K MENA Building Banking Capability Through a Graduate Development Program and Enterprise-Wide Workforce Upskilling
How Kaplan Delivered a Graduate Development Program and Enterprise-Wide Corporate Upskilling for a Leading Saudi Bank
Graduate development programs and corporate upskilling are becoming essential for banks adapting to digital transformation and evolving customer expectations. This case study explores how Kaplan Professional MENA partnered with one of Saudi Arabia’s leading commercial banking groups to design and deliver a large-scale graduate development program alongside enterprise-wide workforce upskilling, building technical expertise, leadership capability, and customer-centric banking skills.
The financial landscape of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is moving at an unprecedented pace. Under the ambitious umbrella of Vision 2030, the Kingdom is actively transforming itself into a global investment powerhouse and a digitized financial hub. As part of this economic evolution is a critical mandate: the rapid development and upskilling of local Saudi talent to lead the institutions of tomorrow.
For one of the region’s leading commercial banking groups, this national transformation represented an opportunity to reimagine workforce development and build the capabilities needed to lead the future of banking.
Recognizing that the future of Saudi banking relies on empowering the next generation of local leaders, the institution established a comprehensive corporate training academy. To bring this vision to life, the bank partnered with Kaplan Professional MENA, leveraging Kaplan’s long-standing alignment with Vision 2030 and its newly established Regional Headquarters in Riyadh to co-create a future-ready corporate learning ecosystem. This program was designed not simply to teach banking, but to ignite a cultural and behavioral evolution across the entire organization.
Challenge
Modern banking demands a rapid transition into digital ecosystems, stringent risk management, and exceptional customer centricity. To support this shift, the bank sought to equip its workforce—including existing employees, new hires, and fresh graduates—with a well-rounded blend of technical, behavioral, and commercial capabilities. While employees possessed strong technical foundations, the bank sought to strengthen behavioral capabilities, leadership effectiveness, relationship management, and commercial acumen across all talent segments. The bank also sought to strengthen its risk culture in line with international standards while evolving traditional transactional sales approaches into data-driven, customer-centric engagement models. Beyond academic learning, the focus was on embedding practical tools and real-world applications that would translate directly into improved business performance, stronger customer outcomes, and measurable return on investment.
Solution
Kaplan delivered an end-to-end blended learning solution built around three core pillars: Technical Competence, Behavioural Confidence, and Experiential Application.
- Tailored Learning Pathways: A bespoke curriculum was designed to strengthen capabilities across critical banking disciplines, including retail banking, risk and compliance, and digital banking, ensuring participants developed the technical and commercial skills required for an evolving financial landscape.
- Behavioural & Leadership Development: Alongside technical training, the program focused on developing the behavioural competencies essential for workplace success. Participants enhanced their communication and negotiation skills, adopted customer-centric sales approaches, deepened their understanding of customer psychology, and built greater productivity and time management capabilities, enabling them to collaborate effectively and deliver stronger customer experiences.
- Digital Learning & Performance Insights: Interactive learning experiences and continuous assessments helped reinforce knowledge while providing HR and business leaders with meaningful performance insights to monitor learner progress and training effectiveness.
- Workplace Application: Learning was reinforced through practical workplace projects, enabling participants to apply new skills to real business challenges while supporting ongoing professional development.
Impact
The program delivered measurable business impact, achieving an overall course satisfaction rating of 97% while driving meaningful organizational transformation. Behavioral learning initiatives strengthened leadership capability and fostered a unified culture of proactive risk management, collaboration, and continuous learning across the organization.
Through Action Learning Projects (ALPs), graduate and leadership cohorts developed practical solutions to real business challenges, translating learning into commercial innovation and operational improvement. Gamified assessments demonstrated measurable gains in technical banking knowledge, commercial effectiveness, and customer-centric behaviors, while Kaplan’s Faculty Feedback Dashboard enabled HR leaders and managers to monitor learner performance in real time, support targeted talent development, and evaluate training ROI with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
A graduate development program prepares recent graduates with the technical, behavioural, and leadership skills needed to build successful careers in banking through structured learning and workplace application.
Corporate upskilling helps financial institutions build capabilities in digital banking, compliance, customer experience, leadership, and commercial effectiveness while preparing employees for evolving industry demands.
Blended learning combines instructor-led training, digital learning, assessments, coaching, and workplace projects to reinforce learning and improve business performance.