yesterday in response to recent media reportage on the ongoing restructuring exercise, the Bank allayed the fears of the general public over perceived lack of security of existing staff of CBG.

Career training, outsourced jobs for exiting staff

Management disclosed further that a core part of the bank’s integration and rationalization exercise will be career training programmes for all staff who may exit as a result.

“CBG is also finalizing a plan for affected staff to transition to other economic models which will enable them provide essential outsourced services to the bank where appropriate,” the statement assured.

The bank, the statement said is an indigenous bank with a strong balance sheet, well-positioned to protect the best interests of its depositors and staff.

“We look forward to an enduring partnership with all our stakeholders and to building an entity that will transcend this generation,” CBG said.

Job cuts to inject efficiency, spur growth

The new but overstaffed bank will operate efficiently and grow robustly if efforts to rationalize its staff strength and cut operational costs go through successfully, labour experts have told this paper.

The experts maintain that the new bank must necessarily downsize as part of the restructuring exercise in order for it to be efficient and grow.
“If you shrink five head offices into one, the staff in those five outlets cannot all be maintained at the new one; it will not make business sense,” Labour and Human Resource Management expert, Senyo Adjabeng told this paper.

“At the end of the day the business must run efficiently; so we cannot blame the bank for cutting down on its costs so it can be more efficient and grow; it is unheard of that such a major restructuring of five banks will happen without jobs being lost,” he explained.

High labour costs unhealthy for new bank

Labour consultant, Austin Gamey, wondered how five different sets of workers could be pushed onto one bank and expected to operate normally.

“If all workers are maintained, Consolidated Bank will last for not more than two months and collapse because Beige Bank alone has over 2,000 workers,” he pointed out

The rationalisation of the CBG is, therefore, meant to bring its staff numbers and wage bill to the levels pertaining in the banking sector.

The bank’s total outlets are also expected to reduce to around 120 from the current 191 branches under a far-reaching exercise meant to make the state-owned lender efficient and agile.