National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB) last Thursday honoured 259 employees for service ranging from 10 to 40 years.

The 2014 Long Service Awards was held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston and formed part of what the bank said was its ongoing efforts to recognise and reward its human resource.

The awardees, who represented different branches, business lines and subsidiaries across the NCB group of companies, expressed pride and fulfilment resulting from their long association with the organisation.

“I’m blessed and highly favoured to be working with Jamaica’s number one financial institution”, said Maxia Fairweather, a 25-year awardee from the Corporate Banking Division.

“I bought into NCB’s culture, NCB saw my potential and decided to hold on to me and together we have prospered,” she added.

The bank said that the number of employees who were recognised for more than 20 years of service reflects its commitment to fostering a tradition of staff engagement, development and recognition and underscores NCB’s ability to retain a cadre of skilled talents and to be regarded as an employer of choice.

Recently acquired subsidiary, Advantage General Insurance Company Limited (AGIC), was particularly well represented among the awardees.

Group Managing Director Patrick Hylton told the awardees, “I am absolutely certain that the chief contributor to NCB’s ability to survive, adapt, and then thrive on adversity, lies in the attitude, commitment, drive and energy of the people within our organisation — people like you.”

He encouraged the staff to use the milestone as a checkpoint for continuous growth to stay on top of their game as this redounds to the benefit of them all, the company and the nation.

Group Chairman Michael Lee-Chin expressed confidence in the staff’s ability to continuously add value and demonstrate integrity, passion and excellence as the bank strives to achieve its aspiration of becoming one of the top five financial institutions in the English- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean by 2016.

The evening’s formalities were wrapped up with 35-year veteran awardee and Executive Assistant Althea Clarke from the Treasury and Correspondent Banking Division stating, “There have been quite a few significant initiatives in NCB’s history which stand out in my mind and which deepen my pride in this organisation. …I am confident that NCB will remain the dominant force to be reckoned with in the global financial sector and I commit my continued engagement in this process. Thank you for 36 memorable years.”