In the second instalment of his books on the UT Story, Capt Prince Kofi Amoabeng (rtd) shared an interesting story of how some of his employees exhibited the highest forms of their company culture, earning them his personal admiration and gratitude.
On page 148 of the book, The UT Story Vol. 2: Building A Winning Team, the former UT boss recalled a day when the entire staff at the Osu branch of his bank did a most generous thing for a desperate woman.
Already instilled with the culture of timeliness, he said that there was a day that a woman walked to the bank a little too late and was turned away because banking hours were over.
But this woman would not understand and pleaded as much as she could, hoping that she could get a special pass, but as Capt Kofi Amoabeng wrote, they just could not do anything about the situation.
“A case in point was when a client went to our banking hall at the Osu Branch of UT Bank. Unfortunately, she arrived after the prescribed working hours, when the banking hall was cl She to customers. The Team stuck by the rules and refused to serve her.
“The desperate lady narrated why she urgently needed to cash the cheque. It was impossible to cash it for her because they had closed all the tills,” he wrote.
He added that with the way things were, the staff members, beginning to sympathise with the woman, decided to eventually help her, although it didn’t mean they would break the company policy.
In a show of humanity towards the woman, the staff members individually put together monies from their pockets; enough to cover the money the woman was actually at the bank to take.
“But instead of politely turning her down and discarding her to go solve her problems by herself, they decided to help. In a rare show of care for the customer, they contributed moneys from their pockets and got enough to give to the desperate lady in lieu of her cashing the cheque the next morning. The lady was so touched by their kind and magnanimous gesture. She accepted their contributions graciously and thanked them profusely.
“When I heard the story, I said, ‘Yes! This is it! This is the kind of culture I’ve been striving to establish. This is what UT is all about, showing people love, care and respect!’” he added.
Capt Prince Kofi Amoabeng added that he was so excited about this gesture, he invited the entire staff members of the Osu Branch of UT Bank to his home for dinner.
“I invited the whole Team from the Osu Branch of UT Bank to a special dinner with me at my residence. I wanted to look them in the eye and say thank you to them in a relaxed atmosphere, away from the office.
“We had a memorable dinner at my new, plush residence, amidst bottles of fine wine and good music. I thanked them personally and encouraged them to do more, to strive to understand our customers more, show them respect, integrity and compassion. In effect, I asked them to continue to live by our values,” he stressed.
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