Category: BLOGS

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Naheed.pk, the commerce initiative of Naheed Supermarket, a leading name in retail shopping in Pakistan, honored the top athletes, in a colorful ceremony held recently as part of Conclave Pakistan 3.0, an event organized by e-Creatorz and America Pakistan Business Development Forum, to commemorate their successes. The event was graced by people from all walks of life, from Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shalwani to Sports legends including Wasim Akram and Samiullah Khan, came to show their support for the rising sporting stars of Pakistan.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Munsub Abrar, CEO of Naheed Supermarket, said: “We at Naheed.pk understand the importance of a competition and the joys of winning. We extended our support and honor to our sportsmen and women who brought repute and laurels back to Pakistan.”

Showing his gratitude, legendry Cricketer Wasim Akram said, “Pakistan has a pleasant history and huge future potential in the sporting arena and all these people present here are the biggest proof of it”. He thanked Naheed.pk for its support to the sports. “I am happy to represent a heritage brand like Naheed.pk in honoring my fellow athletes.”

The event concluded with the Pride of Pakistan Awards being presented to Hockey legend Samiullah Khan, Cyclist Samar Khan, Mountaineer Samina Baig, Karate star Kulsoom Hazara,  Special Olympic Medal Holder Jasmine Sharif, Footballer Saddam Hussain, Tennis Star Nameer Shamsi, Badminton players Palwasha Bashir and Mahoor Shahzad, among others.

 

Discussion explored how government and private sector can partner to help Pakistan progress towards a fully-fledged digital economy

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Sigve Brekke, the President and CEO of Telenor Group, today participated in a special virtual dialogue with Prime Minister Imran Khan as part of a country strategic dialogue on Pakistan hosted by the World Economic Forum (“WEF”). 

In the dialogue, Telenor Group called for greater cooperation between public and private sectors in bridging Pakistan’s significant gap in digital access.

Looking at the challenges contributing to this digital divide, Telenor Group emphasised the need to create an environment in which mobile operators can continue to strengthen connectivity, which is the building block of the digital economy. In this context, Sigve Brekke stated that fair and predictable regulatory and taxation regimes are necessary to improve business climate and a key requisite for future investment into Pakistan.

During the discussion, Brekke also highlighted how the global pandemic has elevated the role of connectivity and digital tools in everyday life. This critical infrastructure is offering people a lifeline as well as being an important fundament for economic activity and recovery going forward.

There is a danger that the digital acceleration we have experienced this year will leave some people behind. The economic impact of connectivity multiplies with greater participation; hence ensuring connectivity for all is critical. In recognition of this, Telenor continues to work to ensure digital inclusion for everyone in Pakistan.

While the spell of monsoon rains played havoc across the city, key city links were flooded, severing the city’s transportation system and leaving people stranded on roads. Amid the downpour, people were stranded at their offices with no transportation or food. In the wake of the emergency crisis and thunderstorm that shook the whole city, corporate proved to be the real heroes.

While employee accountability is commendable, the real core of corporate responsibility is ensuring that everyone in your organization is taken care of and a relationship of trust is built between the employees and the organization by meeting expectations of ethical and responsible behavior. In case of any catastrophe an organization is required to stand for its people and corporates in Karachi are a proof of that.

The emergency crisis on 27^th August, brought down the city of lights on its knees. Many corporates stepped up and helped people stuck near Shaheen Complex and I I Chundrigar areas shift to nearby hotels, these included mostly banks like Standard Chartered, Bank Alfalah and JS Bank. The Bank’s ensured rooms were provided to their staff at a 5-star hotel along with dinner and breakfast. The teams worked swiftly and were on the ground till 5 am ensuring employees had dinner and were moved to their rooms.

Administration of K-Electric however managed to convert its office into a hotel, where employees were asked to stay the night with food and refreshments available to them.

Many banks and organizations also opted for Hotel Ramada, as the situation got worse at night. JS Bank and TCS also mobilized coasters and managed to get most of the staff home without charging any fee.

“Our senior management was on its feet till 5am in the morning, they facilitated us so well and ensured every person evacuated was given a room and food. This gesture makes me proud of my organization and their commitment towards their employees”, said one of the effected at Movenpick Hotel.

These organizations stand as an example to many, no differentiation of class or grade, not concerned if revenues were compromised, in the hour of need these companies stepped forward and pulled out all its employees out of this dire situation that literally fractured the infrastructure.

 

Written By- Javeria Haseeb Co-Founder & Marketing Lead – Hysab Kytab

The COVID-19 pandemic which rapidly evolved these past few months, did, and still continues to present difficulties for people and businesses. From our personal health to business growth, everything is at risk. This single event has crippled the world’s economy and we are all slowly trying to find a way out – to find opportunity in this adversity.

Though the degree of damage varies, all sectors and businesses have been hit by this anomaly and are striving to survive through this crucial time. According to some analysts, this pandemic-driven situation may have a far worse impact on the global economy than that of the 2008 financial crisis.

The Changing Paradigm in Banking

Where institutions like the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) advised early on to use digital payment services such as internet banking and mobile phone banking, hard cash continues to be avoided as it was considered to be one of the carriers of this virus. To further control the spread, as well as with the systematic shutdown of public dealing, it became inevitable for banks and other financial institutions (FIs) to go digital entirely.

This situation called upon banks and FIs to adopt digital transformation, modify their product offerings and find a digital financial tool that could enable them to cater to the needs of their customers and transcend during these challenging times.

Banks were in a prime position to turn this threat into an unparalleled business opportunity by rapid adoption and acceleration of digital banking initiatives. Here’s why it is important to continue to prioritize digitalization and how to do it:

• Digital is the only way to cater to customers’ financial needs instantly

The most prevalent form of direct connection with a bank’s customers has been disintegrated with the decline in traffic at bank branches because customers are relying heavily on digital mediums to fulfill their needs. These online and mobile banking mediums are an enabler to serve customers instantly without putting employees’ wellbeing at risk. With the right financial tools, banks can become the primary partner and advisor for their customers during and beyond this crisis.

• Empower customers in making smarter financial decisions in this time of uncertainty

Apart from fears about physical health, this pandemic has left everyone concerned about their financial health, now, more than ever. It is the right time to put customers at ease by helping them emerge out of this crisis with a completely organized view of their finances. Providing them with a digital tool that not only lets them track their financial transactions, but also sorts them in terms of priority and notifies them when to put their spending on hold could help customers better understand their financial standing.

• Digital meaningful targeting to build long-term loyalty

A research, conducted in the US, showed that 70% of millennials would rather go to the dentist than listen to what their bank has to say. This will become more real than ever post-COVID. The new ways of working will change the role of branch and relationship managers (RMs) drastically. With the help of a digital money management solution that allows RMs to communicate directly with their customers and understand their needs by using data-driven insights, banks will be able to target customers far more effectively by getting a 360-degree view of their finances. As a result, they will be able to build long term loyalty translating into higher revenue per customer.

An increasing demand for complete digital experience is an opportunity for banks to invest in digital financial solutions. Even after this crisis is over, it is still a smart investment as it adds further value in online banking and benefits banks with long term loyalty and a more engaging relationship with customers. Innovative Fintech companies, are well positioned to help banks adapt to this change and rollout a gratifying digital money management experience for their customers. 

By: Emma Shakespeare, Regional Sales Director at SAP Concur

Are companies relieved of their duty to care for the wellbeing of their employees during this lockdown period? The answer is no.

Organizations owe it to their employees to keep them safe either while working remotely or traveling on official company business. In times of major disruption or heightened risk, companies need to take all necessary measures to ensure they can meet the necessary duty of care obligations and keep their employees informed and away from harm while they are operating on behalf of the organization.

Duty of care refers to a company’s moral and legal responsibility to care for the wellbeing of its employees during the course of business. 

Businesses should know where their people are, whether far away or close to the office, and must be able to alert employees during a crisis, provide them with any assistance they may need, and keep open lines of communication until everyone is safe. 

There are four things companies need to bear in mind during this time to ensure they live up to their duty of care obligations, namely:

• You need to know where your teams are during a crisis

In one study, 77% of finance leaders said they were not confident they could quickly and accurately locate employees during an emergency.This exposes the employee and the employer to significant risk, especially during the types of global crises we’re experiencing in 2020. Companies need to take all reasonable steps to locate traveling employees and track their progress home until they are brought to safety.

• You need to be able to communicate with teams throughout a crisis

Companies often fail at communicating with employees that are affected by a crisis. Organizations need a reliable, secure way to directly and instantly communicate with remote employees to warn them of potential risks, guide them through the crisis and ensure they can get to safety quickly and with as few issues as possible. It is simply not enough to send a static informative message but rather to elevate your duty of care platform to enable bi-directional communication for real-time coverage and protection.

• Employees notice when companies fall short in their duty of care obligations

Alarmingly, one study found that 41% of employees that were near a natural disaster said they were never contacted by their company at all. Aside from possibly contravening their own duty of care obligations and opening the company up to legal issues, the experience for the employee is unlikely to lead to greater loyalty or productivity. Considering the importance of employee experience to talent retention and productivity, such companies may suffer reputational damage.

• There are tools that help companies meet their duty of care obligations

Within our ranks we managed this serious challenge using our Concur Locate service part of the SAP Concur solution; which provides powerful capability for capturing and accessing real-time employee location data and communicating directly and securely.

Our customers have also used SAP Concur to reliably communicate with their employees regardless of the situation, at the same time providing employers a single tool to monitor employee location and gain intelligence on country-specific travel disruptions or risks. Companies were also able to mitigate risks associated with business travel by conducting assessments and providing alerts pre-trip, during a journey and after.

In short, during today’s unprecedented times, employers need to consider ways of providing a powerful employee risk management and safety communication solution that allows organisations to ensure their employees are safe, no matter where they are. By doing so, organisations can swiftly identify risks and assess impact, pinpoint employees’ locations and know their travel plans using machine learning, leverage multiple options for two-way communications, and deploy local response teams, if-and-when necessary.