THE LEARNING DIARY TEMPLATE FOR EACH SESSION

Middle Management Development Program (MMDP) for Managerial Staff of the Commercial
Bank of Ceylon PLC.

Learning Diary

Name of Participant/Group No: Mr. W D P Gunawardena / Group No. - 04

Module/Session No: Focus on Excellence / S. No. 01 Subject: Best Management Practices

Date of Submission: 19.11.2022

1. Summary of what you learned in the session in your own words (Facts Sheet)

 Everyone should strive to be brilliant on basics so that chances of achieving of personal / organizational
objectives would be high (inversely, chances of making mistakes would be minimum).
 Improve the strategic thinking capabilities so that one could sort out various external / internal
challenges in a viable manner.
 Consciously work towards continuous improvement of one’s self to achieve excellence in both personal
and professional capacities.
 Strive to achieve benchmark level in one’s self / organization so that others will look up-to us for
inspiration and reassess your position on regular intervals in order to retain the top position.

2). Key Learning Points (KLPs)

Personal Application Professional Application

 Application of knowledge is very 
important as unutilized knowledge has 
no value.
 As professionals we should develop
the ‘Emotional Intelligence’
become better managers / leaders.
 Should have a vision for life and work
towards it by expanding our horizons.
Be a Banker beyond a job of 8.30 a.m. to 5.15 p.m.
Should not go only by ‘Percentages’. Instead focus mainly
on ‘Values’.
 Identify segment/s that are most appropriate to the
organizational objectives and cater them correctly.
to  Best practices are needed to be inculcated in order to
compete with the world’s best.
 Sustainable practices would be the key for any organization
to sustain the impact in future.
 Best practices in Management including 7 Ms for
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 Develop USPs within ourselves operational excellence.
because more USPs mean greater the  At least annually have a brain storming session with the
opportunities. team, to improve value additions.
 Regular application of ‘Servqual Model’ on service quality.
 Try to develop 3Is (Intuition,  Under promise and over deliver (service assurance) and
Intelligence, Inquisitiveness). always get into the customer’s shoes (have empathy).
 Inculcate best practices in disagreement so that most viable
 Stick to our core competencies by solution for the organization could be made collectively.
following the ‘Hedgehog Concept’.

Common Applications
 Reassess ourselves / organizational practices at least every 3 years.
 Do not ever be complacent of your success as it would become the biggest enemy, leading to failure.
 Pay more attention to ‘Quality’ over ‘Quantity’.
 Taking risks must be calculated and risks should be taken only if one is able to absorb any losses of such
risks.
 Porter’s ‘Five Force Theory’ is a good tool to use for one’s life, Branch / Department, any industry, in
order to identify the operating environment and competitiveness.
 Always be objective (use same yardsticks for all) but do not forget subjectivity.
 3 types of control mechanisms (protective, detective, corrective)
 One tiny change in the system can create a huge change in the organization / life (Chaos Theory)

3). What aspect of your job/function or development does this relate to?

Aspect - 01
‘Be brilliant on basics’ is one of the most important aspects which relates to my present job profile as the SME
Manager of Colombo Inner Region. As a SME Manager of a region, organization expects me to take full
control over the region’s initiatives on business promotions among the SMEs, lead and manage the region’s
marketing team towards the achievement of the given portfolio target by the Head Office, within the given time
frame.

However, under the prevailing turbulent external environment, practicing of selectiveness is of paramount
importance when on boarding new SME customers for lending as quality lending portfolio has become the key
for the sustainability of the bank in the long run. Also, it is essential that identified quality customers are being
extended with an outstanding service and the bank can meet their entire requirements. By maintaining high
standards in the service level, Bank could gradually make the ‘price’ of products a lesser concerning factor for
customers since the service and the relationship have gradually become the priority for them.

Aspect – 02

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Banks being service-oriented organizations, superior service standard is the area that customers value the most.
In this regard benchmarking is one key concept that the bank could make use of, in order to improve the service
levels through standardization.

Since I am involved in the SME related area, speed of delivery of customer requirements (i.e., Loans) within a
minimum time is essential, so that customers could meet their commitments in a timely manner. In order to
achieve this, Bank has introduced SLAs (Service Level Agreements) on lending related different processes.
Also, due to the cutthroat level competition in the financial market, it is essential that these SLAs are
benchmarked with other major industry players and if possible, my bank to become the benchmark for others.

Despite already having these benchmarks in place, I have come across in many instances where these SLAs are
not adhered to by related support departments due to various reasons, one being not aware of the bigger picture
of the role that they play. Hence, it is pertinent to train and coach all related stakeholders of credit approval
process, so that Bank could ensure that our delivery is in line with what we promise to customers.

Also, the existing mechanism does not have a review mechanism. Hence, it is essential that all SLAs relating to
SME lending processes are reviewed at least every three years and, in this regard, I have taken a point to bring
this fact to the notice of my immediate supervisor as well as line Management members.

Aspect - 03
As a SME Manager, pivotal roles I am playing are provide necessary leadership, guidance, training and
coaching to the region’s SME team. Though the main role performed by the SME team is more of a marketing
related one, since all the members have been initially recruited as traditional bankers, their skills, output and
contribution levels varies from each other.

Hence, as the leader of the team, it is imperative that I understand this and make every effort to inculcate best
practices in my management style so that I will be able to get the highest contribution from each team member,
towards the achievement of organizational goals.

In order to achieve this, I should exercise more of the best practices used in people management such as
maintain consistency in my approach, obtain and understand point of views of all members of the team, foster
clear and accurate communication, encourage teamwork, give credit publicly, lead by example, be flexible,
practice transparency, accept both positive and negative feedback etc.

Through the inclusion of theses best practices, I expect my people management skill to improve, resulting
increased confidence of my team in me, productivity and contributions.

Participant’s Signature:
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Date: 18.11.2022

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