Business Review profiles 25 employers to watch this year, including Banca Transilvania. Nevenca Doca, Senior Executive Director of Human Resources at BT, gave the publication an interview, which we reproduce below:

How would you describe BT’s human resources policy?

The main objectives of our human resources policy focus on creating an environment in which all of us, the #peopleofBT, can develop both professionally and personally, while delivering sustainable performance to our stakeholders — whether clients, communities or investors.

Personal development programs for members of the bank’s management team are among the strongest pillars of BT’s HR policy. They shape and transform our constructive, results- and people-oriented culture. Care is a competency we regularly develop and measure across all our managers, just as we measure performance and KPIs.

Another important objective for us in HR is transparent, relevant and ongoing communication, easy access for any colleague to senior management, and a relaxed working environment where team members are genuinely and authentically connected to one another. Over time we’ve been reminded countless times that people want to meet other people, exchange ideas, have fun and learn from one another. But they only want to meet people they like.

What were the main employee-focused initiatives the bank rolled out last year?

One initiative with significant impact across the organisation last year was GROW Experience, a project aimed at mapping all roles at Banca Transilvania against a nine-competency matrix. From these, we selected three core competencies we look for in all our colleagues — autonomy, collaboration and resilience.

All HR processes — from recruitment and selection through to learning, performance evaluation, compensation, career management and wellbeing — are built around these key traits. Our reskilling and upskilling programs are also very popular. Every year, between 50 and 60 colleagues start a second career at Banca Transilvania, moving from banking roles into IT by taking part in intensive technical learning programs. Another major multi-year initiative we started last year was the in-house development of a human resources platform that integrates all HR processes.

What is your strategy for attracting and retaining talent?

We regularly run surveys inside and outside the bank to learn what people expect from their workplace. We use the results to identify the very specific areas where BT is, or can become, the best, and we invest our efforts in developing and promoting them. One such area is caring for the wellbeing of our colleagues and their families.

We make sure that, for our managers, team members are a priority. We seek to attract people with similar motivations, whose values resonate with those of Banca Transilvania — people who are dynamic and eager to step in and help others. We build trust-based relationships and create opportunities for growth. These are just some of the strategies we use to retain talent. We also continually look for new recruitment pipelines among less-privileged communities and invest in helping them acquire the knowledge and skills that improve their chances of employment.