Moya Leiba-Barnes puts her customers first

A candy jar sits on her desk and the instructions regarding its usage forbid others to ask for candy; they can simply help themselves.

This is typical of Moya Leiba-Barnes, always doing what she can to make the day better for someone else. It’s a trait that serves her well as the general manager for client relations at JMMB.

A lifetime of experience in banking has brought her to where she is today. Fresh out of school with dreams of becoming an attorney-at-law, Leiba-Barnes went to work for the Bank of Jamaica, where they offered her a scholarship to go to the University of the West Indies (UWI) and study a related field. She pursued her BSc in economics and management and hasn’t looked back since. She has done numerous financial training courses as well as her MBA at the Mona School of Business.

“While at BOJ we did training at the Federal Reserve for two weeks. That trip opened my eyes. We visited the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street and that was when I really started to fall in love with banking,” she said.

Her director while working at BOJ, Walter Campbell, also had a significant impact on her attitude towards the financial sector and, more importantly, her relationship with her staff. Leiba-Barnes speaks fondly of him while recounting how he saw the importance of her needing to dedicate time to school while doing her BSc and he allowed her the time she needed without requiring her to work it back.

He told her, ‘When you’re in a position to help someone else, you’ll do the same thing’. This advice she carried with her when she went to Capital & Credit in 2000 and after, when they were integrated fully into JMMB in 2012.

While pointing out that having the paper qualifications for entry into her field of work is crucial, Leiba-Barnes emphasised the importance of having the heart for it.

“The motivation and people skills is about 60 per cent and the academic 40 per cent. When the team knows that you have their back, they will have yours,” said Leiba-Barnes.

“You have to be a motivator, a friend, a shoulder to cry on — anything to get your team to reach outside of themselves to perform.

“Another important requirement is the knack for wanting to do what’s best for your customers. The area of client relations requires much interaction with others, not just with your team but also with your customers.”

As general manager, Leiba-Barnes’ days are busy, but setting aside time for the clients is her number one priority. Starting from as early as seven most mornings, she begins each day with her devotions and then works to get her emails cleared. The customer calls begin early, and time is devoted daily to touching base with customers to ensure that the service they receive meets her standards, and to catch up with customers she hasn’t spoken to in a while. All of this is interspersed with various meetings and checking up with the different branches to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Having been in the banking field for so long, Leiba-Barnes has seen over the years how restricted banking has become. For her, disappointing the customers that she comes to regard almost as family is hard.

“When you have to explain to the customer and they’re so disappointed, especially when you know their need, but it just isn’t possible for you to come through for them… it’s difficult to say no, but in this new environment you have to be cognisant of the fact that not everyone is honest and we just have to toughen up.”

The self-proclaimed coffee addict admits that by midday she’s usually had one or two cups.

“I’m hyper and good at multi-tasking,” Leiba-Barnes said, which explains how she’s able to juggle everything she does.

Outside of work, Leiba-Barnes has many interests in a variety of fields. She is a member of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston and an active participant in many cancer-related endeavours. She is an avid sports fan who declares that, “Chris Gayle is my all-time favourite athlete”, and also follows many other sports, both those popular in Jamaica such as cricket and football, as well those less so, such as baseball (NY Yankees) and American football (NY Giants, even when they’re not doing so well).